By Khalida Sarwari
It’s hard to walk away unimpressed from Olivia Hadidian. Even before hearing about her accomplishments on the soccer field and in the track and field stadium, the Del Mar senior makes a mark as the embodiment of confidence and poise.
Del Mar Associated Student Body director Marcene Guerrero describes the 18-year-old as someone who isn’t concerned with popularity, but is popular because of the person that she is.
“She’s very confident in who she is and comfortable in her own skin,” Guerrero said. “She got nominated for homecoming court and she didn’t expect it. It was neat to see her walk around and get to enjoy that.”
As part of the activities, Olivia was escorted to and recognized at halftime of the homecoming football game. Olivia recalled that day as one of the best in her memory during her four years at Del Mar. She remembered the home team was losing and then just as it started raining and with mere seconds left on the clock, the Dons bounced back and beat their opponents. Olivia said the combination of the unexpected feat and the school pride reverberating throughout the rain-soaked stadium made for “a perfect movie moment.”
“It was an intense moment,” she recalled.
Olivia is no stranger to moments of pressure on the field herself. She played varsity soccer all four years at Del Mar and varsity track and field her sophomore, junior and senior years. The school awards she’s accumulated over the years in soccer speak for themselves: She received the Best Underclassmen her freshman year, Iron Woman as a sophomore, Best Offensive Player her junior year and Most Valuable Player as a senior after leading the league in scoring. This year she was also recognized on the all-league first team in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, the highest of the three divisions in the BVAL. As a junior, she was named to the all-league second team in the Santa Teresa Division after helping the Dons win a league championship.
In track and field this spring, Olivia finished first in the long jump, triple jump and high jump at the West Valley Division championships.
Off the field, Olivia garnered an award for her leadership in ASB, for which she served as president her senior year and as vice president her junior year. The ASB class is responsible for organizing homecoming events, dances, rallies, intramurals and celebrations.
“It has a whole bunch of different people working together to make the school a better place,” Olivia said.
She is a member of the California Scholarship Federation and was awarded a $1,000 George Miskulin scholarship, named after Del Mar’s first principal. The 4.0 student is also a recipient of the 2011 Student of the Year as selected by a panel of teachers.
Olivia also dabbles in 3D art and has been playing the piano since the second grade. Last year she won the Best in Show award in the 3D category in Campbell Union High School District’s annual art show for a Dr. Pepper can and bag of Lay’s chips that she made out of clay. In her free time, Olivia makes things like Pokemon figures and teapots.
“Whatever you give her, she’s going to excel at it,” Guerrero said. “I know she’s going to do amazing things in the world. She’s definitely someone I would call a friend in the future.”
Though her future remains unknown, Olivia knows for certain that she’ll be playing soccer. She plans on trying out for the women’s soccer team at UC-San Diego, where she’ll begin school this fall. The move from San Jose to San Diego is both thrilling and nerve-wracking, Olivia said.
“I’m nervous about being away from my family and living somewhere new,” she said, adding that she was also looking forward to having more freedom and meeting new people.
“It’s a whole new experience,” she said.
Olivia said she is leaving Del Mar without any regrets.
“Get involved,” she advised incoming freshman. “It’s instant friends, and they’ll help you with anything.”
And, she added, “Be yourself. You’ll find out who your true friends are.”
ASB president, soccer, track star leaves Del Mar with no regrets
