Olly Ajao: “Everything Always Works Out. Just Watch.”

Olly Ajao ’25 describes herself as someone who’s always on the go. A “type B” personality, she prefers spontaneity to structure and dynamism to predictability. It’s an outlook that’s shaped nearly every part of her Amherst experience, whether it’s her unconventional first year or her globe-spanning adventures in Greece, Australia, Berlin, and beyond.

“I really hate a life that’s static,” Ajao said. “I need it to be always moving.”

Over the course of four years, Ajao has turned that need into an asset. Among her other roles on campus, she’s a member of Dance and Step at Amherst College (DASAC), a staff worker at the Center for Restorative Practices (CRP), and an usher at the Mead Art Museum. Ajao has made lasting relationships in each of her roles while finding ways to anchor her personal growth. 

Triple A’s: Abuja to Amherst to Athens 

Ajao has come a long way. She was born in Abuja, Nigeria, and by the time she was five, she moved all the way to the United States in a town called Brattleboro, Vermont. 

Later, when she was eight, Ajao and her family moved to Amherst, Massachusetts, as her mother began a Ph.D. program in International Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Despite living not far from campus at the time, her start at Amherst College was anything but seamless.

Due to pandemic-era visa complications, Ajao was unable to enroll in person during her first semester. Instead of deferring or staying home, she proposed an alternative: study abroad. The college agreed, and Ajao headed to Athens, Greece, to begin her first semester as an Amherst student more than 4,500 miles away from campus. 

“I remember thinking, this is either going to be a complete disaster or the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Ajao said. “It turned out to be both in the best way.”

In the absence of a typical college orientation, Ajao formed deep, early bonds by exploring Athens with fellow students, ranging from freshmen to seniors, from all around the world. Together, they shared meals and languages and built a sense of independence that Ajao didn’t know she was capable of possessing.

“I went back to Greece for a reunion last August,” Ajao said. “We still text ‘Kalo Mina’ on the first of every month. That’s how close we still are.”

Finding Her Calling

Returning to Amherst as a second-semester freshman, however, brought an unexpected dislocation. Most people in Ajao’s class had spent their first semester living on the First-Year Quad, where they could bond more easily. Ajao, by contrast, was housed among transfer students, in a small Valentine Hall single. For the first two weeks, she ate alone in Val and struggled to find her community.

She had intended to major in computer science and Chinese when she got to Amherst, driven partly by post-grad visa logistics for international students.

“I would [have majored] in either religion, sociology, or theater and dance, but I did feel quite restricted by my status.” 

She pivoted to economics after nearly completing the computer science track. It was a course in game theory with then-Visiting Professor of Economics Tyler Porter that became a turning point. It introduced Ajao to the ways economics could illuminate human decision-making and social behavior topics she was naturally drawn to. 

“I made it through six out of the nine [computer science] classes, and people still ask why I didn’t finish,” Ajao said. “But I see it as saving my mental health. I realized I wanted to study people more than systems.” Her passion led her to go abroad once again to another “A” location: Australia. 

In her junior spring, Ajao studied economics and financial markets in Sydney, Australia, and survived a brutal postgraduate-level finance course. While there, Ajao rediscovered her love for languages, using her Chinese in Sydney’s bustling international communities. True to her “on the go” style, she also made time for skydiving, beach excursions, and spontaneous travel to Vietnam and Fiji. 

When reflecting back on her initial experience of isolation and indecision her freshman year, Ajao was able to explore and try new things. Ajao remarked, “It was hard, but I also knew that I couldn’t let it define me. I started talking to people randomly, joining clubs — badminton, archery, anything. I wasn’t going to let the experience pass me by.”

Community in Choreography

One of those “random” communities Ajao discovered at Amherst was DASAC, and it ended up being one of her most influential. At first, she was hesitant to perform, choosing step over dance out of ease, but she was actually mistaken. 

“I was initially scared to do dance over step: step was just a series of steps and sounds to memorize, [making] it easier. It was not. In fact, [dance] was easier. I ended up doing both dance and step the following semester.” 

For Ajao, dance has become one of the most important parts of her college life. “I think a lot of people underestimate what dance means socially,” Ajao said. “That’s where I made so many of my closest friends. It’s a space where we were building something beautiful together.”

Many members of DASAC have echoed the same feeling, referring to DASAC as a “family” with a foundation of support. Ajao remarked that DASAC, among her other experiences, had made her who she is today.

Here, There, Everywhere

Ajao has never been afraid to immerse herself in as much as possible. At the CRP, she helped facilitate conflict resolution processes on and off-campus, including a powerful weekly program at the Franklin County Jail.

One of her most memorable takeaways came from her time working with incarcerated individuals. “The inmates I’ve met are some of the wisest people I’ve ever spoken to,” Ajao reflected. “One of them told me, ‘Don’t help people who won’t help themselves.’ That really stuck with me.”

Her work with CRP felt personal; as the middle sibling in a large family, Ajao often found herself playing the role of peacemaker and communicator. “I’ve always mediated,” she said. “This job just gave me the vocabulary and structure for something I was already doing.”

Beyond CRP, Ajao also worked at the Global Education Office (GEO), guiding fellow students through the logistics of studying abroad, as well as at the Mead and the theater and dance department. In the latter, she operated lights and sound for student productions and, in doing so, reminisced about her original passion for theater.

“If I could do college over again, I’d probably major in theater and dance. No joke. I’m such a theatrical person already; it makes sense.”

“30 Days of Fear”

When Ajao spoke about her post-Amherst future, her tone was very open-minded. 

“I think that students often feel like [they need] to know exactly what they’re doing,” Ajao said. “But I’m learning to trust the process. Everything always works out. Just watch.”

This summer, Ajao will work with Seeds of Peace, a nonprofit that focuses on conflict resolution and leadership among youth.

As graduation approaches, Ajao has embarked on a personal project: “30 Days of Fear.” For the 30 days leading up to Commencement, she has been confronting something that scares her each day, from roller coasters to her lifelong phobia of cats to singing in Times Square.

“I did a ‘Year of Fear’ once with 100 items and got through about 35,” she said. “This is like the sequel.”

But beneath the humor, the project reflects something deeper: a lifelong commitment to self-growth, expansion, and living fully in the face of uncertainty.

In her own words, Ajao’s time at Amherst has been “chaotic in the best way,” a whirlwind of movement, change, and connections. But through all of it, she has stayed grounded in her mentality of leaving every place more alive than she found it. That mentality, more than any internship or major, is what defines Ajao’s Amherst journey and hopefully one she will carry with her wherever she lands next. 

“I think the biggest mark I’ve left here is the relationships,” she said. “I know the dining hall staff by name. I know the people in GEO, in CRP, at the Mead. I try to see people, not just pass them by.”