This past year, I was privileged to be the mentor of Olivia Lin. She just graduated from Liberty High in Frisco, Texas (my hometown). Olivia selected me as her mentor for her Independent Study course. Basically, high school students reach out to a professional in a field that they are interested in pursing as a career and are mentored. Olivia’s assignment was to design a poster series of 5-8 posters for the halls of her high school. She decided that her posters would all have the message “be yourself”. In the hallways of a high school, where kids are turning into adults and trying to find themselves, I can’t think of a more appropriate message.

Above is my favorite poster from Olivia’s series. This design has recently been selected for the next year’s freshman class shirt for students and faculty. That means that over 600 will be floating around Liberty High, whose mascot is the “Redhawks”. Even though Olivia will be at UT in the fall, her message of “be yourself” lives on in the halls of the place where she learned to do just that.