My Major featuring Caden W. Nelsen

"Firstly, I am an avid learner that loves to take courses in math and science, especially engineering. Secondly, I strongly believe in a career that improves the lives of people around me, so this naturally fits in well with civil engineering. The first word, 'civil', tells you that this field is for the good of the people," declares Caden Nelsen . Caden, the winner of a 2022 James E. Casey Scholarship, sponsored by The UPS Foundation, is working towards his civil engineering degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln . "I have looked further into the subdivisions of civil engineering, and the variety has impressed me," he says. "When thinking about civil engineering, any layman would probably tell you that it is about designing buildings and bridges, but I have discovered more fields like water resources, geotechnical, and environmental engineering."

Caden dove headfirst into this field well before college. As a means of accomplishing his Eagle Scout community service project, Caden designed a portable agility course for his local zoo. Shortly after this, Caden worked with fellow engineers to design a renewable neighborhood, for which their scale model was awarded first place at a competition for the Student Mentoring Program of Omaha, Nebraska, additionally winning the Post President's Award. Then, prior to entering college, Caden wrote an essay that earned him the Kiewit Scholarship, an award given to students seeking to make a difference in the engineering and construction fields. "Overall, I would not be in the same place as I am today without the aid of these challenges and many more that I have conquered," Caden says.