Teen inspired by leadership, drawn to soccer, skiing

Many 15-year olds lack confidence. It comes with being a teenager. And in a world where video games and other electronics tend to dominate the teenage scene, ambition is another quality that some teenagers may be short of.

But for Sandpoint High School sophomore Peik Wahl, he said he knows just the answer to getting motivated and building confidence.

During the Presidential inauguration, Wahl traveled to Washington D.C., where he attended the Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference.

“It was amazing,” said Wahl, who listened to many speakers during the three-day conference including Al Gore, Desmond Tutu, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Lisa Ling. “It was a life-changing experience and it motivates you to do so much more to make yourself a better person.”

As an alumni of another conference put on by a group called Envision and run by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, Wahl was selected as one of approximately 8,000 youth from across the country to take part in the event.

“The last conference I went to (The National Young Leaders State Conference in Seattle last January) was about building leadership skills and getting to know yourself as a leader. It also taught us how to use those tools in our community,” said Wahl.

“This conference was about being in history. The speakers spoke to our generation about taking action.”

Al Gore spoke about how they need to change the way in which they live in order for them to change the world. Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,” spoke about the life and presidency of Abraham Lincoln.

Following each of the speakers, Wahl gathered with his group of about 25 high school students and talked about what they had learned from the previous segment of the conference and debated certain issues.

“We got on our bus and while driving back to our hotel we would talk about it,” said Wahl. And it appears they had lots of time to do so. Their schedule called for them to return to the hotel by 10:30 p.m. each night, but Wahl said it was usually midnight before they got back.

“The traffic was really bad. We had 120 charter buses for our whole conference,” he said.

One of the highlights for Wahl was a trip to the Newseum – a museum which pays tribute to more than 500 years of news, including actual objects from historic events including a piece of the Berlin Wall, and the newest technology in the industry. It was there that Wahl met John King, who was shooting a piece for CNN. Citing one of his career goals as the possibility of being a political commentator, Wahl said it was definitely exciting to meet King.

It was an experience he is proud to have been a part of and said the challenge to become a leader is one he welcomes.

“I like to prove to myself that I’m a leader because sometimes I don’t always believe in myself,” said Wahl. “It (attending the conferences) empowers me and makes me motivated. It really helps me to find out who I am.”

The group attended the Inauguration but was too far back on the mall to witness the ceremony first hand. Instead they relied upon the large television screens set up about every 200 yards. For Wahl it was an amazing experience to be part of such a historical event.

“It was so historic and now I can say I was at the inauguration of the first African American President,” said Wahl.

As interested as Wahl is in leadership, goal setting and challenging himself, he is equally interested in the world of skiing, soccer and music.

His dad, Reidar Wahl, was a professional ski racer in the late 1970s and 1980s and raced for the Norwegian National Ski Team.

“He won two World Cups back to back in 1983 and 1984,” said Wahl proudly. It was his dad who influenced his love of skiing. “I started skiing when I was 2 and racing when I was 5.”

Although he quit racing in the eighth grade, Wahl still enjoys a good day on the mountain and continues with the Nastar races at Schweitzer. Last year he qualified for Nastar Nationals, but a dislocated shoulder kept him from advancing. He said if he was to have continued to race he would have been at the level where he would have had to train five days a week – something that would have prohibited him from attending school with his peers.

“So instead I chose to pursue soccer,” said Wahl.

His love of soccer he attributes to his mom, Dyno Wahl, who played soccer for the University of California in San Diego when she was in college. She coached him and his little sister, Lani, when they were younger. Now Wahl plays soccer for Sandpoint High School, where he was the captain of the junior varsity team last fall and in the spring plays for the Sandpoint Strikers.

“I love the pace of the game,” he said. “It requires a lot of athletic ability, too.” He would like to attend a Division I school where he can play soccer and has a goal of one day becoming a professional soccer player.

“It’s one of my dreams,” he said.

With four honors classes and a grade-point average of more than 3.8, Wahl said it is hard to balance everything. “Somehow though I find a way to pull it off,” he said.

Appreciative of the arts, Wahl plays a variety of instruments and enjoys different types of music. He plays trombone, bass, guitar, tuba and baritone and is now learning to play the piano.

He said he enjoys helping out kids in school who may be struggling and is considering signing up to be a tutor or a teacher’s assistant.

For Wahl, he said the ultimate lesson he has learned through all of his experiences is that it is important to be confident and believe in yourself.

“I have learned I should set high goals for myself and believe that I can achieve them.”