People say everything happens for a reason. For one senior, every event that has occurred in her life led her to this school and to her future. Olivia Torrey, senior, may not have ever reached LZHS’ class of 2019 if it weren’t for the events that occured in her original home of Florida.

“I  moved here sophomore year from Florida, because my mom passed away, so currently I’m living with my aunt and uncle,” Torrey said. “It’s made me a lot more independent in life in my decisions and knowing what I want and it’s also helped me realize that life’s short and you should do things that make you happy and the things that you love.”

She had multiple options of where to live, but chose to move here since she’d previously lived in Barrington before Florida.  

“I remembered that I really liked the people and there’s something about the Midwest culture that’s really homey and something I really enjoyed. I knew that I would feel comfortable with my aunt and uncle who are good supporters and parental figures so I knew it would be the best spot for me.”

The self proclaimed bookworm credits her aunt for helping her through the hard days.

“My aunt has supported me most. She’s the most supportive person I know. She’s my mom’s sister and she’s always been there for me since the beginning. Since her sister/my mom died, we have that connection. It’s really nice to have someone like that to be able to just hang out with,” Torrey said.

But her aunt has also provided guidances. Both her aunt and cousin have encouraged her to work in the cosmetology field. Torrey said that she learned a lot about herself through Cosmo because of her passion for makeup and desire to be a teacher

“Cosmo has helped me become a way better communicator with people so I’m a lot more open,” Torrey said. “It’s also helped me become less sensitive to criticism because if someone doesn’t like [what I do for them], it doesn’t affect your creativity and it doesn’t necessarily affect how good or bad you are. It’s just maybe they just didn’t like it so you have to kind of grow a tough skin when you are in that kind of field.”

After going to college at Milwaukee School of Engineering, Torrey hopes to have “a steady career” in teaching.
“[As a teacher] I hope to impact kids. A lot of the teachers I’ve had through high school have really made a difference in who I am so I would definitely want to give that back to someone,” Torrey said. “I think regardless of what I do [my mom would] be proud.”

Torrey’s biggest take away has come together from all her life experiences as a whole. Her life may not have been the easiest, but she plans to graduate with her head up and sights set on the future with all her experience in mind.

“I’ve learned to find the positive in everything and patience is definitely key for me,” Torrey said. “I’ve always been the type of person to go go go and want to have control over everything, but I realized that half of the time, you can’t control life situations, so you have to have patience in knowing whatever’s going to happen is going to happen.”