Valverde, 35, will graduate Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, from Columbia University School of General Studies with a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing May 18 at 9 a.m., one year after Olson’s graduation.
Valverde, who will graduate alongside more than 400 nontraditional students, explains that it was Olson who figured out that they were sisters.
“Not only was my adoption closed, but it was also managed by an attorney whose files were disposed of following her death amidst accusations of black market adoptions. My adoptive mother was, however, contacted in 1980 about adopting another girl from my biological mother, but was also told she may not survive because of complications with her birth and delivery. After that, she never heard anything further, and I thought she died. After a series of missed connections, Katy put together the puzzle when I shared my story in that first class,” Valverde said.
Olson, a 2014 Columbia School of General Studies graduate and M.F.A. candidate in writing at Columbia’s School of the Arts, explains how she knew she had the right person.
“Growing up, I'd been told that I had an older sister who was adopted by a family in Miami whose name was Lizzie Delgado. From Facebook, I put together some details about her story—I knew she had a daughter, owned a small children’s boutique and,at some point, went to Columbia. Although her married name is Valverde, in that first class when she shared her story, it instantly all came together,” Olson explained.
Valverde and Olson have spent the past two years getting to know each other, and decided not to go public with their story until they had formed a bond. They share a love of writing; Olson, who has mild cerebral palsy, is a stand-up comedienne and Valverde, a poet.
“Like Katy, I was admitted to the Columbia School of the Arts M.F.A. program, as well as Oxford and NYU. Though I’ve chosen NYU, I know Katy and I will continue to remain close and foster the bonds that we’ve built here at Columbia,” Valverde said.
