Curiosity is Olivia Swords’ superpower; she will never leave a stone unturned or a rabbit hole left unexplored.
Swords and Alice from Alice in Wonderland have something in common: they are incredibly curious.
Even at five years old, she showcased an Alice-like sense of curiosity. Kindergarteners aren’t usually concerned with election cycles, but Swords was.
“When she was a kindergartner, she made a wooden sign,” Liz Swords, Olivia’s mother, said. “She made a wooden sign, and with chalk, drew a face on it and put it in our front yard. It said, ‘Vote’ to let all the neighbors know that they should.”
This curiosity led her to explore the world of politics and law.
“Since I was 12 years old, I always wanted to be a judge,” Olivia Swords said. “I’ve actually really wanted to be a state supreme court justice.”
This aspiration is not the same as when a child sees a firefighter on TV and, on a whim, decides that’s the career they want to pursue, then forgets about it a year later; no, Swords never does anything halfway.
“I wrote to one of the Supreme Court justices here in Illinois when I was 12 years old, and meeting her was so inspiring; she invited my parents and me to see the court,” she said. “We got a private tour, and she gave me a little pendant for a necklace with the seal of the Supreme Court, so I put it on a chain, and I wear it for all my moot court competitions. I feel like it brings me good luck.”
Even after some second-guessing, Swords’ desire to work up the ladder in the judiciary system lives on.
When Swords committed to Millikin, she applied as a cybersecurity major. As freshman year approached, she realized she was more interested in pre-law or pre-med, so she spent her first semester as a biology pre-med major.
“I did my first semester as a biology [pre-med] major, and I liked it, but I realized it wasn’t the path for me,” she said. “I was taking my honors seminar at the same time, which was a philosophy-centered course, and I loved it and thought it was so interesting. So, at that point, I thought, ‘Okay, you know what? I’m going to switch back to pre-law.’”
After switching her major, she got involved in moot court, a state-wide competition held in Springfield that simulates arguments at the Illinois Supreme Court level and the judicial branch of government.
“She got involved in moot court right away; she’s been a four-year foundation of the team and has done really great work in that capacity,” Dr. Robert Money, Swords’ philosophy advisor, said.
Out of her four years in moot court, she has been to the semi-finals once and the finals three times, has placed second twice and first once, and has won the Most Outstanding Attorney award twice.
“She has to rank as either number one or number two in the 20 years I’ve been doing this,” Dr. Money said.
But these accolades do not come without exemplary teamwork and unwavering devotion. Dr. Money recalls a memory from moot court when Swords beautifully showcased these skills and her upstanding personality.
“We had a student who had to drop out of the competition last minute, which left her partner without a partner, and you have to have a partner to compete,” Dr. Money said. “So the problem is that this student did all this work getting ready for the competition, and at the last minute, is not going to be able to compete.
“Olivia and one other student came up with the idea that they would just stand in. So, they did their own argument rounds, and then every time this student had an argument, one of the two of them would fill in as her partner so that she could have the full experience.”
Swords is just that kind of person. She supports others and celebrates their accomplishments.
“She is probably my number one fan, which I think is insane, because she’s just crazy talented,” Ava Grimes, Swords’ freshman year roommate and longtime friend, said. “She’s always the first person to comment, or the first person to say something nice, or the first person to be like, ‘You’re a star, and you deserve this.’ [She does] this, and like, how can [she] be such a champion for other people and have such a busy life? It’s wild.”
Grimes met Swords at a college visit day before the two were Millikin students.
“I was at Millikin sometime before the fall semester started during the prior spring semester for a tour, and there was only one other person in my tour group, and it was Olivia and her mom, and we became friends then, [but] we didn’t really know each other that well,” Grimes said. “Then, when we got there in the fall, she happened to be in my freshman year seminar class, and we also lived on the same floor in our dorm.”
After completing their first semester, Grimes and Swords roomed together.
“Honestly, we would just talk for hours, we would go on drives, we would go on walks, [and] we tried our best to hang out, but we were both super busy, so a lot of our hangouts were just like, if she was in the dorm, or if we could hang out after [she was done in class],” Grimes said.
“Busy” is a word that accurately describes Swords.
“I actually think I’m at my most productive when I have a bunch of things going on, which is kind of counterintuitive, I guess, but I don’t like sitting idle,” she said. “When you have a bunch of things going on, it gives you a lot of different avenues that you can take with your time, and so it makes you appreciate what you truly like to do at the end of the day.”
This love for being busy can be seen in her devotion to school. Swords has won countless awards at Millikin, one of these being the prestigious Scovill Award.
Olivia’s Accolades
Awards & Honors
- Full-Tuition Presidential Scholarship
- Lincoln Academy of Illinois Student Laureate
- James Millikin Honors Scholarship
- Scovill Prize
- Model Illinois Government Most Outstanding Moot Court Attorney Award (x2)
- John Williams Most Outstanding Moot Court Team Award
- Dr. J. Graham Provan History Award, Albert T. Mills History Prize
- Rev. Robert S. & Doris Stewart History Award
- Alice Ambrose Lazerowitz Philosophy Award (x2)
- T.S. Samuels Pre-Law Award (x3)
- T.W. Adney Memorial Pre-Law Award
- Dr. Grace Patten Conant Award for Literary Interpretation
- Dr. Grace Patten Conant Award for Literary Creation
- Dr. Grace Patten Conant English Department Award
- Conant Society Achievement Award (x2)
- High Dean’s List (x7)
School Activities and Societies
- Millikin Cheerleading Team
- Student Honors Advisory Council | Philanthropy Chair (2023-2024) and Vice President (2024-2025)
- Model Illinois Government Moot Court
- Writing Center
She collects awards like Thanos collects infinity stones. At the 2025 Honors Convocation, I thought Swords might get the Scovill award again, but she wasn’t nominated due to her senior status.
Awards aren’t the only things she collects. Swords has three majors.
After Swords decided she wasn’t going to major in cybersecurity or biology pre-med, she declared a double major: philosophy on the pre-law track and English professional writing.
She then declared a third major, history.
“I added on the English major, and then I ended up taking a history class just for fun,” Swords said. “I took the history class, and I really liked it, and at that point, I thought, ‘Okay, well, maybe it’d be fun to add that on.’”
Having three majors that don’t always double dip in credits is challenging, especially when you plan to graduate on time.
“I went through the course handbook, and I did all the math,” Swords said. “If I put myself almost at the max of credit hours every single semester, could I theoretically do all of it?”
The answer is yes.
She did do it, and she did it with grace.
“I’ve always been really in awe of Olivia,” Dr. Julie Bates, Swords’ English advisor, said. “When she had two majors and then decided to add a third, I think I probably made a funny face just because I was so shocked when she told me she was going to do it, because that’s really unusual for people to do.”
Having three majors is often frowned upon because of how much of a commitment it is.
“I typically try to talk students out of being multiple majors, because it’s very challenging,” Dr. Dan Monroe, her history advisor, said. “But I think the key is she’s so disciplined. She’s very on point; she gets her work done on time, [and] she takes advantage of opportunities for help.”
Dr. Monroe has been one of Swords’ cheerleaders. When I spoke to him, he had nothing but vibrant comments about her time as his student.
“She’s a kind of sparkly intellect,” Dr. Monroe said. “She’s also a nice person. I mean, she’s not someone who is afflicted by hubris because she has these gifts. She’s very modest [and] soft spoken.
“I think so highly of her that I invited her to present at a regional conference. The Illinois State Historical Society stages a conference every year and invites professors and also laypeople who are interested in Illinois history.”
Her love for a packed schedule is not so surprising when you hear about her upbringing.
“One of the rules I had with her growing up was that if she wanted to watch TV, she had to be doing something else,” Liz Swords said. “So I would set up a little table for her, and she would do arts and crafts and various things, whether it’s painting, coloring, sewing, Legos, or any of those.
“She was just never a sit-around kid, couch potatoing, playing with her devices, none of that. That’s just not her life. So she’s very hands-on, very creative.”
In her free time, Swords likes to act in plays/musicals, listen to music, and read. Although these aren’t all of her favorite pastimes, they are certainly ones she treasures.
“I have gotten back into theater over the past year, which has been really fun, because that’s something I haven’t done since high school,” Swords said. “At first, I was a little nervous that it would add stress to my plate, but I’m so glad I got back into it, because it’s just brought me so much joy. It’s introduced me to a new community of people that I really enjoy spending time with. So, I would actually classify that as my rest and relaxation time, because it’s a decompressor for me mentally.”
Many may think that landing a role in a musical is just more work added to their plate, but not for Swords. At the end of her junior year, fall semester, she tried out for Theatre 7’s production of Annie and got the role of Grace Ferrell.
“Doing Annie was literally a childhood dream of mine,” she said. “It was so fun, and it took a lot to get me back into doing theater, because it’s a nerve-wracking experience in the beginning, just putting yourself out there enough to audition, especially with people that I had never met. But it came at a very good time, and I was just so glad I did it.”
Theater became an outlet of creative expression for Swords.
But her inquisitive brain does not pause amid a busy schedule.
A white rabbit appeared when Swords watched the docuseries, The Vow.
She didn’t just watch the docuseries and say, ‘Wow, that was cool!’ No, Swords never does anything halfway.
She confidently followed the rabbit.
“Watching the documentary wasn’t enough; I had to go find out more, find people on Facebook, send messages, and do all of that,” she said.
Her capstone started as a memoir about a woman who escaped the cult featured in The Vow. She reached out to the woman after finding her on Facebook and traveled to New York by herself to interview her many times.
In the end, the project turned into a hefty paper looking into various cults and exploring how “we are all inherently vulnerable to cult-like persuasions, as well as the role of the media and the legal system in facilitating greater clarity in the dialogue surrounding the intricacies of coercive control.” (An excerpt from Swords’ capstone abstract)
“Not only does she go down the rabbit hole, but she fully commits herself to everything when she’s chasing after the rabbit; she doesn’t stop partway and [say], ‘Oh, I’m going to go check out this other rabbit hole,’ she commits herself fully,” Dr. Bates said.
Swords followed spent most of her college career following her curiosities, but now it’s time for her to graduate.
“I plan to take a year, maybe two, between graduating from undergrad and applying for law school,” Swords said. “You’re kind of at a disadvantage in the application process if you don’t have a year or two of professional experience, so that’s become the new standard.”
After taking a gap year or two, she plans on interning at a firm to get more experience to add to her resume.
Her end goal is to work in the judicial world in some capacity.
“Ultimately, I would love to end up working my way up through the judiciary, but before then, I don’t know entirely,” Swords said. “I do think I would enjoy big law; it’s a different area, because much of it is not done in the courtroom.
“I think I would like to be in a courtroom from time to time, but I also would like the dynamic of not having to do that every single day. So a lot will depend on what I find most interesting and enjoyable in law school.”
Even with a good understanding of her plan for the future, Swords still questions if she is on the right path.
“I will lie in bed at night and ask myself, ‘Am I going in the right direction?’” she said. “Because at the end of the day, I would love to be a flight attendant. I think about it all the time.”
The first time I heard her say this, I was in shock. For someone who seems to know exactly what she wants to do, dropping it all to become a flight attendant is the last thought I would expect her to have.
“I would actually love to be a pilot as well, but I don’t necessarily know if I would feel comfortable manning an airplane,” she said. “I just think it would be fun because you get to meet a lot of people and see a lot of places. I also love airports. They have such a fun energy.”
Not only would she want to become a flight attendant, but she would also want to climb the ladder and become a pilot.
Unsurprisingly, Swords knew a lot of information about how to become a flight attendant.
“I mean, I could take an additional gap year and just become a flight attendant,” she said. “I have thought about it, genuinely; I really have.”
Regardless of what Swords does, her curiosity and drive to succeed will stay with her, helping her accomplish whatever she puts her mind to.
“She moves through life with confidence and grace, and she has a very clear vision of what she wants to do and where she’s headed and is really intentional about the choices she makes,” Dr. Bates said. “So even though it feels like she’s doing all of these things, they’re all moving her toward her goals.”
Where will Swords follow the white rabbit next?
Will it be to law school? To become a flight attendant? Or perhaps, perform on a big stage?
No one knows.
The only thing for certain is that Olivia Swords will forever follow the white rabbit.
“I love seeing what more she’s going to do, because I know it’ll continue,” Liz Swords said. “It’s not going to matter, Olivia is going to be one of those individuals at a very elderly age, and she’s going to be still creating things.”
