Alumni Gives Back and Puts SJM Student on Career Path

When FBI Special Agent Katey Olsen '08 attended SJM's February 2020 Career Day, she had one goal in mind: give back to the school that motivated her and prepared her to pursue her dream career.

"It's a huge honor for a place like Memorial to want me back to speak." Olsen said. "This was my 2nd or 3rd Career Day since starting with the FBI. My love for Memorial has never swayed after all these years."

SJM Senior Bailey Feeney '21, then a junior, heard Olsen speak at the 2020 Career Day and it sparked something inside of her.

"Nick Kauls, who was a student at Memorial, was one of my brother's really good friends. He spent a lot of time at our house, so I knew him well. In June of 2018, he was shot and killed in an attempted robbery. His death affected our entire community. It has stuck with me ever since, and has definitely helped shape me into the person I am today. His death really pushed me to want to learn more about criminology. I was never really sure what area of criminology I wanted to pursue. That was until Special Agent Katey Olsen came to our school on Career Day. Hearing her talk about her job was extremely interesting and eye opening."

Part of Olsen's presentation was on a special program held at the Sacramento FBI Field Office called the FBI Teen Academy. Feeney was so enthralled, she applied the following week. She was accepted and went through the program this fall. She attended three classes virtually as well as an in person class at Sacramento FBI headquarters featuring different stations covering different topics: an introduction to SWAT, Tactical Operations, a CSI station and a station on explosive devices. Over the course of the program, they learned about what it takes to work in the FBI, Diversity in the FBI, SWAT, Cyber Crimes, Deadly Force, Internet Crimes Against Children, Opioid crime, Mexican Cartels, Tactical Operations, Bomb Tech /Robots and the Evidence Response Team.

Feeney credits Agent Olsen with leading her down the path to a new potential career.

"The whole reason I ended up applying to the FBI Teen Academy was because of Career Day at SJM," said Feeney. "Sitting through Katey Olsen’s powerpoint made me extremely interested in the FBI. She told us all about the application process of actually becoming a Special Agent, which is extremely rigorous. I am extremely thankful for Agent Olsen for taking time out of her day to come to Career Day at SJM."