Christina O. (IN A NUTSHELL)

Christina’s learning journey at Brown wound her through courses in 12 different departments before she finally landed on Comparative Literature (English, French); a choice she made after realizing that she had not only fulfilled over half the requirements but that the concentration would challenge her to master a second language and study abroad. She also loves that most of her classes are philosophy and theory-based because they challenge her with questions the real world doesn’t encourage, yet which are crucial to our cultural and individual development. Those like “What is the role of the visual in shaping our moral life?” and “How might a literary work at once confront us with our reality and open up its possibilities?” Christina has long been dedicated to fostering creativity in her community. In high school, as a response to the limits posed by an underfunded art program, she spearheaded a weekly after-school art course in which she taught lessons in visual analysis and encouraged artistic experimentation. She is also as analytical as she is creative: a quality she once used to exhaust her high school’s math curriculum by her sophomore year, but has more recently harnessed toward consulting. First, for a Providence non-profit working to provide educational and travel opportunities for Black youth; then for McKinsey her sophomore summer developing various diversity initiatives. These combined skills also come in handy in her work with college students developing personal statements, an experience she cherishes due to the self-reflection and expression inherent to the writing process. Having grown up in a learning environment where the practical and career-oriented were valued over the theoretical, Christina is eager to connect with students who feel as though their urgent intellectual curiosities are overlooked by their learning institutions. She is also keen on connecting with students who, like her, were raised in environments where their identities were not shared by the majority of those around them. She's grateful for the exposure to this challenge, but she wishes she'd had an older friend help her navigate through! Christina keeps herself sane through solo travel, a hobby that forces her out of her head and acquaints her with interesting people from all over the world. On a more regular basis, you may also find her handwriting meticulously detailed birthday cards, laughing out loud to her favorite pop culture podcast, or dancing to Afrobeats.