Meet Olivia Olusanya

Today we’d like to introduce you to Olivia Olusanya.

Hi Olivia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi! My name is Olivia Olusanya. I am 19 years old and currently in medical school. I was accepted straight out of high school into a rigorous and prestigious accelerated program that allows me to become a doctor in only six years instead of the traditional eight. I would say that my story began by watching both of my immigrant parents loving their jobs as physicians; I was constantly exposed to medicine. I would watch shows like Untold Stories of the ER and Mystery Diagnosis after I came home from school. However, growing up and developing my natural love of chemistry and biology helped strengthen my interest in medicine even more. Around this time in my life, I began to play candy crush. As an avid candy crush player, I had a knack for problem-solving. In high school, I grew fascinated with another kind of puzzle: chemistry. Using calorimetry and enthalpy laws to understand thermodynamics rejuvenated me. I saw the human body as a complicated puzzle in biology, and intricacies such as gene expression and regulation tugged at the puzzle solver in me. I wasn’t satisfied until I understood the enigma of the body. To me, medicine and puzzles share the same blood. After working on various case studies and observing physicians, I understood that identifying patients’ exact needs is challenging. Diseases can be puzzles, and sometimes doctors unveil them piece by piece. The patient’s signs and symptoms are fragments that yearn for connection: a diagnosis. After continuously growing my interest in medicine, I began to search for universities and programs in the Missouri area. In 8th grade, I learned about the University of Missouri – Kansas City BA/MD program and catered my courses, grades, and extracurriculars to their requirements. Five years later, I am about to start the fall semester of my second year.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have been very fortunate to have had a smooth road (for the most part). There were times in high school when I would have late nights reading forums about people talking about the admission process and how hard it is to get accepted. They would chat about their achievement scores and accomplishments that I was nowhere near achieving. I can admit that those nights have deterred my confidence in applying. Not to mention, the social aspect of high school wasn’t the greatest for me because I would choose to study and get extracurriculars down instead of being able to relax and spend time with friends. Granted, these struggles aren’t nearly as detrimental to the other inspiring stories I have read.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Aside from studying to one day be able to save lives, I am an aspiring micro-influencer on social media platforms, mainly Instagram. I try to show off my creative side through my clothing and passion for taking and posting pictures. I get dressed up and find interesting locations to shoot based on my outfits and the vibes that they are giving. I have been grateful to have received a few collaborations with some of my favorite brands through Instagram. I am so excited to see how far I have come a year from now and the brands that come with it!

How do you define success?
I define success as reaching your goals and aspirations in your timeline and no one else’s. There is always pressure to follow people around you to follow a “general” timeline of how life should work out. But that is not true. Don’t let someone take away your feeling of success because they don’t see it that way. Success is unique to you, and only you and no one can take that away from you.

Pricing:

• $75 – story (Instagram)
• $90 – brand post/carousel (Instagram)
• $125 – video promo of products (TikTok/Instagram Reel)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/oliviaolusanya
• Instagram: @olivia.olusanya
• Facebook: @olivia.olusanya
• Other: TikTok: @olivia.olusanya

Image Credits
Kaitlin Mace (headshot)