Capture memories and make art!

Name, School, Major, Hometown: OKR (Olivia Kuan-Romano); Barnard; Psychology Major, Dance Minor; A 30-minute trip on the downtown 1 (FiDi! New York City!) 

Claim to fame: Stunt cast to do backflips across Roone, producing a Varsity Show (+ the first 54 Below show w/ my Foremans), founding the barnard/CU eating disorder chapter, majoring in musicals (CMTS president), and….oh yeah📸, taking millions of photos around campus at student productions, arts events, and more (@okr_photography plug, duh).  

Where are you going? Back downtown (physically), to Broadway (for work, shoutout @andthatsshowbiz // And That’s Strategy), and to heal (mentally) (hopefully?). 

What are three things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2030?

1. It’s always networking this and networking that. The truth is, showing up & being kind will get you the farthest (both within the CU bubble and in the “real world”). 
2. Don’t underestimate the power of saying yes. It may sound cliche, but know that it’s entirely possible to accidentally build a life from one random opportunity (said as someone who unpacked their camera after hesitantly agreeing to photograph CMTS: In the Heights as a freshman and can somehow now say she’s photographing on Broadway)
3. Have a distinguishable brand—I can’t even begin to tell you how many missing items got returned to me because it had a dinosaur on it🦕

“Back in my day…” Barnard hall wasn’t so insistent that I improve my well-being. Also, the quad was somehow both more (s/o open side gate) and less (humans v. placebo turnstiles) accessible. 

Favorite Columbia lore? Guys. Do you even know the Varsity Show storage unit (Hartley Hell Hole) 🫠🔨👻

What was your favorite class at Columbia? Depression; Abnormal Psychology; OCD, Anxiety & Related Disorders; Culture, Mental Health, and Healing in East Asia (sensing a theme?) 

Honorable Mentions: Intro to Asian American Literature; Technical Production; Human Anatomy and Movement

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? glub. glub. glub. 🐟

Whom would you like to thank? SO many people wow: Ida Santiago-Gutierrez; Abi Hart; CC Shaw; Julia Dooley, Nina Lam, Charlene Lewis and the liminal space that is Lerner Suite 515; The Columbia Musical Theater Society Board (board! board! board!); the creative teams of CMTS: Fun Home, The 131st Annual Varsity Show, CUP: The Moors, and The Lives of Our Times; and anyone who I’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing a stage (or program) with. College really is nothing if not a collection of “the friends you made along the way.” 

One thing to do before graduating? I could go on forever, but start with these: 

• Pull out a camera and capture the memory. You’ll want it later (and so will they). 
• Go watch your buddies do their thing: a performance, a game, a presentation, anything. It turns out showing up for your people is kind of the whole point :) 
• Become a recurring character in a staff member’s workday.  
• Take a walk in the park, see a Broadway show—just leave campus sometimes. There is, after all, a whole big city out there. 
• Find your weird little corner of campus and let it become home <3 
• Make art with your friends. Seriously.

Any regrets? Of course! But mostly just overwhelming gratitude to be leaving with so many beautiful memories & people in my life. 

Olivia via Olivia