This year, WSLS introduced a scholarship for two college-bound high school seniors.
10 Sports John Appicello got to meet both of the recipients - James River senior, Michael Jorgensen, and Glenvar senior, Kennerly Nichols.
It’s already quite an accomplishment to overcome some of life’s challenges, but turning those challenges into time to helping others is an achievement on another level.
That’s exactly what we found at Glenvar High School.
Sometimes, winning a battle within ourselves leads to becoming a stronger advocate for others.
From learning to live with Tourettes, to helping care for her sister, Kennerly Nichols has turned personal hurdles into a platform for doing good.
“I got really used to from a young age being an ambassador anyway and so I just thought it’d be really cool to have the resources to spread it further out further than just me to a classmate or me to my neighbor or something like that,” Nichols said.
“She’s always thinking about others and you can see this kind of selflessness as she approaches her sister who has special needs and she helps take care of her. She applies that same thing to her friendships and towards teammates so she’s always been a very selfless person,” Jason Cline, Glenvar wrestling coach said.
Nichols is a multi-sport scholar-athlete who earned state titles for the Highlanders in soccer and track and field.
But the individual competitive nature of wrestling is perhaps where Nichols was most prepared to learn, teach, and evolve.
“Sports especially wrestling, have really really helped shape my mentality. If you can go further, you can do better like there’s always more that you can do to help sharpen your experiences, to help sharpen someone else’s experience, and to just take what you can from a situation,” Nichols said.
“That’s something that she kind of developed over time where she would actually help me teach technique to the younger wrestlers as they joined the team,” Cline said.
Nichols is headed to Seton Hall’s School of Communication with an interest in digital media production – it’s no surprise she’s ready to turn to focus on others.
Kennerly is also a National Tourette Syndrome ambassador, where she makes public presentations to educate others and legislators about the challenges those with Tourette’s face.
Watch as 10 Sports’ John Appicello presents the scholarship to Kennerly below.