Alivia Rawls, 17, has dirty blond hair, lives in south Tulsa, and “love, love, loves creative writing.”
Growing up with a homeless father with a mental illness has made her a determined person, even though he is not around. His situation helped Rawls become passionate about raising awareness of people with mental illnesses and advocating for them.
Rawls also relies on creative writing as a stress outlet. The young writer was raised in a single-parent home and has three older siblings. At age 16, Rawls graduated from Oklahoma Virtual High School and received a full-tuition scholarship to the University of Tulsa because of her outstanding talents in musical theater. She described herself as a very positive and self-driven person, but said she tends to take on too much responsibility, which causes her to feel like she is lacking energy sometimes.
“I just wanted to be the best I can be and I’m a perfectionist, so sometimes I’m like the energizer bunny,” Rawls said.
A year before Rawls was born, her grandmother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, a subtype of schizophrenia in which the patient has delusions about the people around them. At age 3, Rawls’s father was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, as well as paranoid schizophrenia.
“I don’t really worry about myself becoming schizophrenic, but I have decided not to have children, because I fear that they will become schizophrenic,” Rawls said.
Though she admits there is stress in her life, she has found an outlet for it — writing spoken-word poetry. Earlier this year she won first place in the Louder Than a Bomb poetry slam with a piece called “The Homeless Man’s Daughter.”
Rawls said she “wants to be involved in politics and would love to use her public speaking in the political arena in some way, shape or form,” because she wants to improve mental health awareness globally. Rawls believes this is a job made for her because she has experience in public speaking and loves to help others.
Despite all of the obstacles she has faced, Rawls has excelled in school. Since she graduated at age 16, she missed her prom but instead competed in beauty pageants. She has found success there too, being named 2015-16 Miss Tulsa State Fair Outstanding Teen.
“I loved the experience and it has shaped my thoughts and me as a person,” Rawls said about the pageant. “Anything that I missed out on I made up for with other experiences.”
