EMHS Valedictorian: Colleen Olson
ELK MOUND — The valedictorian of Elk Mound High School’s Class of 2017 is Colleen Olson.
Colleen is the daughter of Tim and Andrea Olson.
The Colfax Messenger sent a questionnaire to Colleen for a profile of the valedictorian.
• Describe the most memorable event that happened while you were in high school. I was involved in a lot of band activities in high school, so many of my memories revolve around band, and being goofy with my friends on the bus after marching in a parade. When I was a freshman, the boys’ basketball team went to state, and that was a huge deal for the entire town of Elk Mound. Our pep band got to perform, and it was very strange to see almost everyone from our town in the enormous stadium. Little Elk Mound doesn’t often get to be in the spotlight like that, so it was fun to feel important, I guess. It sounds silly, but it’s true!
I also remember being a sophomore (I think) and our class won FFA week. (The classes compete against each other during an assembly.) The race was really tight between the sophomores and seniors, so in order to decide the winners, one random person from both grades was called down to compete (unaware of what the competition was). The competition turned out to be whoever could do the best cartwheel. Both cartwheels were pretty awful, but the sophomore’s was just a little bit less awful, so we won FFA week! That awful cartwheel won all of us an ice cream sundae party. Shoutout to Trey Mohr for managing a cartwheel!
• What were your favorite high school classes? My favorite teacher has to be Mr. Mack. He retired last year, but the influence he made on the students he taught will never leave. He was my Physics, Pre-calc, and Calculus teacher, and he did an amazing job preparing me for college. I’m taking Calc 3 at UW-EC right now, and having him as a teacher definitely helped. His classes were really difficult, but he showed us how fun science could be. He’s a super eccentric guy. I remember once during physics, he took out a Tesla Coil and we turned off the lights and watched the sparks. The electricity in the room messed with the paper towel dispensers, and it was funny to see them all automatically dispensing the paper because of the Tesla Coil.
• Which activities were you involved in during high school? What was your favorite? I was in volleyball for four years, Science Olympiad for two, National Honor society for two, FCA for two-ish, and a whole plethora of band stuff. Jazz band, pep band, honors band, marching band, etc. Band was definitely my favorite activity because it was something I could do at my own pace. Band at Elk Mound is really laid back, but there are also tons of opportunities you could take on if you feel like challenging yourself.
Band is a class that’s very different from the traditional classroom. It’s nice to be able to escape the world of science and math and just focus on music for a bit.
• What are your plans after graduation? I’m definitely going to get a job this summer. College is expensive! I’d like to work at Kwik Trip. I’ve heard a lot of nice things about them.
But I also hope to be able to have a ton of fun adventures with my friends. Adults keep saying life is about to get a lot harder, so I want to have as much fun as I can.
• Are you planning to attend college or technical school, and if so, where? I’m going to UW-EC. I’ve already taken Calc 2 and 3, so I know I’ll like the math department at least!
• What will be your major at college or technical school? I’m not sure on a major yet, but I really enjoy the STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). There are so many different types of careers in those fields that it’s impossible for me to know exactly which career path I want to take. My future job might not even exist right now! Taking classes like Physics is helpful, but regular high school classes can’t give you real experience in a particular field.
• What does it mean to you to be the valedictorian of the Elk Mound High School Class of 2017? Honestly, being called “Valedictorian” has always been a goal of mine, and the honors are nice, but I don’t think someone’s GPA really says much about them. I put a lot of effort into my schoolwork, but so did many of my peers — but they may have taken different classes than I did. The person’s value isn’t calculated by their grades.
