Humans of Hall – Edition 8: Olivia Fan

Olivia+in+her+graduation+gown+at+Elizabeth+Park

Olivia in her graduation gown at Elizabeth Park

To be a student at Hall High School means that I am lucky enough to be surrounded (currently through Google Meets) on a daily basis by some of the smartest, most hardworking students. Olivia Fan is definitely one of these students; she will, undoubtedly, change the world one day. 

Her greatest passion is STEM, which originates from growing up as part of an engineering family.  Olivia’s parents and grandfather all being engineers means that she was exposed to their work from a young age. Specifically, she recalled “just watching in awe as my father turned blueprints into aircraft engines as a mechanical engineer, and as my mother designed electrical systems that delivered electricity to thousands of households as an electrical engineer made a significant impact on me early as a child.” 

Naturally, Olivia’s favorite subjects in school are math, as well as chemistry, which she considers the most mathematical of the sciences. Although she’s still exploring career options, she’s currently interested in becoming a medicinal chemist or chemical engineer to be able to study oncology and advance cancer therapeutics. 

Olivia explains that this work is particularly meaningful to her because “my grandfather passed away to cancer, so it would be really meaningful for me personally as well to be able to help people fighting against cancer just like my grandfather.” 

Next year, she will be attending Duke University where she plans on studying chemistry and computer science. 

Aside from her STEM talents, Olivia loves to spend her free time participating in a variety of activities. First and foremost, she loves listening to music, whether it be pop, classical, or K-Pop. Also, she has been playing the piano since she was 3 or 4 years old, as well as teaching herself to play the guitar. Finally, Olivia enjoys traveling the world, trying good foods, and watching horror movies. 

Olivia has an exciting future ahead of her, and we know she will make Hall proud with all of her accomplishments!