Olivia Brown '20
With her outgoing personality, Olivia Brown ’20 wanted to be a part of a campus community that felt close-knit with professors who knew students personally and offered plenty of extracurricular activities. She knew she wanted to attend a private Christian university and was elated when Malone checked all her boxes.
“I live locally and am a member of the Evangelical Friends Church, so Malone has always been on my radar. I knew, once I learned more about it, that I would love to be a part of that environment and community,” she said.
The pull that Brown felt to Malone was strengthened when she received an invitation to Scholars Day, an annual scholarship competition for Malone’s highest-achieving prospective students.
After being interviewed by faculty and responding to a written prompt, Brown won a Presidential Scholarship, which provided full-tuition coverage. Her winning essay was about “being the ocean” in response to the question ‘If you could be anyone or anything in the last 600 years, what would you be?’
“Participating in Scholars Day and winning that scholarship sealed the deal for me,” she said. “I absolutely knew Malone was meant to be my home! I could not be more grateful for that opportunity and all the good that has come from my four years on campus.”
As a sophomore, Brown was selected to serve as a Course Assistant (CA). These student leaders mentor freshmen in Gen 100: The College Experience. She assisted instructors with the class and built relationships with new students to help them adjust to college life.
“This role impacted me the most during my college career, it grew me into a confident leader and significantly improved my ability to communicate and interact with others,” she said. “The community of CAs gave me an amazing friend group and it solidified everything I loved about college.”
During her junior year, Brown spent a semester studying abroad. In a partnership with Gordon College, she traveled to Orvieto, Italy. Her semester included design, poetry, literature, painting, sculpture, and history. As a mathematics major, choosing to enroll in an art-focused program seemed like a surprising choice. But in the end, it was an incredible experience that led her to minor in visual arts.
“I knew this might be my only chance to live abroad, so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity while I could. It was the best decision I could have made! I pushed myself to try new things, including traveling most every weekend to new cities and countries, and even skydiving,” she said.
Her rewarding college experiences would not have been possible without her scholarship.
“Scholars Day allowed me to become a part of the Honors Program at Malone, to meet people that I would be sharing the classroom with, and formulate friendships even before arriving on campus,” said Brown. “The financial aspect of the scholarship was such a blessing for me and my family and it pushed me to work hard in the classroom and achieve as much as I could during my time at Malone.”
Brown will graduated this month with a bachelor of arts in mathematics and minors in psychology and visual arts.
“Above all else, I am beyond grateful for the people at Malone,” she said. “I have always felt loved, supported, and known during my years on campus. I am going to miss this community more than anything as I transition into my post-graduation life, but I take with me all these memories and friendships that I know will last a lifetime.”