Red Bricks and Big Dreams – Find Your Place: Olivia Patel
July 16, 2025 | Natalie Pond
Olivia Patel is a junior Journalism and Political Science double major from Wisconsin. Being the editor-in-chief for The Miami Student (a student-run news platform at Miami University), she has a lot that she’s juggling.
What was your college search process like?
Olivia, with her sister who is two years older, went on a tour across the Midwest during the summer going into her sophomore year of high school, seeing as many different colleges as they could. When visiting Miami, something was different than the others:
“I came here and walked around the campus; it just kind of was exactly what I pictured to be a college campus. Like it was everything I wanted, like the red brick, the small town, the college feel.”
While on the tour, Olivia saw the required ACT score for a scholarship and leaned over to her mom to say, “I’m going to get that score,” because she wanted to come here. When it came time to take her ACT, she got better than the required score, and once her acceptance letter with the scholarship came, there really was no decision, especially since her sister ended up coming to Miami two years before as well.
What did move-in look like for you?
Being from Wisconsin, a six-hour drive away, move-in was chaotic.
“I read the initial email wrong, and I got the move-in date wrong, so my mom booked the hotel and a moving truck for the wrong date. It was a day later than the day I was supposed to move in.”
Because the hotel and moving truck had already been planned, Olivia had to stick with moving in a day later than most people. Even though she was very stressed out about moving in a day late and missing the initial bonding, Olivia still had such a great time.
What was the relationship with your roommate/hall like?
Olivia met her roommate, Emily Levine, on Instagram, and they decided to room together, and actually grew so close to each other that they live together currently off campus.
“Emily kind of helped me be more social because she was super social with people in our dorm. The whole dorm experience was amazing. Emerson Hall was like the best opportunity because it just had the best people. And now Emily, she’s my best friend, like hands down.”
Have you studied abroad? If so, what was that like?
Through the Political Science department, Olivia had the opportunity to study abroad in London during the winter term.
“It was quite literally life-changing. We got backstage access to all those major places like Westminster Abbey and the Churchill War Rooms. While I was there, I felt like I truly got every single second out of those three and a half weeks of studying abroad there.”
What were each of your internships?
A high school teacher recommended Olivia to the county newspaper internship after high school graduation, before coming to Miami for her freshman year.
At this internship, Olivia wrote cut lines for photos, fact-checked, and did a lot of the “grunt work of journalism,” but also learned a lot of “invaluable skills of what to look for when you’re proofing, or what a good story reads like.”
Midsummer, Olivia received her first assignment about a grave in a local graveyard where they had recently found a family related to a grave that they had not known.
“My editor had so much faith in me and she was extremely helpful in the process, and that’s just the satisfaction of seeing my name in black and white for something I had worked on.”
Olivia has had the opportunity to return the past two summers as an intern working on freelance stories.
In addition, the summer going into her junior year, Olivia had the opportunity to intern with Milwaukee Magazine on the editorial side of journalism, working on fact-checking.
Olivia also worked on many fun features with arts and cultures, as well as a piece that she proposed to her editor about “why ballot boxes were coming back to Wisconsin.”
What will you be doing for your upcoming internship?
This summer, Olivia is going to Washington, D.C.. to work for Fox News on their digital politics team, and attributes a lot of the opportunity to the connections she has made at Miami. Being part of the Department of Political Science, Olivia is going to Washington, D.C., for Inside Washington and was able to work with professors to get the contact information for so many internship opportunities.
When talking with a former Miami professor who now works at Fox News, the former professor said that 14,000 people applied for 200 internship positions at Fox News. So what makes Olivia stand out?
Olivia knew that there were many people with the same background as her, and there wasn’t much that allowed her to fully stand out, so she had to sell herself fully.
Using her networking skills, Olivia had an established network at Fox which helped her stand out among other applicants.
What has Miami helped you with?
“Miami’s changed my life.”
Through high school, Olivia did not always know what her goals were and felt like she didn’t really fit in with her friends. Coming to Miami, Olivia knows that she has found her place and her people.
“I feel like I there is not one second of being at Miami that I haven’t enjoyed and I haven’t felt welcomed or honored or loved while being here because all my professors, all the people I work with at The Miami Student, all the people in my sorority and my friends – I just feel I have such a place here and that’s such a rare feeling. Miami has fit me in every way possible.”
Through classes, The Miami Student, and Olivia’s sorority (Kappa Kappa Gamma), Olivia has found people who understand and support her academically, professionally, and personally.
