PINE RIVER — Miqaella Williams, a senior at Pine River-Backus High School, was pleasantly surprised when she was honored at the Sourcewell Students of Character celebration Wednesday, April 19, in Staples.
It's an award she had never heard about.
"It was amazing," Williams said. "It was a lot fancier than I expected it to be; a little intimidating at first. But once we got rolling, there was a lot of amazing things said on stage. There was a speaker there and a lot of the things he said resonated with me fully. So yeah, it was an awesome experience."
Keynote speaker Joe Beckman spoke to the 46 Students of Character nominees, inspiring them in their future endeavors.
The over 30-year tradition, formerly known as the Rising Star awards, gives kudos to students from area school districts, often focusing on individuals who have fought to overcome difficult challenges, especially those who have not traditionally received much other recognition.
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Nominations are submitted by teachers at participating schools. Williams was nominated by Pine River-Backus French teacher Melanie Lindquist.
"Miqaella has had to persevere through some tough life circumstances, and she is now taking her experience and advocating for others, particularly when it comes to mental health. Miqaella is everyone's cheerleader. She always lifts up others, so it is now her time to shine a little of that light back on herself," Lindquist wrote in her nomination.
The honor comes with a $750 scholarship, which Williams will use to help fund her pursuit of a career in education.
So I grew up listening to my mom talking about mental health, and she helped me through my depression, anxiety, and I got better. Spreading that and seeing how it helps everyone else get better just warms my heart so much.
She plans to enroll at Central Lakes College in Brainerd in the fall for an early childhood education career.
"I want to work with kids and especially incorporate mental health situations into kids' lives," Williams said.
She has had her own struggles with mental health, and help from family inspired her to put a special emphasis on an otherwise normal childhood education career path.
"Many people in my family struggle heavily with mental health and mental illness," Williams said, "needing medication for it and all that. So I grew up listening to my mom talking about mental health, and she helped me through my depression, anxiety, and I got better.
"Spreading that and seeing how it helps everyone else get better just warms my heart so much," she said. "So yeah, just my own experiences, my family's experiences — I want to spread that to other people."
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Williams has had times in her life where she has felt somewhat distanced from others. That has, in part, inspired her goals.
"I just have always really struggled with clinical mental illness," she said. "So that's something that I really had to overcome and teach myself coping mechanisms and learn how to navigate through that incredibly debilitating disease.
"I think, and I did have some issues I had to overcome, like being brown in a predominantly white area and having gay moms has been a struggle. Just, you know, fitting in with the rest of the town and just kind of being different," she said. "Overcoming that and figuring out that, hey, it's OK to be different and I can still be part of the community."
Williams was inspired toward a teaching degree instead of a mental health degree by inspirational and influential teachers at Pine River-Backus, including Lindquist and various English teachers.
Williams said seeing the other Student of Character nominees and their challenges was a surprisingly powerful inspiration to her that will help motivate her toward her goals.
I did have some issues I had to overcome, like being brown in a predominantly white area and having gay moms has been a struggle. Just you know, fitting in with the rest of the town and just kind of being different. Overcoming that and like figuring out that, hey, it's okay to be different and I can still be part of the community.
"It was really, really cool," Williams said. "Seeing all the different struggles that other students have overcome and seeing how far they've come and seeing how they interact when being complimented and when they're in the spotlight and the positivity is on them.
"That was really cool. And it's something that I struggle with too, taking compliments and taking the positivity instead of giving it out," she said.
Williams sometimes struggles with receiving praise at such events.
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"It felt really cool (to be nominated)," she said. "And I'm still struggling with the mindset of, 'Do I really deserve this? Is it? Am I actually the one that should have been chosen?' But outside of that anxiety aspect of it, it feels really cool.
"It feels like a random brown kid from a small town can be recognized for something and the teachers aren't there just to teach you but also to help you grow as a human being so that's really cool," she said.
Williams has not had a lot of involvement with extracurricular activities at PR-B, though she has been part of the PR-B theater program, showing up on stage fairly frequently over the years.
The Students of Character Celebration recognizes high school juniors and seniors throughout Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd and Wadena counties for their quiet leadership, perseverance and dedication to their community, school and fellow students.
Donations from local businesses, organizations and individuals make it possible for each student to receive a scholarship, plus a chance to win door prizes.
Travis Grimler is a staff writer for the Pineandlakes Echo Journal weekly newspaper in Pequot Lakes/Pine River. He may be reached at 218-855-5853 or travis.grimler@pineandlakes.com.
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