Ever since he was a little boy, Oliver has loved stories, reading every book he could get his hands on. This love for stories and storytelling followed him to college, where he entered with foggy dreams of becoming a neurologist or environmental scientist. Yet he soon found his passions lay not within chemistry and biology but within literature and language.

Growing up in a small town along the coast of South Carolina, he never lived near a major hub for art or expression. However, as he grew a little older, Oliver realized such a hub did not need cities or new ideas or even people; all it needed was the sky, sun, and, preferably, some wind. Oliver found this place of inspiration on and near the beaches of his youth and has discovered the importance of the ocean in his life.

He kept this love for the ocean and carried his literary passions throughout his undergraduate experience. He earned an A.B. (i.e., Artium Baccalaureatus, or rather the Latin, albeit pretentious, way to say Bachelor of Arts) degree from the College of Charleston in both Classics and English. With these majors, he studied the complexities of grammar, rhetoric, and composition in Latin, Ancient Greek, and, of course, English.

Earning multiple awards and recognitions, as well as graduating near the top of his class, he managed to get the most out of his college experience. From clubs to professional programs to exploring a young and independent lifestyle, college proved a formative series of events. Some key themes he concentrated on include epistolary literature, southern literature, and epic poetry. Additionally, he favored authors and poets such as Cormac McCarthy, Bob Dylan, and Ovid.

Since graduating a couple of years ago, he has mostly worked side jobs in the food and beverage industry, though, for six months, he taught English as a Second Language (ESL) in Madrid, Spain. To prepare for this position, he earned a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate. Before this experience, Oliver had never left the East Coast of the United States, spending most of his life in and around his hometown. However, he always had, and still has, a dream to travel his country and the world.

So, without knowing much Spanish at all, he hopped on a plane and, with the help of a non-profit organization, navigated through life thousands of miles away from anyone he knew. He had entered a completely different world. People sounded different, places smelled different, and streets looked different. The culture shock was hard, but the city shock was harder. Madrid was the largest city he had ever visited, yet he quickly adjusted.

And despite living in Spain to work, Oliver still found time to travel and explore. Visiting Morocco, Germany, and France, in addition to cities throughout Spain, the world opened itself up to him, and he developed a new understanding of the earth and humanity. Yearning for seaside life, he found the coastal cities of Spain to bring him the most comfort.

To confront homesickness and culture shock, he also found comfort in reading and writing. He fought homesickness one page at a time by inhaling novels, essays, and poetry. And, to reflect on such a confusing time, he finally started to journal every day.

And now, between reading a new book and bartending, Oliver will be pursuing an M.A. in English starting this Fall. During and after his graduate experience, he wishes to develop a career in writing or editing and perhaps later earn a Ph.D. to pursue a career in academia.