This week, our campus celeb comes to us from Johns Creek, GA, the one and only, Olivia Burkhalter, a freshman at UGA. A member of the club riding team, Olivia has been riding since she was five years old, consistently receiving 1st place blue ribbons at shows across the South with her beloved horse, River. Her riding commitment in college has included weekly lessons and horse shows where her team competes against schools like Georgia Tech, Clemson, and South Carolina.
When she wasn’t riding, Olivia spent her high school days at Blessed Trinity running track and athletic training for the football team. After coming to Georgia, she has kept busy by joining not only the club riding team but also Chi Omega Sorority. She has found exactly what she’s needed in Athens, loving everything about the quaint downtown area, her involvement in outside activities, and her friends that she knows will last a lifetime.
If Olivia could pick any man to marry, she’d immediately say yes to Chace Crawford from Gossip Girl, a show that has taken over her life in the past few months. Gossip Girl, however, and maybe even Chace Crawford, come second to her love for Harry Potter. She’s read all the books, the seventh being her favorite, and would give anything to be friends with Harry or Hermione. If she is not watching her favorite Harry Potter movies, she indulges in her other top picks, which range from Pride and Prejudice to This is the End and Silver Linings Playbook.
Olivia could spend the rest of her life eating pasta, and she is best known for her killer macaroni and cheese. When we asked her about it, she told us her recipe consisted of Kraft macaroni and cheese, some milk, and an unimaginable amount of butter. It was a staple at every get together for her and her friends in high school. Now, in the dorms, she gets by with Velveeta mac and cheese and ramen and the never ending pasta options at Bolton.
If you want to ask Olivia about her famous mac and cheese, share your favorite Harry Potter memories, or watch Gossip Girl, you can find her at the barn with the rest of the club riding team, diligently practicing in hopes of their next blue ribbon!