By Emily Bommer
STAFF WRITER

You may see Olivia Nelson running a Christian Service Board meeting, a broadcast of WIHA, or a cross country meet, but you will never see her running out of passion or enthusiasm.

Olivia Nelson is the epitome of an IHA girl. Her teachers describe her as being hard-working and determined in everything she does. As a senior at IHA, she is in multiple Advanced Placement and Honors classes, and is preeminent in all of them.

Mrs. Adamo, the Physics Honors teacher, said, “ I have had the pleasure of having Olivia in my class this year because not only is she a smart and beautiful young lady, but she has a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone. To me, she is the ideal IHA student.”

In the four years Olivia has been at IHA, she has been more involved than most people would think possible. Most of IHA knows Olivia as an anchor on WIHA, a cross country runner, and a lacrosse team member. But in addition to these activities, she is a member of C.A.R.E, Christian Service Board, and Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD). Olivia is also a Eucharistic Minister, a math league member, and a peer mentor for freshmen.

This impressive list of activities has left many people in awe of how much she has accomplished in the time she has been at IHA. In the groups, she is a strong and hard working leader who is not afraid to stand up and be in charge. As such a familiar face because of all of her involvement in IHA, many other girls look up to Olivia, knowing they can work as hard as she does and with as much enthusiasm as she has.

On top of her involvement in the IHA community, Olivia also manages to babysit and work at an ice cream parlor in Westwood. “No matter what [Olivia] is doing, she always makes time for others,” says her sister, Sophia Nelson. “I admire the positive impact that she has had on IHA, and I know how lucky I am to have her in my life both at school and at home.”

Olivia has been an ardent member of Christian Service Board, including being the Events Coordinator her junior year and Vice President in her senior year. Over the summer of 2014, Olivia went on IHA’s mission trip to build houses in New York for Habitat for Humanity. This experience opened her eyes to even more to service, and Olivia wanted to help others and reach out to the most amount of people she could as often as she can.

Consequently, Olivia has won the “Spirit of Giving” award in both her junior and senior year at IHA, demonstrating yet another way she has been so involved in service. In years to come, Olivia plans to continue her Christian Service by using her many talents to help others.

Last year, Mrs. Kearns gave Olivia the Soaring Eagle Award in Math. “This really opened my eyes to the subject,” Olivia says. “It really made me want to pursue more of my future career in the subject.”

In September of 2014, Olivia won “The Bausch and Lomb Science Award,” which is given to someone who has had outstanding achievements in the field of science. In the fall, Olivia will be attending Fordham University to major in Biology to get her degree in Pre-Med.

Not many people manage to be as  involved and hard-working as Olivia, but her experience at IHA is only the beginning! The IHA community will greatly miss Olivia as she embarks on her future endeavors!