Niklas Nilsson '20 Recruiting Profile

I am determined and committed in everything that interests me. I am grateful that I have natural athletic ability that I am able to build upon in order to excel in a variety of sports. I am a student athlete at The Waterford School, an academically rigorous 2A fine arts K-12 independent school in Sandy, Utah, with an enrollment of 920 students. At The Waterford School, I am a captain of my high school soccer team and play as a center back. Our high school soccer team won the 2A State Championships in the 2018 season, and I was selected to the 2A All State First Team. In addition, I play on the Sparta B02 Premier MD competitive team, and we are currently ranked first in the state of Utah. It is an important value to me, to be a strong contributor to the success of my competitive team and a leader and mentor on my high school team.

To me, it is not enough to just play well, rather I consistently push myself to be well conditioned and fit in order to surpass my prior on field performance. I work hard outside of scheduled practices and have accelerated my training routine this past year by consistently participating in speed and agility training. I am fortunate to live at the base of the Wasatch mountains in Sandy, Utah which has ignited and supports my passion and access to the outdoors. I am a highly accomplished alpine skier and enjoy opportunities to hike, rock climb, and backpack.

The Waterford School is a small community that has high expectations for its members to thrive, and pursue life through a lens of honor, integrity, curiosity, and excellence. At The Waterford School, I am considered a “lifer,” as I have attended there since I was three years old. As a member of this small community, it is a required life skill to be academically, artistically, and mentally conditioned and to have the confidence to self advocate, work through challenges, and problem solve with professors. In addition, Waterford has an incredible outdoors program, which has truly contributed to who I am. The intensity of the outdoors program has taught me monumental lessons in leadership, grit, and teamwork. In addition, I find great joy in playing the cello in the upper school orchestra and in my free time, I passionately pursue photography. As a junior, I have a 3.8 GPA and am currently enrolled in AP US History and AP Photography. In my senior year, I will be taking four AP courses. My most recent term has been my most successful academically, and I earned a 3.95 GPA. My success this term is reflective of my maturity as a student who is focused and driven to achieve my goals in high school as well as positioning myself to pursue my academic, athletic, and environmental collegiate goals.

Over the past year and a half I have started to grow into and realize the person that I want to be. On the soccer field, I take extreme pride in being one of two captains who is the first to arrive and the last to leave the field, mentoring and encouraging growth for the younger teammates. I am fortunate to be 6' 3" and have learned and continue to learn how to assert my stature and power on the playing field. In the classroom, I value the small student to teacher ratios, and I put in the extra effort to deepen my understanding of subject material. At my school, I am a student ambassador, and in this role, I share The Waterford experience with prospective students and parents, volunteer at school events, and help new students adjust to life at Waterford. I am excited about engaging in a college education and experience that connects and ignites my areas of interest. I want to be in a college environment that allows me to enjoy the outdoors as well as academically be in a setting that challenges, encourages, and supports me to strive for more. Athletically I want to be a part of a soccer team that provides an opportunity for me to step up and contribute to the success of the team.