Arizona

Hi! I’m Olivia and I am currently a sophomore in high school. In my free time, I love to sing and write my own songs, play violin and piano, run, dance, and more! I also love reading, traveling, learning, surfing, and spending time with my friends and family. I love making a difference in my community and am elated to get the chance to help others on their scoliosis journey!

My scoliosis journey began in 2020 when I was told to get an x-ray for scoliosis. I did not understand how scoliosis would affect me in the future or even what it meant. I immediately went to get an x-ray and started bracing in December of 2020 for 20 hours a day. With the scorching weather of Arizona, wearing my brace was tough and it really stopped me from doing my usual activities of being more active. During this time period I felt very alone, not only because I did online school, but also because I did not know anyone else with scoliosis who understood what I was going through. I started looking for a community of people with scoliosis to find tips about bracing, clothes, and dealing with scoliosis overall.

The next school year I went back in-person and even though it was hard to wear my brace throughout the school day because of the pain, heat, and the lack of mobility that comes along with wearing the brace, I finally had made peace with it. I began to raise awareness for scoliosis through social media and fundraising as I want to stop the stigma that comes along with scoliosis and raise money for scoliosis research. As time went on, luckily my back started to stabilize and I eventually started wearing it less and less. Now, I am only wearing it at night and get to rebuild my core and back muscles that have become weakened from the brace. However, I still feel a need to do more, so I began to look for other ways to help those with scoliosis.

Being a Curvy Girls leader gives me the opportunity to form a group of girls with scoliosis who can relate to each other and help support one another! I wanted to become a Curvy Girls leader to help create a community of empowerment and support for girls with scoliosis. When I was going through my bracing journey I did not have a support group like Curvy Girls, so I felt alone. I hope to make girls with scoliosis feel not only supported, but also understood and valued throughout their journey!