(KNSI) – Every year, the Minnesota State High School League recognizes several high-achieving juniors with the Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership (ExCEL) Award. This year, William Nielsen of Sauk Rapids-Rice High School is one of them.
It all began late last year when Nielsen and some of his friends all decided to nominate themselves for the ExCEL Award, which is bestowed on juniors who are “active in school activities, leaders in their schools, and who demonstrate a strong commitment to community service,” says the MSHSL.
“They had sent out letters,” Nielsen said. “I remember some of my friends were texting me, ‘Oh, did you get this letter?’ because they notified everyone who applied that either they did or didn’t get [nominated].”
He was at home with his parents when he got his nomination letter. A few days later, a school official told Nielsen he was one of the winners.
“That was a really great feeling,” he said. “I think the main thing that I took from that is my hard work is paying off — it’s worth working hard to get an award like this.”
Nielsen is involved in many activities at Sauk Rapids-Rice, like swimming, choir, Minnesota Honor Society and math league. His favorite is DECA, a business education and competition program.
“Our school’s found a lot of success in that, and I found a lot of success in that,” Nielsen said. “I’m very excited for next year because I was elected as the district five representative. What I will do is be working with a team of, I think, six other members next year to run the state DECA from the student side of things.”
As for his volunteer work, Nielsen volunteers through Harvest Fellowship Church’s Band of Brothers youth group for middle and high school boys.
“We do a thing around Christmas time where we collect money to give to people in the community,” Nielsen said. “So we actually go out, we collect money and we pick four families. They split us up — the guys — into four groups, and we each go shopping for one family, and we’re able to purchase that family Christmas gifts. It’s normally families with young kids who wouldn’t be able to afford any Christmas gifts for those kids.”
This summer, he plans to travel to Mexico and Alaska for other church-related volunteer projects.
As a heavily involved student, Nielsen says the support from his friends, family, teachers and mentors helps him avoid burnout.
“I have an amazing family network; they’re always willing to support me no matter what I do,” Nielsen said. “It’s the support of my teachers here and the mentors I’ve met in my life that just allow me to keep going.”
Friendly competition with his friends in different extracurriculars also factors into Nielsen’s motivation, he said. For example, seeing his peers succeed in DECA when he was a freshman inspired him to give it a try.
“I thought, ‘You know what, I’m gonna go in and I’m gonna be just as good as everyone else,’ so I got in and I put my all into that,” Nielsen said.
After graduation in 2022, Nielsen wants to further his education, but he said he’s taking this summer to figure out what field of study is best for him. He does have a goal in mind, though.
“It’s one of my dreams to start a business,” Nielsen said. “I’m really passionate about that and I really want to do that someday. I don’t know in what field, what that will look like, but one day I do want to be an entrepreneur.”
Winners of the ExCEL Award were chosen by a panel of judges representing schools around the state.
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