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Olivia Johnson preparing to give ‘dream-come-true’ speech
YOUNGSTOWN
As nearly 900 students prepare to cross the stage during Youngstown State University’s fall commencement Sunday, student speaker Olivia Johnson is preparing for what she said is her “dream- come-true” speech.
“In high school I had always wanted to be the graduation speaker because I was into musical theater so much, but I was not the valedictorian. So to be chosen to do this now is amazing,” she said.
Commencement will take place at 2 p.m. in Beeghly Center on the YSU campus.
Johnson – who will receive her bachelor of arts in anthropology – was a former Anthropology Colloquium president; recipient of the John and Anna Stephens Scholarship, the Kristen A. Beckman Memorial Scholarship and the Dr. John R. White Scholarship; and Marching Pride member. She maintained several responsibilities both in school and out, by working two part-time jobs and attending school full time.
A key piece of advice Johnson would give to current and prospective students is to stay open to opportunities.
“I never expected my life to go the way it has,” she said. “I said yes to getting out of my comfort zone as often as I possibly could.”
And that yes took her places.
Some of her favorite memories are from her travels. Johnson traveled to several countries, including South Africa, the Bahamas, Guatemala and Belize.
Johnson reflected on her archaeological expedition to San Salvador in the Bahamas where she got to dig at a site where indigenous people had been living before Christopher Columbus’s arrival.
“It’s pretty cool to visit just for the historical significance,” she said. “The trip was actually what made me decide to focus in archaeology. ... To hold something in your hand that is likely over 600 years old, and to be the first human to see it for the first time in 600 years is an indescribable feeling.”
Other YSU memories that stand out to Johnson stem from being a member of Marching Pride.
“After every game we would march to the rock in the center of campus and play or sing the alma mater and the fight song,” she said. “In those moments it felt really amazing to be part of the Penguin family.”
Johnson said a feeling she shares with her YSU family is the exhaustion and appreciation for hard work and a job well done.
“I know that at YSU not all of the students are what you would consider ‘traditional,’ but I know that we all put in the work and time to get where we will be on Sunday – graduating,” she said.
Her plans for the future include graduate school for archaeology and some form of teaching.