Alumni Spotlight: Olivia Mason

We recently caught up with TEA alumna Olivia Mason. Olivia graduated from TEA in 2022 after entering the school as a freshman in 2018. She is now in her third year at UC Irvine and tells us about TEA’s lasting impact on who she is and how she navigates life. 

1) Please tell us a little bit about what you have been up to since graduating from TEA.

I am now a junior at UC Irvine. I am double majoring in Spanish and International Studies, and I have just added a minor in Chicano and Latino Studies. I intend to pursue a career in politics and international relations. I want to work specifically with Latin American and Spanish speaking countries. 

After moving to college, I joined a radio station and I am now the public affairs director at KUCI – a campus radio station. I manage the talk show programming there, and I also have my own show, called The Morning Mess where a friend and I discuss light political news. 

I also became a recruiter for the Peace Corps. I encourage graduating students to think about serving their country abroad and getting some experience while connecting with other cultures, which is what I intend to do after I graduate. 

This past spring, I completed an internship in Washington DC for the State Department. It was a lot of fun and I got to work with the congressional liaison office, which basically meant that I spent time between the Hill and the State Department trying to connect folks.

2) What has been the most unexpected hurdle that you have faced since graduating and how did the skills you developed at TEA help you navigate that hurdle?

The unexpected hurdle that TEA has prepared me for is the need to be able to pivot, to be able to change your plans, and to be able to be flexible. I need to do that all the time now. Every TEA student has some horrible story from some trip where something went wrong. It was nobody’s fault, but it was just some experience of yours where you’re like, ‘I really did not enjoy this particular situation.’ But you know what? We found a different way to move forward and it made for a better story. I’m really grateful that TEA showed me that it’s not always the best idea to focus on how upset you are, rather, focus on what amazing opportunity has now been offered. 

3) What is next for you? What are you most excited about in your future?

My intention after graduating is to go to the Peace Corps and spend a couple of years doing a tour in a Spanish speaking country, doing something to help the world become a better place. Afterwards, I’d like to go to graduate school to learn more about international relations and then enter into the workforce as a foreign service officer, and that is just a very fancy term for working for the State Department as a diplomat. I’m really, really passionate about world affairs and I am very grateful that TEA gave me the opportunity to explore that passion. 

As much as I enjoy being in college, I really cannot wait to enter the workforce and just explore all of the amazing things the world has to offer. TEA got me very excited about becoming my own person and making a difference in the world because that’s one of the key pillars that we were always taught. Stewardship of yourself, of your space, and of the people around you. I am hoping to become a steward of international relations.

4) When you think about the legacy that TEA imprinted on you, what would you say stands out as most impactful? In other words, what impact did TEA have on your life? 

One of my favorite fun facts when I meet new people is the fact that my graduating class was 11 people, including me, and people always look at me funny when I say that. I tell them I went to a special school. I tell them about the backpacking trips and I tell them about all of our amazing experiences, all of our adventures. I tell them about experiential learning and I tell them about how all of my classes were taught by teachers who really cared about what they were teaching and how I’ve made amazing friendships that will last a lifetime through really interesting situations like canoeing down the Colorado River and backpacking along the Pacific Crest Trail and exploring the woods in Maine. 

TEA gave me license to explore things that I would have never been able to explore in high school. I remember my Spanish class allowing me to explore Latin music, as that was the thing that I was really interested in, instead of just forcing me to do my conjugation tables. TEA has given me more than I can possibly describe, define, or explain to you in any amount of time. I am the person I am today because of them. I have my best friend because of them. I had an amazing education because of them. I got support when I was trying to understand ADHD because of them. I enjoyed high school because of TEA, and I feel like that’s something that not a lot of kids can say.

5) If you were to offer some advice to our current high school students, including our graduating seniors, what would it be?

I don’t know if I’m the best person to give advice because I will admit that I’m still figuring it out myself. I will tell you that you cannot eat ramen noodles every single day of your life. You will get scurvy. It’s an actual thing. It didn’t just happen to pirates in the 1800s. Eat a fruit and vegetable every once in a while even though your parents aren’t there to make you do it anymore. 

What kind of advice do I wish I had when I graduated? I think it would be to appreciate the connections that you have made, appreciate the connections you are going to make, and don’t sell yourself short. Appreciate the people that TEA has put you into contact with. Appreciate the relationships you’ve developed through TEA, whether that’s best friends, teachers, or experts that you met in the field. Appreciate those relationships. Continue to build upon them. TEA was never one to hold me back, not once. They always let me run with whatever project that I had an idea for, and encouraged me to explore whatever I wanted to do, whatever I set my mind to learning. 

Unfortunately, the adult world is not as thoughtful and kind and welcoming as TEA was and still is. I think it’s really easy to suddenly doubt yourself, and it’s very easy to start disbelieving in your capabilities and your intelligence, in your creativity and excitement for learning, for exploring, for development, and that’s why I say don’t sell yourself short. Don’t let the world beat out of you what TEA tried so hard and for so long to instill into you, because one of the most valuable things you will ever learn is your own value.