Home - About Olivia

My name is Olivia Braida, and I am a senior at Indiana University Indianapolis. I am in the School of Health and Human Sciences pursuing a degree in Exercise Science and a minor in Psychology with a pre-occupational therapy track. Both my love for exercise and my love for helping others influenced my decision to pursue this educational track.

That's me!

In second grade, I was introduced to a sport that would change my life and impact me greatly as a person. That sport was gymnastics. As a kid, I was always standing on my head or doing cartwheels around the living room. Because of this, my parents decided to enroll me in gymnastics. Little did I know that the sport would entirely consume eight years of my life. I quickly progressed from beginner classes to an actual team. Along with that progression came an increase in my practice hours, from just one hour a week to fifteen to twenty hours a week. Between school and practice, I had very little time to do anything else; however, I would not change a single thing. Gymnastics taught me many life lessons: self-discipline, time management, how to keep a growth mindset, and so much more. The intensity and high expectations of the sport helped me grow into a strong-minded, independent girl.

Throughout most of my life, I have been a fairly creative person. However, it was not until my high school offered several unique art classes that my artistic abilities really began to show. In high school, I took fiber arts, ceramics, and visual communications. Fiber arts is a type of art that uses fabric and/or yarn to create projects, ceramics is a type of art that uses clay to create projects, and visual communications is a type of art that uses digital elements to create projects. Each of these classes allowed me to express my creativity and imagination in a variety of different ways. There is no better feeling to me than finishing an art project and realizing I am the one that did it. I feel a sense of pride. Not only do I find interest in complex art but also in doodling. It is not rare to find me doodling a sun or a flower in the middle of a lecture, while doing homework, or even at home when I am bored. Art has always been my stress relief.

Check out some of my art below :)