DerekOlson

=Personal Essay=

My name is Derek Olson. I was born and raised in La Crosse Wisconsin. I was the son of 2 educators, and because of this I valued education and was successful during my K-12 years graduating from La Crosse Logan High School in the top ¼ of my class. I was also active in sports and activities in high school and received some high praise for my hard work and successes.

I was very active in activities when I was growing up. In middle school I participated in the sports of football, wrestling, basketball, baseball and track and field. I also was in the middle school show choir, student government, orchestra and chess club. In high school I participated in cross-country, wrestling, baseball, and track and field, receiving 10 athletic letters and achieving first team all conference in wrestling twice. I also was involved in the high school orchestra, show choir, and my church youth choir. I received the John Buchner Exceptional Athlete Award as well as the Marine Top Athlete Award in my senior year. I was 2nd in vote for the Athlete of the Year Award. After graduation I remained with the wrestling program and just finished my 23nd year of coaching at Logan High School. I also coach middle school track and field at Logan Middle School where I am currently the head boys coach and also the long and triple jump coach.

I went to college right out of high school and chose to study engineering. I was very successful in math and the sciences in high school, so I believed this would be a good fit for me. Like many young people, I struggled to stay focused, and eventually left UW-La Crosse completing about 50 credits.

I applied to and was accepted to Winona State University and began attending in the fall of 2006 with the plan to major in elementary education with a 5-8 math emphasis. Being a non-traditional student, and having made mistakes in my life, I focused very hard on the task at hand. This was evident in my dedication to excellence in my studies at Winona which led to me being named to the Dean’s list every semester I took 12 or more credits. As I progressed at Winona State, I added two minors, Coaching and Technology, and also added a second major in elementary education with 5-8 science emphasis. I graduated from Winona State with 150 credits in 4 years and achieved a 3.8 GPA at Winona State.

I have made mistakes and had failures in my life, but those mistakes and failures have taught me a great deal about myself. These have been opportunities for growth, and with that growth I have become a better person, student, leader and educator. My life experiences will make me work to make sure every student makes the most of their opportunities, and I will push all my students to achieve. A quote by then Senator Barack Obama in a speech in 2006 has helped lead me to where I am today. “Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't, it's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”