17-year-old Breslin Nichols is a native Oregonian who, prior to high school, attended Southeast Portland’s Winterhaven K-8 school. While many of his classmates opted to continue their education at the neighborhood Cleveland High School, Nichols made the decision to enroll at La Salle, where he is currently a senior. 

Looking back on his first year at La Salle, Nichols said, “freshman year is weird because it’s all online,” emphasizing his time at La Salle during the COVID-19 pandemic, to which Nichols expressed the challenges he faced during his brief experience with online and cohort learning. 

But despite the unconventional circumstances, he still managed to find enjoyment in the experience.

Nichols expressed that his transition into high school was smooth and not at all difficult to navigate as he had the advantage of three brothers there to guide him, one of them being a senior. This was also a gateway to making friends as “a lot of their friends became my friends,” he said. This unique social atmosphere helped him be more confident when jumping into the waters of high school.

And while his siblings may not be in high school anymore, Nichols still says that “[his] older sister and my eldest brother are both pretty big role models for me.” He was able to gain perspective into choosing a path after high school, especially from his sister. 

Nichols said that “she really showed me that it doesn’t matter where you go to college, it doesn’t matter what route you end up taking,” as his sister now is a registered nurse with a successful first job, all accomplished by taking the community college path. 

Nichols has enjoyed his journey through high school, but a teacher who stood above the rest for him was his German teacher, Mr. David Lane. Reflecting on his high school introduction to the German language, Nichols said, “I didn’t like the class because I was really bad at it.”

Despite the challenging nature of the class, he spoke very highly of Mr. Lane. Nichols expressed his appreciation for the faith Mr. Lane had in him and the belief that he could improve his work ethic, which he was able to do.

Nichols also conveyed his love for his home city and state. He is extremely appreciative of the location of Portland as it acts as an outpost between the beach, where his family owns a getaway house, Washington, where he goes camping, and Mt. Hood, where he is fond of its facilitation of alpine sports.

On Mt. Hood, he is very involved with the La Salle snowboard team which holds meets and competitions at Mt. Hood Meadows. However, the sport he is most fond of is either soccer or tennis. Nichols has been playing soccer his whole life, so it has become a core part of who he is. 

But in more recent years, he has also solidified his love for the sport of tennis, since Nichols and his twin brother have been a duo on La Salle’s varsity tennis team since their freshman year. “We’ve always had the goal of trying to win state,” Nichols said. He came close last year and hopes he can succeed this year, as it is his last chance before he heads towards college.

Nichols has applied and been accepted to multiple different schools, with his top choices being California Polytechnic State University and the University of Washington. Though he is still unsure which college he wants to commit to, he wants to pursue a major in either computer science or business.

Regardless of his decision, Nichols feels that he is prepared for college and is more confident being backed by the work ethics La Salle has taught him and the guidance from his siblings ahead of him.