Click on the "youtube" button link at the bottom left of the page to hear a reading of the bio!

I can remember the very first time I put pencil to paper. I finagled my little hand in an awkward fashion to hold my writing utensil, and from this starting point I drew letters. They weren’t very neat, in fact they were hardly legible, but they were beautiful because those very letters formed into words and when the words were put together they formed the definition of who I am. “My name is Olivia Taylor Bassel,” although this is fairly normal first sentence, it was the introduction of writing into my life.

When I was little I went through the diary phase, which maybe lasted two pages before I colored the journal with magic marker, however, in high school journaling became an outlet to arrange my thoughts. One of my greatest obstacles has been my ability to focus. Ideas, songs, and images all circle in my head like a round-a-bout on playground that can’t seem to stop spinning. I spoke about my predicament with my dad and he advised writing it down and praying for limpidity. I remained in continuous prayer and began organizing my thoughts into lists. What I needed to do, when I needed to do it, and before I knew it I had painted my room in sticky notes. Finally I invested in a planner that helped me structure my school and social life. Writing cascaded from to-do list pouring over into my friendships, my family and my faith. Writing allows me to share with my friends words of encouragement and love when I fail to voice them. Writing blesses me the opportunity to stay in touch with my family while I’m away at this university. Writing even provides a loose framework for structuring my prayers. Writing is an integral part of my life.

When I wrote my first sentence, little did I know, I foreshadowed one day that same little hand would scribble clarity in the mind of Olivia Taylor Bassel.