What you don’t know about Mia O’Brien

Mia O’Brien ’18 started drawing when she was four when her older sister bet her that she couldn’t draw a plain human body. Within minutes, Mia drew a pleasing human body and proved her sister wrong. That’s when her love for art began.

Mia O’Brien didn’t have the typical childhood where you have lots of friends and you live in one state for a long amount of time. Her mother was diagnosed mentally ill when O’Brien was young. “My family was always stressed and never really had time to be a normal functional family.” Mia O’Brien says.

O’Brien described her childhood as “short, cute, unstable and hope it doesn’t recur.” O’Brien went through a lot growing up. She dealt with her parents divorce and her mom being diagnosed with a serious mental illness, all at a young age. She says her childhood ended when her mother was diagnosed, but O’Brien still have had some good times. The fondest memory of O’Brien’s childhood was when she was sitting in the living room in her dad’s lap, and was eating food on him, using him as a plate. Throughout the entire time, all the food fell on him. “It was really nice,” O’Brien said.

Another good memory that O’Brien could remember is the Christmas of 2004. All of her family came together and everything was OK and fun. O’Brien described it as “It’s cute and really tumblr and stuff.” Tumblr, to O’Brien meant unique, not mainstream. “Lazy dancing,” O’Brien calls it.

A family tradition that O’Brien has is Crappy Thanksgiving, it all started in about 2011. It’s where O’Brien and her siblings would ditch their family to go get take out instead of eating food with the family. 

During school as a young girl, O’Brien would bring her favorite toy, a pink care bear.

“I took it to school because I really hate being alone… that really helped,” said O’Brien. Moreover, with having to move twenty-six times in twelve years and living with a mother that is mean to you and your sister isn’t exactly an ideal childhood to have when growing up. Though just recently, in the past two years, O’Brien and her older sister was finally placed in her father’s care. “It’s been really nice because I haven’t seen him in ten years.”  

With the constant anxiety and instability as a kid, always being the new kid, art was a great channel for O’Brien. “Art was and still is a great outlet for a lot of things I’m unable to communicate. It’s where I can speak my mind without a filter, yet not fear I am communicating poorly.” Her sister’s and her closest friends’ thoughts about O’Brien and her drawings were mostly the same.

“They are amazing honestly it’ll be cool to see her style grow,” Carly Mead ‘17 describing O’Brien drawings. Rayven Lee ‘17 described O’Brien as sweet, loving, caring, humorous, and loyal. When asked why loyal Lee said, “Even if she disagrees with you, or you are mad at her, she never has anything bad to say about anymore and will stick up for her friends, and anyone else that needs it.” Bailey O’Brien ‘15 described her little sister as, artsy, social centered, pink, afraid/anxious, and transient.

One favorite memory Willow Spring shared with O’Brien was when she cried on Spring. “…I never had that kind of relationship with her before, so I guess that’s why it was so nice.”

Despite the stressful childhood and her fear of lack of control, O’Brien strives for happiness, “The thought of being happy inspires me to do everything.”