OVS alum Leila Giannetti was the featured speaker at the annual Senior-to-Alumni Dinner on Thursday. The 2018 grad laid down some powerful knowledge for our graduating seniors.
Hi everybody! I was invited here today to hopefully make you feel a little more prepared for your first few years outside of OVS, and I think the best way to do that is to tell you my story as honestly as I can. 
I got accepted to my dream school, George Washington University, six months before graduation. I spent every day of the next six months impatiently waiting to finish my classes and hop on the first flight to DC to start my life, until graduation day came. On that day, I sat in the amphitheater next to 20 of my classmates, waiting to see if Mr. Floyd would pronounce my last name correctly, and wondering where the time went. It was then I realized that I had spent the last six months, and if I were being honest more like the past four years, waiting for the future instead of living in the moment, cherishing every wonderful experience I had at OVS.
The future is coming whether you like it or not, anxiously or excitedly thinking about it won’t make it come any slower or faster, but looking around and cherishing this moment and every moment will save you from missing out on the best experiences of your life now and down the road.
I arrived on the GW campus bright eyed and bushy tailed on move-in day. I was studying international affairs in Washington, DC. I was living my dream. I spent my freshman year doing everything you’re supposed to do your first year of college. I joined clubs, made as many authentic friends as I could, didn’t skip class (except for the one time I met Mr. Floyd who was on the 8th grade trip), and gained the freshman 15. It was such a thrilling time. When you get to college there will be a plethora of new opportunities available to you. There will be a voice in your head that says, “well, I SHOULD do this.” I implore you to question that voice. Honestly I suggest you constantly question everything in life. I found that you will spend your whole life yearning for more if you only do what you’re told you SHOULD do. I thought I SHOULD join Model UN because my advisor said it would look good on my resume, but instead I joined the Women’s Club Rugby team, made some of my greatest friends, almost broke my nose (twice), and learned so much about myself. It was the best decision I made in college.
Although I was happy for a while, the excitement of being in a new place, surrounded by new people and opportunities, wore off by the end of freshman year. I disliked studying international affairs, but thought I SHOULD stick with it so that I could finish my degree on time. I felt uninspired and unhappy with the decision I made. How could I be so wrong about what I wanted to do? It was during the second semester of my sophomore year that the pandemic hit. Like all of you, I started taking online classes, and I’m assuming like most of you, I was not the biggest fan. I struggled both mentally and academically, and ended up deciding to take this year off. I then eventually decided to leave GW altogether once I allowed myself to go against the SHOULD. At first, I felt ashamed. It wasn’t my plan to take a break from college, but it also wasn’t in my plan to be unhappy.
Life as a series of doors — when you close one, another door is sure to open up. When I closed the door to GW, other doors opened. I started filming animals on my family farm and discovered an interest for creating videos. I decided to take a pottery class and fell in love with ceramics, and I recently started learning how to rock climb. Leaving my dream school is the best decision I could’ve made for myself. I still have no idea what I am going to do with the rest of my life, but I’m 20 so that’s more than okay. And if you have no idea what you are doing, you’re 17, 18, 19, and that’s more than okay. No matter what your plan is for the future, just know that it’s all right if it changes drastically a thousand times, it is all a part of life. Each opportunity you take will teach you something and will make you more you.
Don’t worry so much about what you should do, do what feels right to you. Cherish your last days on campus with the friends you have had for years. Look around you, if you ever need advice or a shoulder to cry on, the OVS community will always be there for you with open arms (I know we say it a lot but it’s true).
All of you will go on to do wonderful things, remember to enjoy the journey. If hiking and camping with OVS taught me anything it’s that sometimes the journey is the best part even if it’s all uphill.
Congratulations for graduating, and no matter what path you are taking after this, you’re on your right path. Thank you.