Professional Profile Assignment
Mary Tilden Olsen is a Junior at Arizona State University, where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing. She is an honors student at ASU’s Barrett, the Honors College, and is a Writing Colloquium Tutor for Barrett’s Human Event course. Mary has taken on leadership roles in both the Barrett Writing Colloquium and ASU’s ZERO Waste Green Devil Network, an organization challenging ASU students and faculty to make ASU’s campus 100% zero waste.
Mary was raised by a community of artists and developed an eye for design at a young age. She has been a freelance illustrator, designer, and artist since she was in middle school, even creating pieces for the United Nations. She has been awarded several art awards and has had her art featured in art shows. She is currently illustrating a sex education book for the LGBTQ community, working as a t-shirt designer, teaching herself photography and video editing, and developing a personal website that will serve as a portfolio for her work. Her love for art has encouraged her to put it at the center of her Barrett Thesis project, where she will be analyzing the relationship between memory, art, and death.
Aside from her passion for art and design, Mary is passionate about sustainability. Last year she worked closely with a Barrett faculty member on a project studying entomophagy (the consumption of insects), and its effects on culture, health, and the planet. This project has inspired Mary to utilize her writing and design skills to pursue a career in the marketing of insects for human consumption in America.
When Mary isn’t studying, writing, designing, or eating bugs, she is listening to podcasts, rock climbing, enjoying the outdoors, or all of the above!