Success of RLCC Alumnus, Corey Olson, goes back to High School

As a 2006 graduate from Red Lake Country Central High School, Corey Olson has been in the news recently because of his business “Oh, Scrap!” and testifying in front of the Minnesota House of Representatives. This was made possible not only because of Inter-County Community Council and the FAIM Program, but also because his education and extracurricular involvement at RLCC. Olson credits Arts, Speech, Spanish, Math, History, and English plus others such as 4-H in his success. “I think the overall support and learning I received from RLCC prepared me for the future. It got me into the college of my dreams.”
Being artistic is a big part of his life including his business. While in high school, he took extensive art classes with Mrs. Kolden (former art teacher). Olson said, “I decided on a more ‘crafty’ business called ‘Oh, Scrap!’ because I needed an outlet for my creativity. I also thought it was important to prove to people how important the arts are, since so many programs are being cut.” His business helps people learn how to use the Cricut scrapbooking tools and makes a scrapbook for people who don’t want to do it themselves. Olson also makes custom ordered signs for customers.
Olson also gives credit to Mr. Swenson (RLCC English teacher), Mrs. Olson (former Spanish teacher) and Mrs. Melby (former math teacher). Because several of his English and math courses were also College in the High School courses, they helped him not to have to take some classes when he attended college.
He also noted how Mr. Huie’s Civics class during high school helped him with testifying before the legislature. As part of that class, students came up with a bill and went through the procedure of testifying on it with their classmates. Olson never thought he would have to do that as an adult, but it helped him as he testified to the Representatives.
Not only did his high school classes help him in his years following high school but also extracurricular activities such as speech. Olson specifically mentioned speech and the role Mrs. Schue (speech coach) has had for his success. “She is so smart and supportive. She’s helped me through so many things” is what Olson said about Schue.
Olson said, “Speech has helped me in so many facets of life. Most recently has been this testimony before the MN House of Representatives. Like competitive speech, I had to look professional, could use a script but needed to make eye-contact and connect with the Reps on a personal level, talk in a microphone, etc. It was an absolute blast, but it was a little nerve wrecking. Sometimes these bills are televised or streamed online; there were also quite a few members in the audience. I didn’t take it as meaning so much right away but after thinking about it, I had an important role in impacting MN Law. Furthermore if the bill passes, it’s going to help so many people in Minnesota create a life for themselves and their families, get out of poverty, and make a dream become reality. It really is a wonderful thing and above anything else, people should believe in the power of their dreams.”
After graduating from high school, Olson continued his education at Concordia College. He earned a Liberal Arts Degree majoring in Apparel/Design with an emphasis in Interior Design, and Business with an emphasis in Marketing. He is also very close to a Theatre Minor. Olson has wanted to be an entrepreneur ever since his parents owned the café in town. He wanted to create his own legacy and he thought it would cool to have his own hours. These are some reasons why he went for his Business Degrees, and he wanted to know how to own his own business with a degree that would cover all the portions of accounting, advertising, marketing, etc.
For jobs, he has worked at Walt Disney World and earned a couple Mouseter’s Degrees and Ducktorate Degrees at Disney University. He also had worked at Digi-Key and bartended at TJ’s Tavern for awhile. Besides his “Oh Scrap!” business, Olson currently works at Scandesign in Fargo where he is the Showroom Manager and Lead Designer.