From a young age, Olga Kerameos was interested in gaining knowledge and always envisioned herself studying abroad. From the age of three she started learning English and now it is her second mother tongue. Now the 17-year-old was accepted to the leading Harvard University in the USA.
"The truth is, I haven't realised it yet. It's like I'm happy but without knowing why. I forget and imagine myself on campus and I get excited," Olga told Thestival, unable to hide her obvious joy.
For her, it is difficult to decide the profession she would like to follow in the future. For this reason, she chose America "which gives a great opportunity for choices."
It took her several conferences to discover that she was interested in the social sciences, which include sociology, anthropology and economics.
Her achievement was not easy. It took a year of preparation with classes she took every week at school and reading at home. She attended the Studies Abroad program, which prepares high school students for admission to universities in America and Europe without the International Baccalaureate (IB).
At the same time, with her school lessons, she took exams and had to write reports through which she had to unfold her interests.
“I filled out the application needed to enter the university on November 1st and after a few days a graduate messaged me for an interview. It was big shock and I realised that I might make it," she recounted excitedly.
"After the interview, on the 16th of the month, the answers came at 2 in the morning and I was sleeping. At school they told me to look at the results and that's how I found out that I had been accepted to Harvard," she continued.
Olga's parents and sister are proud of her and have always supported her in whatever decision she had to make. Although Olga is not used to asking for help, her family have always been there for her.
"Since I was little I applied abroad so I always told them I wanted to study abroad. They supported me at every level. My parents were always there for me especially when they saw me getting tired, stressed or insecure. Even if I didn't accept help, they always offered it," said the 17-year-old with a smile.
The student of the 3rd Lyceum will normally take the Pan-Hellenic Exams as she says she wants to live the experience and the path that the rest of her classmates will follow.
Ideally, when she completes her studies, she would be interested in an academic course, but as she says for now, she wants to absorb as much knowledge as possible.
“I would be interested in doing research maybe an academic course but it is too early to judge. For now I envision myself learning a lot and reading a lot about different things," she emphasises.
At the same time, with her intensive reading, she doesn't forget her hobbies. Since last year, she has been more involved with philosophy, which he particularly loves, as she confesses.
Since the first year of high school, she has taken part in theatre groups, in debate groups in English which remains her favorite hobby, in comedy duet competitions, but also in math and physics competitions.
What remains for Olga now is the decision on the scholarship which she is eagerly awaiting in April. Immediately after, she will give nationwide concerts and in August she will pack her bags to spread her wings in the USA.
Olga has received several awards. Some of them are honorable mention in the Yale University International Model Government (YaleModelGovernmentEurope - YMGE), Lisbon - Portugal (2019), 1st place in the 11th Panhellenic Philosophical Essay Competition (International Section), with the support of the University of Patras and the Center for Greek Studies of Greece at Harvard University (2022) and participation in the International Philosophy Olympiad, Lisbon – Portugal (2022).
