Olivia Fox

Have you always been interested in design?
I’ve always been interested in art. In my freshman year, I saw a senior who was interested in architecture. I was like, “that’s interesting. Math and design sound cool,” so I looked more into it.

What was your experience with your mentor?
This is my second year in a row [in the program]. The first year, I had the same mentor. She was great, she helped me so much. She’s the best, and Perkins&Will actually ended up writing an article because they loved us as a duo so much. She’s not my mentor this year, which is kind of sad. [The mentors] are so supportive and enthusiastic. I don’t know where they get their energy from, but if you ask them for something they definitely go out of their way to do it. They also helped me get more opportunities. Last year, they gave me a scholarship to do another Harvard program for free. They will introduce everything to you, and that’s really cool.

What was the assigned work like?
We talk about equity and design a lot, which I think is a bigger thing that we do rather than [just focusing on] architecture as a whole.

Do you think the program has helped improve your design skills?
I feel like I’m more in touch with what I like in my style, so it’s easier to design things. I’m more thoughtful now when it comes to creating things because they really made us think about what we create.

Will you pursue design in the future?
I’m majoring in architecture in college. My mentor was the one who wrote me a recommendation for college this year.