Olivia Garner is in her senior year and is majoring in criminal justice/sociology and history with a minor in Spanish and the honors program. Garner is also a student athlete on the women’s basketball and track and field teams. Garner’s journey at Averett started back in 2022. She originally started her college journey at Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina, and quickly discovered it was not the right environment for her. With this began the search for a new place that she could make home for the next few years to come.
“After my freshman year, I was in search of a new home with better basketball opportunities, a Spanish minor, the chance to participate in track and field, more student clubs and activities, and overall, a better community feel that felt like home,” said Garner. “Averett checked all these boxes, so I knew it was the place that I wanted to finish my undergraduate career.”
When Garner arrived on campus, she wasted no time. It took her about a semester to get acclimated to the new environment, but once accustomed to campus life, there was no looking back.
“I longed for involvement to contribute to the community feeling that I felt when I first toured Averett,” said Garner. “My basketball coach already placed me in SAAC, and then I joined Sister 4 Sister and the Black Student Union as small steps towards involvement.”
At the end of her junior year, she was presented and encouraged into more diverse roles on campus. These helped her to develop her leadership and enhance her resume, so she decided to take them on.
These include: President of Student Government Association (SGA), President of Alpha Chi Honors Society (which only invites the top 10% of juniors and seniors), Co-President of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Vice President of Sister 4 Sister, spring senior resident assistant, intern for the Commonwealth Attorney’s office for the Victim and Witness Protection, and student representative for the Virginia Rural Health Association. Not only is she a student athlete, but she is a leader in the community and a part of various clubs and organizations.
“All these roles developed over time and have attributed to a significant amount of my professional and personal development,” said Garner.
Garner has maximized her abilities, opportunities, and resources here at Averett. She is more than a student. She is a leader in the community and has helped Averett develop some big things here on campus.
One being the Alpha Chi Honors Society, she completely revamped and has made it into a well-respected organization. Garner knew she did not want to do the traditional research project for her honors class but instead go above and beyond. Thus, when her teacher gave her the opportunity to revitalize a national honors society from mere recognition at graduation to a substantive community of scholars operating as an organized organization, she did just that. This organization is designed to engage and support top-performing students through different initiatives and gather these students together, incorporate them more into campus and community life, and develop their leadership abilities to new heights.
“As you can see, I rebuilt Averett’s chapter of Alpha Chi into a system that relies on the collective efforts of various leadership roles that are overseen by a traditional executive board,” said Garner. “This creates responsibility and fosters collaboration over one’s assigned area while also increasing leadership skills.”
Totally rebuilding an honors society that was basically not functioning here at Averett and making it into a successful and impactful organization is very impressive. Garner is a natural leader who is able to motivate and inspire others to achieve their best potential. Her dedication and hard work have truly transformed the honor society into a valuable asset for the Averett community.
As a student athlete and very involved person in the community, balancing all these things can be difficult, but they have shaped Garner into the leader she is today. Through organization, well-thought-out planning, time-management skills, and delegation of tasks, she has been able to do it all.
“This takes the load off my shoulders and has created more individual responsibility over tasks,” said Garner. “Overall, I just have to handle one thing at a time, and with time, I know that everything will get done.”
