A writer, archer, entrepreneur, and club leader, Clonlara Class of 2026 graduate Oliver combined challenging academics with personal interests and made his high school experience his own. Through Clonlara School’s Off-Campus Program, he experienced a personalized learning approach that empowered him to pursue ambitious goals and turn his curiosity and drive into meaningful learning.
For Oliver, learning has never been about following a rigid schedule. “I think learning is better treated as a flow or sort of dance than a regimented routine,” he reflects.
That mindset shaped his experience as a student in Clonlara School’s Off-Campus Program, where a student-centered education allowed him to pursue his interests while meeting his academic goals. Over the years, Oliver explored a wide range of interests, earned college credits while in high school, developed an app for the competitive and recreational archers, competed in national tournaments, and began to define his own path.
As a recent graduate, Oliver looks back on a learning journey defined by freedom, self-discovery, and the opportunity to explore his interests and define his goals.
Personalized Learning Beyond Traditional Requirements
Oliver describes the beginning of his journey at Clonlara as intense. “My first two years were very heavy educationally,” he explains. “I was learning how to navigate high school and ended up completing far more credits and college courses than I necessarily needed to.”
Looking back, he believes completing much of his academic work early was worthwhile. This flexibility, a hallmark of personalized learning, helped him focus more deeply on his interests during his final years of high school, which became one of the aspects of his Clonlara experience he valued most. “The freedom is, I think, the entire point of Clonlara.”
A Love of Writing
Among Oliver’s many interests, writing is one of his greatest passions.
Some of his favorite high school courses included Composition, Creative Writing, and Philosophy. One of his proudest academic moments came during a college level philosophy course, when he wrote an essay analyzing the ideas of Niccolò Machiavelli.
The essay earned a perfect score, and his professor told him it was the highest grade she had awarded that semester. “This, as you can imagine, was a great moment for me and quite exciting,” Oliver says. Throughout high school, Oliver maintained a 4.0 GPA while balancing rigorous academics with his other pursuits.
Experiences like these helped reinforce both his confidence as a writer and his appreciation for thoughtful inquiry and discussion.
More Than a Sport
While writing played an important role in Oliver’s education, another passion occupied much of his time outside of coursework: archery.
Although he originally picked up the sport years ago, it was after the COVID-19 lockdowns that he fully committed to it. Since then, archery has become a daily practice and an important part of his life. By 12th grade, Oliver was shooting approximately 100 arrows each day as he continued training and preparing for competitions.
For him, success in archery involves far more than technical skill. “The mental game is where archery gets really difficult,” he explains. “It’s one thing to execute a single good shot, but it’s another thing to keep your nervousness under control with pressure on you and execute that same good shot 60-plus times in a row.” Learning to manage time, handle setbacks, stay focused under pressure, and remain resilient has been just as important as learning how to shoot.
His dedication has led to significant accomplishments, including winning the S3DA Eastern Indoor Nationals after placing second the previous year. “Having the pressure of wanting to win, being sick, and still pulling off the first-place finish was quite exciting,” Oliver says.
Turning Passion Into a Project
At Clonlara, students are encouraged to build meaningful connections between their learning, interests, and real-world experiences. For Oliver, that meant combining his passion for archery with entrepreneurship.
During high school, he began developing Quivio, an all-in-one app designed to support the archery community. Quivio eventually became his Capstone Project, allowing him to earn academic credit while working on something with real-world applications. “A lot of high schoolers simply wouldn’t have the time to work on a business as well as complete school,” the student says. “Clonlara creates an environment which allows you to use a project like this as credit and coursework.”
Looking Ahead
After graduation, Oliver plans to take a gap year before pursuing university studies. During that time, he intends to continue expanding Quivio while dedicating more time to archery training and competition.
He is considering competing on the USA Archery tournament circuit and remains open to the opportunities the sport may bring. “I’d like to see where it can take me,” he says. “I’m willing to put in the work.”
Whether his future leads him toward business, higher education, elite competition, or a combination of all three, Oliver feels prepared to continue learning, challenging himself, and exploring what drives him.
Advice for Fellow Students
Asked what advice he would give other students, Oliver offers a perspective shaped by his own experiences. “There’s a lot of general advice a person could use,” he says. “So, in an effort to be original, here’s my advice: don’t overthink it.”
He acknowledges that it can be easy to become overwhelmed by big decisions and uncertainty about the future. Yet he believes that taking action, even though imperfectly, is often better than remaining stuck. “It’s better for you to do something, make a choice, and have that choice perhaps be the wrong one than to not do anything at all.”
We hope that, just like Oliver, our students see their years at Clonlara as an opportunity to explore their interests, develop skills, take risks, and take ownership of their learning. Long after graduation, it is this curiosity, confidence, and sense of purpose that continue to support a lifetime of learning!
We love hearing about Clonlara learning journeys. If you would like to share your student’s story, please let us know!
