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Photo by Mackenzie Bottolfson
Liz Nelson has been a counselor at Stillwater Area High School for nine years. Nelson said, "I felt like counseling was a natural fit for me and my personality type."

Counselors play an important role in students lives. From helping with social issues to scholarships applications, they do everything. High school counselor Liz Nelson has been a counselor at the high school since 2006 and has done it all.

When Nelson joined Stillwater Area High School in 2006, she was not new to the district. She had worked at Stillwater Junior High for 13 years in special education. She has also worked at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf in the dorms, and is fluent in American Sign Language. Nelson earned a Bachelor’s Degree in education from Minnesota State University, Mankato, as well as a Master’s Degree in guidance counseling from the University of Wisconsin River Falls.

Nelson made the switch from being a special education teacher to a counselor after realizing that her passions lay more with parent-student interactions.

“My educational background was Special Ed and so I started as a special ed teacher and I just found that working with parents and students a lot of what you worked with was trying to problem solve situations and trying to find resources for students and I liked that aspect of my job and I thought counseling would be a bigger scale of that,” said Nelson.

Nelson is currently doing just that, with busy days of working with students, students’ parents, and other staff members to help students reach their goals. Nelson works mainly with students whose last names are P through Sn.

Junior Ann Sheely, who has Nelson as a counselor, said, “Ms. Nelson is friendly and approachable, she will recognize me in the hallway and say hello.”

Students like Nelson for her cheerfulness and overall happy attitude.

Junior Claire Sluss, who also has Nelson as a counselor, said, “Ms. Nelson loves going out of her way to make you happy and she’s super awesome.”

Nelson does many things outside of being a school counselor. She is an avid gardener during the summer and enjoys cross country skiing during the winter. What she really loves, though, is traveling and hiking.

“I like to travel. I’ve done a lot of backpacking. I’ve hiked along the Tasmanian Sea in new Zealand, I’ve been on an African Safari looking at the big animals in Africa, I’ve hiked to the tallest point in Ireland, and I’ve hiked around a caldera.”

Nelson is always helping people out, whether it is by helping students get the resources they need or solving conflicts. Her kindness makes students happy to see her, both in the hallways and in her office. She is constantly on the move from hiking to skiing.