Sometimes, a little bit of courage can go a long way.
For seven-year-old Olivia Friesen, that courage came in the form of entering a magazine contest.
“It’s been huge, even for me,” said Olivia’s father, Jared. “To see the community that’s come around Olivia, it’s really challenged me to think, ‘Oh, I actually want to do some of these things as well. I want to put myself out there and grow more.’ I think it’s cool to there’s been a shared gift in that.”
Olivia entered the Jr. Ranger Competition by Ranger Rick, a magazine affiliated with the American non-profit, National Wildlife Federation (NWF).
Now, she’s in the quarterfinals.
“We would just make videos and whoever wanted to vote for me, they would,” said Olivia.
Her mother, Waiyola, says the votes have come from all over, helping advance her daughter this far.
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“We are incredibly grateful and kind of in awe of all the support we’ve received.”
For Olivia, it’s as if her entire life has been leading up to this sort of thing.
“(Olivia) was actually pretty sick for the first three years of her life. That moved us to a part of our life where we spent a lot more time outdoors, just to bring healing to her body,” said Waiyola.
That early life exposure has given Olivia a real love of all thing nature — and a passionate mission to help the Earth.
“I just want to help everything grow and I just love animals,” said Olivia.
Her sister, Norah, has become a big cheerleader, in addition to being a big sister.
“If she wins, it’s going to feel good for her and feel good for me.”
The winner of the Ranger Rick competition will get to go on a wildlife adventure with Jeff Corwin, be featured in an edition of the magazine and receive $20,000.
For Olivia, this would mean a few things — fun, maybe a cool new toy, and a chance to bring her whole family to her mom’s home country of Bolivia.
“We’ve wanted to go there for days and years and all that stuff,” said Olivia.
As of publication, Olivia is in fifth place in her group. Voting can take place at jr-ranger.org, with larger quantities of votes requiring donations to the NWF.
The voting time for the quarterfinals runs until May 21.
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