A mix of science and the arts
In June 2025, Olivia graduated from Cal-Poly with her Bachelor of Science, and two minors.
Olivia Wilson (22) has a shared a passion for science and dance.
Her family moved from Naperville, Illinois to the King’s Crossing neighborhood when Olivia was 14, just in time for her to start her freshman year at Rock Canyon High School. Olivia already loved skiing, so assimilating with the local culture was easier than she thought. She also enjoyed dancing and joined a competitive dance team at a local studio and continued to dance through college at California Polytechnic State University (Cal-Poly). Surf, sunshine, good friends and her favorite subjects, biology and statistics, awaited Olivia at her university.
“I always wanted to live in California. I chose Cal-Poly because they had a really good public health program which was my dream thing to study,” said Olivia. “A lot of other people from Castle Pines were going there, so it felt like a good option for me.”
In addition to studying and working, Olivia joined the student-choreographed dance company for modern dance—and of course, she went to the beach.
Olivia began her career journey as a volunteer on campus as a peer health educator. After a while, it turned into a job.
“The job was holistic wellbeing for students, so teaching people to make better choices,” explained Olivia. “We taught about alcohol and drug safety, distributing Narcan, and other topics, like diet and exercise. I got to meet 4,000 students a year.”
But halfway through her studies, Olivia stumbled across her true career passion in public health. She knew she did not want to be a doctor or nurse, nor did she want to work remotely processing mass amounts of data. The extrovert in her knew she had to find something that would allow her to be around people while helping them. Olivia graduated with her Bachelor of Science degree in public health and a minor in dance and ethnic studies. Her sights soon turned to the genetic counseling field, a healthcare career that mixes science and humanities.
“You act as an educator as well as someone to confide in with challenges in the prenatal space and in cancer prevention, for example,” said Olivia. Assessing risk, explaining genetics clearly and whether the person should do genetic testing or not, and supporting the client’s decision making with emotional support are some of the roles of a genetic counselor.
Today, Olivia is back home in Castle Pines with parents Cathy, a retired nurse, and Del, a pilot. Olivia is applying to schools to pursue her master’s degree in genetic counseling and she still dances—but just for fun.
Olivia Wilson loved to ski as a child, making her move to Colorado an easy transition.
Olivia excelled in biology and statistics and was a part of the Rock Canyon Biotechnology program.
By Marly Holsman; photos courtesy of Olivia Wilson
