NDA welcomed back Carter Olles to the academy Friday morning. Olles is a freshman at Babson College and a recent graduate of NDA.  

He was back over the weekend to catch up with family and his alma mater. Olles was enthusiastic to share his experience of college with the NDA journalism class.

“I go to a college you have never heard of,” Olles remarked. Babson College is a private and prestigious business school that focuses on educating future entrepreneurs. It is located in Wellesley Massachusetts, roughly 30 minutes away from Boston.

Olles was an active volunteer in lights, sound, and film when attending NDA. He produced the Mr. NDA DVD before graduating last year. He has a younger sister, Caragan, currently a sophomore at NDA. Now he’s focusing on learning the foundations of management and entrepreneurship.

Babson has many notable alumni, including Arthur M. Blank, the co-founder of Home-Depot; Akio Toyoda, the CEO of Toyota; Aly Raisman, six-time Olympic medalist; and Daniel Gerber, founder of Gerber Baby Foods.

As Olles put it, “Our school is really good at connections,”

Babson has three-day weekends and a student body of about 3,100 that is 40 percent international and 52 percent female to 48 percent male.

Olles applied early decision using a strong resume and strong essays to get in.

Olles has “always had a business mindset” and has already collaborated in the making of a product on campus: individualized welcome mats called DormMats.

Olles says that “Notre Dame has prepared me well,” and since he’s left school he’s grown to like and appreciate Green Bay more.  He offers a word of advice that others go to a school that supports their major.

“Right now I’d come out of college and likely start a business. Maybe I would go work with a startup to get start-up experience,”  he said. Olles sets his ambitions high. The sky’s the limit.

Another Take on the Carter Olles Visit to Journalism Class from Ashley Lemens

“Notre Dame Academy prepared me well,” explained Carter Olles, a 2017 Notre Dame graduate. ‘

During his time at NDA, Olles was a big part of some of the productions at Notre Dame. “I did all the technology at NDA,” explained Olles, naming big shows like Mr. NDA to monthly school masses.

Carolyn Brown, an English teacher at NDA, and fellow peers always called Olles “Babson.” “I go to a college nobody has heard of,” Olles said.

Babson is a private school located in Wellesley, Massachusetts. “I really liked the atmosphere,” Olles said.

“An entrepreneur is a person who sees an opportunity to change something,” explained Olles. “It is the number one entrepreneurial school in the United States.”

For being a smaller school with about 3,100 students, about 40% of students that go to Babson are international.

“About 54% of my class are women,” said Olles. “There is about a 52:48 ratio of women to men.”

Olles had applied for ED (Early Decision) which allows students who have chosen Babson as their top-choice college to apply early. “I was pretty confident I would get in, but I wish I wouldn’t have applied for ED.”

Everything at Babson is business. “I was very interested in investment banking,” explained Olles. “Now I am more interested in starting a business.”

Notre Dame has prepared Olles very well in a sense where classes are not hard. “Classes are really easy for me,” explained Olles. “Essays are really short in college.”

There is a big change from going from having eight classes a day to having one or two classes. “I realized how important sleep was once I started,” said Olles.

“There are no classes on Fridays,” Olles said. “The party days are on Thursdays and Saturdays.”

Living about 1,142 miles away from the home where you were born and raised can be difficult. “It’s a big change,” explained Olles. “I do miss home a lot.”

“I do get some grief for being a Packers fan,” Olles said. Everyone there thinks the Patriots are the best team in the league.

“I really like Green Bay,” said Olles. “Not just because this is where home is.”