Olivia Jackson '26 Recruiting Profile

As a multi-sport athlete who has played, or at least tried almost every sport imaginable, I am always reminded of how much of a hard-working, adaptive, passionate, smart, and overachieving player I am. While I have been told I'm great, I believe that the best part of my skillset is on the cusp of fully blossoming. Regardless of the positive feedback I have received, I push myself every day to be able to look back and say "I am proud of the woman I have become ". 

I have been passionately playing sports and being a productive member of my community and family for as long as I can remember.  This passion and drive for constant improvement in my personal and sports personality has always kept me motivated and made me the person I am today. This is particularly true as a Foreign Service child who has moved around the world for the last 14 years.  I was born in Winchester, Virginia, and after living in the charming suburbs of Charles Town, West Virginia for five years, my father was assigned to Frankfurt, Germany, through the Department of State. Since then, I have moved six additional times, all around the world,  from Germany to Florida, to Kenya, to Virginia, to Brazil, and now to Saudi Arabia, where I will be finishing my last two years of high school. I wish I could say that I remember everything about the places I have ever lived in, but unfortunately, that is not the case. What I can say is that ever since my first big move I dreaded the fact of leaving the one place that I call home, and over the years that feeling had grown larger and larger until it had almost swallowed me whole.  Surprisingly now, in my Junior year of high school, I have learned to love it. Why? You may ask?  Well, because moving has given me so many great opportunities that many people will never get to experience. I have met hundreds of great people whom I would have never had the chance if my father had not been assigned the opportunity to serve overseas. Moving all around the world has taught me resilience, and adaptability, and demonstrated to me how to work with others, fit into different/challenging environments, and learn new cultures. These experiences have served as segways to becoming a hard-working and open-minded individual regardless of the challenges presented. Additionally, my life experiences have provided a solid foundation to continue improving myself, while serving as a positive role model to others around me. I am driven by challenges that are indeed difficult, which serves as the motivation necessary to prove to myself that I can do it. 

I am on a continuous journey to improve myself, not just for success or to be the best in sports, but also a positive global citizen who recognizes the need to give back to my school and the larger community. I have faced failure and disappointment at various intervals in my life, however, these moments have shaped me and have forged a personality of resilience in pursuit of success.

Lastly, I would like to share a moment from my time in Germany.  I recall an especially notable moment in 2013 at the age of six and first stepping foot on a freshly cut soccer field that looked as though it was glowing as the rays of the sun beamed off of it. I instantly knew that all I wanted to do was play and be surrounded by people who shared the same love for the amazing game as I do, no matter what it took.  

Thank you for listening to my story, I hope to be a part of your future but mostly I hope that you can also be a part of mine.