Tucked into the right side of Olivia’s window bench seat is her vinyl record player, a staple of her homely room on the 7th floor of Morewood E-Tower. Olivia, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, is a residential assistant at CMU. After having lived on the 5th floor last year, Olivia says “I wanted to give back to the community that introduced me to my closest friends.” Prior to coming to CMU, Olivia was warned that no one would look out for her. However, she did not experience this feeling by simply living in E-Tower. As an RA, she wants to create a similarly open community for the new residents of E-Tower, who are making this university as much their home as it is her own. Olivia adores living on the 7th floor, appreciating its all-inclusive lounge culture; “someone is always in the lounge, and any girl is welcome to stop by.”
When Olivia entered CMU, she knew she wanted to be an engineer. However, up until 8th grade, she had strongly considered studying English. She really liked to read, and her parents had jokingly diagnosed her with an obsessive disease of reading words. They laughed at her inability to do anything else, and punished her by taking away her Harry Potter and pirate books. Olivia still enjoys reading, but her plans changed when she entered the 4-year engineering program in her high school. She was exposed to a sampling of engineering classes, and was fascinated by the creative problem solving involved.
Other than being an RA for Morewood E-Tower, Olivia is involved in Tartan Swing and the InterVarsity Christian fellowship on campus. She began swing dancing this past summer at the Mobtown Ballroom in Baltimore, and developed a passion for it. “I like that how happy and joyful swing dancing is. You can do it in any city and make friends.” She says that Tartan Swing has an interesting mix of people who attend the lessons every Thursday. When Olivia is not swing dancing, she is meeting with her Christian fellowship for bible study, or performing service projects with the group.
Olivia’s favorite thing about CMU:
“Everyone is really weird, but eccentricity is appreciated in our culture.”