Olivia Burmeister
Spring 2025 John Jay Fellow
Hometown: Chippewa Falls, WI
College: Liberty University
Degree: B.S. in Paralegal Studies
Olivia is delighted to join the John Jay Institute with the desire to become better prepared to live out her calling to preserve life and beauty.
As an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Olivia was involved in campus ministry and served as vice president and later president of the Students for Life chapter. After earning acceptance into UW-Madison’s interior architecture program through design coursework, Olivia’s work as a program assistant at the Office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals redirected her to finishing her bachelor’s degree in paralegal studies, summa cum laude, through Liberty University.
Olivia has gained technical skills by working as a corporate and real estate paralegal for the past few years. She now seeks to enrich her mind, sharpen her argumentation through reasoned discourse, strengthen her appreciation for our nation’s Christian heritage, and grow in refinement and grace. After attending a healing retreat and accompanying a dear friend and her mother on a trip to Lourdes, Paris, and Normandy, France, Olivia is inspired to accept God’s invitation to a life of greater meaning, abundance, and freedom.
Through formation in the John Jay Fellows Program, Olivia looks forward to establishing a network with others who intentionally prioritize God and His purpose. After the fellowship, Olivia intends to continue working in the legal field, hopefully for the Alliance Defending Freedom. If called to graduate school, Olivia is considering law school or a bioethics program that would equip her to defend the dignity of the most vulnerable in our society. She is also exploring programs in sacred architecture or art restoration as avenues to evangelize through beauty.
In her free time, Olivia enjoys playing harp and piano, drawing, experimental cooking and mixology, dancing, running, sightseeing, caring for her pet rabbit, and watching hockey. Because God has placed on her heart the desire to serve Him in defense of life and beauty, Olivia is confident that He will lead her to the fulfillment of this desire, and she is committed to growing in knowledge and virtue for His greater glory.