PERSONAL CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY

Personal Chronological History

Karsten Olson
Leadership Portfolio
Southeastern University
College of Business and Legal Studies
March 10, 2015

PERSONAL CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY

I was born at St. Josephs Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. I was raised by my

mother and father, Kim and Knut Olson. We lived in Parkland, Washington, just
outside of Tacoma, until I was 8 years old. My parents coached crew at Pacific
Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington in addition to their regular day jobs. As
young coaches and recent PLU graduates, it was easy for them to find students,
rowers, friends, staff, and faculty to watch my sister, Kinsey, and I. My sister and I
became very well known around campus during those years. I was raised, baptized,
and confirmed in the Lutheran Church. In Parkland, we attended Trinity Lutheran
Church where I was baptized and first took communion. As a young child I enjoyed
all things sports, Star Wars, the Chronicles of Narnia, dinosaurs, and Legos.
Those first years of my life we often split time between our home in
Parkland, and my moms childhood home in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. My dads parents
were in Washington, and my moms in Idaho. We made the trip fairly frequently, and
my memories from those trips are filled with four-wheeler rides, harvesting with my
grandparents, and playing on lots of large and dangerous farm equipment. In a place
as big as my grandpas farm, my mind was free to wander, and my imagination was
free to run wild.
During my time back at home in Tacoma, I was at my paternal grandparents
house almost everyday. My grandma used to read to my sister and I for hours, and
she was the first person to teach me how to use a computer on the original
Macintosh. My step-grandpa (although I never thought of him in that way) had
served in the Navy, and used to let my put on his Captains hat and even his
ceremonial saber. My grandma first introduced me to Harry Potter as well as all of

PERSONAL CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY

J.R.R Toilkens writing. Our conversations were about our shared interest in
theology, Norway, and family history.
While living in Parkland, I first meet Joani and Doris. Joani and Doris were
two elderly ladies living next door who became fast friend when my sister and I
were little. Eventually they became frequent babysitters, attended all of our sporting
events, concerts, graduations, and were regulars at Christmas, Thanksgiving, and
Easter. When I was in seventh grade, my first year of sex education, I realized that
Joani and Doris were lesbians. This did not damage our relationship at all. Joani and
Doris have been two of my biggest supporters and Christian influences in my life,
and now I simply refer to them as another set of grandparents.
In 2000 we moved to Puyallup, Washington. In Puyallup I participated in as
many sports as my schedule allowed. I played soccer, football, baseball, basketball,
and played trumpet in the school band. In 2003 we moved to Lakewood,
Washington. I attended Concordia Lutheran School from Pre-Kindergarten through
8th grade. My parents always drove or found a carpool for me to ride with every
place we lived. I was blessed by my private school education. At Concordia I had
teachers that nurtured my love for history, sports, fantasy, and my faith in Jesus
Christ.
I graduated 8th grade from Concordia and was confirmed in my faith at Christ
Lutheran Church in 2007. Both my graduation and confirmation verse was Romans
12:2, do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the
renewal of your mind so that you may attest to Gods good pleasing and perfect

PERSONAL CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY

will. This verse guided me through high school, and continues to guide my life
today.
The summer before my freshmen year of high school, the premiere youth
league soccer team I played on, the MRFC Vipers, won the Washington Fred Meyers
Commissioner Cup, the state championship. After played year-round soccer for 3
years I decided to retire my soccer cleats and focus on school and basketball.
I attended Lakes High School in Lakewood, Washington from 2007-2011. My
parents and I chose to stay in the local public school system as opposed to
continuing my private school education so that I could branch out from what I was
beginning to recognize as a private school bubble. My freshmen year at Lakes I met
two of my best friends, Carl and Danny. That year our basketball team lost in the
State Championship basketball game. The summer after freshmen year was filled
with basketball tournaments, trips to the gym, one last summer at our lake house,
and a move to a downsized place that was more conducive to the direction our
family was taking.
At the end of the summer, just before school started, I got my first job
working on the bag staff at Oakbrook Golf and Country Club. I worked there for the
entire year through school and basketball season until the next summer. The
following summer was built around basketball tournaments. During our third
tournament of the summer I lost my temper, got myself thrown out of the game, and
quit the team. It was the best thing to ever happen to me. My parents sent me to 3
straight weeks at NBC Camps (Northwest Basketball Camps). I had attended NBC as
a 7th, 8th, and 9th grader, but I hadnt since I was in high school. I spend those three

PERSONAL CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY

weeks at the site in Redding, California at Simpson University and it changed my life.
Now, at the age of 22, I have either camped or coached at NBC for 10 years.
My junior year was full of the ups and downs of being a teenager. The biggest
transition was the addition of Danny Martinez and Carl Flamer to our family. My
parents became Danny and Carls legal guardians, and suddenly our family got a
little bigger. Danny is Hispanic and Carl is African American, and living with them
and getting to know them on a much deeper level exposed me to family histories,
cultures, and struggles that I was previously unaware of. These relationships
combined with my faith have formed my passion for education and social justice
issues.
During a summer full of basketball, work, and odd jobs, we took in another
one of my best friends, Daniel Davis. Summer transitioned into senior year. Starting
a month into school I also began serving as the youth leader for Blessed Temple,
Church of God in Christ, in Tacoma, WA. This was my first experience in a
Pentecostal church and it also led me to my first opportunity to preach in an
organized congregation. I finished high school as a basketball state champion, held a
3.7 GPA, and graduated with several distinctions and honors. In addition to
graduation I accepted an academic scholarship to attend Pacific Lutheran
University, just ten minutes away from my home. At PLU I joined the mens
basketball team. During the summer before college I worked full time at the
Lakewood Family YMCA as a front desk worker, basketball court supervisor, and
camp counselor.

PERSONAL CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY

I continued on to PLU where I attended and played basketball for 2 years. I

worked NBC during the summers, as well as a job as a barista at the local Starbucks.
I didnt take full advantage of all the academic resources and education that PLU had
to offer. I matured a lot during those years, and before my sophomore year I
purchased my first home. I used the money my grandparents left me to make a
down payment, and then paid my mortgage by renting out the house to my fellow
classmates. Owning my own home was an educational experience. I learned a great
deal about money management, house maintenance, and being a landlord all before
I turned 21. At the end of my sophomore year at PLU, I decided that I need a change,
and I reached out to coach R-Jay Barsh. Coach Barsh and I first met when I was a
junior in high school. After responding to a particularly interesting tweet, he began
to mentor me, which eventually led to me transferring to Southeastern University in
Lakeland, Florida.
The summer between Parkland and Lakeland was spent selling my home,
working as an insurance associate for Thrivent Financial, and transitioning to
Florida via California. My brother Carl, my best friend, Keynan, and I moved to San
Diego, California following the sale of my home in Parkland. In California, my
brother began to attend a local junior college while Keynan and I took our Life and
Disability Insurance exams to begin selling term life insurance for Thrivent. During
that summer under the tutelage of Thrivent veteran, Bill Bohmer, I learned what it
meant to build relationships in the sales and insurance context. Bill taught me the
values of a great game plan and flawless integrity.

PERSONAL CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY

After a summer of hard work and fun in San Diego I moved to Lakeland
Florida to complete my education at Southeastern University as well as play for
their mens varsity program. In my first semester at SEU I completed all the courses
required for my minors in business and biblical studies. In January, at the beginning
of the semester, I returned to Washington for the funeral of my grandpa, Allen
Johnson. During this time with family, I escaped for one afternoon to go on a date
with a family friend, Krista Pritchard. Krista and I are currently planning the rest our
lives together as we prepare for a wedding and a move Nashville with our daughter,
Kelliana, whom I will soon be adopting. When I returned to school, I finished junior
year studies, made it to the NAIA Final Four with the SEU basketball team, and
declared myself as an Organizational Leadership major.
During the summer between my junior and senior year I traveled the country
coaching at 10 different NBC Camp locations in 4 different states. I coached in
Washington, Oregon, Florida, and Alaska. In Alaska I had the opportunity to become
an honorary Yupik (Native Alaskan). The name given to me was Adonak, meaning
coach. I spend every moment of my spare time with Krista, Kelliana, and our
families.
Summer soon became fall, and I began my final year of college at SEU. Shortly
after the start of the school year I began the rigorous process of applying to Teach
for America, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to placing motivated, culture
conscious, activist, teachers into the most in-need school systems in our country. On
October 30th, 2014 I was accepted into TFA and placed as a special education
teacher in Nashville, Tennessee.

PERSONAL CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY

Now, I am currently finishing all of my classes for school, preparing to begin
teaching, applying for graduate school, driving cars for Uber (a taxi service), while
fully engaged as a family man to my wife-to-be, Krista, and my daughter-to-be,
Kelliana. God has truly blessed me, each and every one of my years.