Although he is only 17, Española Valley High School senior Nicholas Trujillo has a good grasp of adult responsibilities, such as balancing checkbooks and building budgets.
He learned those skills through his participation in the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), which he joined during his sophomore year.
Since then, Trujillo’s leadership skills attracted the confidence of his peers who elected him club president and his DECA instructor Terri Strauss, who thought he would be a good fit for a prestigious award.
The Club is a program designed to give students the basic entrepreneurial and leadership skills they will need to pursue careers in myriad fields, which include marketing, business and hospitality industries.
It was Strauss’s push and confidence that prompted the 17-year-old to apply for the Presidential Scholars Program. His accomplishments thus far, which include the National Honor Society and the National Society of High School Scholars, must have caught the attention of those evaluating the first round of the Presidential Scholars Program applications.
Strauss said during the last couple of years, she has observed characteristics in Trujillo that made her think he would be worthy of the award.
“He is a natural leader and he wants to make a difference in his community,” he said. “He has been outstanding and to run for state office is not the easiest task. I think he is the right person.”
Trujillo was selected as one of 4,000 finalists, out of a pool of 3.4 million. The field of hopefuls will be narrowed to 800 semi-finalists in April and the 161 winners will be announced sometime in May.
If selected, he will join other winners from across the country for an all-expenses paid trip, as a guest of the United States Department of Education, for a commemorative ceremony.
Trujillo said he is excited for the opportunity and appreciates all the confidence his peers and instructors have shown in him.
“My DECA advisor got an email that said this scholar’s award was up and the person that sent the email said she would like to see someone from DECA get it,” he said. “So she automatically thought of me. I have been doing well with DECA and all of my other clubs.”
Being the Club president keeps Trujillo pretty busy. He is responsible for generating the Club’s revenue and overseeing various administrative tasks.
“I organize fundraisers like our DECA dump bucket and 50/50s,” he said. “I also help my advisor with all of the paperwork.”
The dump bucket requires the Club students to use their persuasive skills to convince their teachers to sit under a bucket full of water that is released, when it is hit by a ball.
The Club periodically earns money with 50/50s raffle sales. The students sell the tickets to their peers and split the money down the middle with student whose name is drawn.
Trujillo doubles as the club’s treasurer and is responsible for keeping track of all the money the Club raises and spends.
“I do manage the money for DECA and I do pay all the bills,” he said.
His friend and Club Vice President Maurissa Maestas said she enjoys working with Trujillo because of his jovial nature.
“He is really fun to be around because he likes to crack jokes,” she said.
But what makes him a good president is his ability to get serious when it is time to work.
“He is a good president,” Maestas said. “He is always working hard to get things done.”
The high school junior said she is probably more excited than him (Trujillo) the he was named as a finalist.
Trujillo said he believes the nomination could help shine a light on Española’s positive side.
“I want the reputation to go up,” he said. “This place has a really bad reputation that people continue to make worse. I went for this presidential scholars award and I’ve gone out for stuff in DECA to represent this city. There is a lot of good people in this town.”
Trujillo, Maestas and the rest of the Club will have an opportunity to share their talents with their peers from across the state.
The Club is scheduled to participate in the statewide DECA Career Development Conference, from Feb. 27 to March 1. Not only will it give the students an opportunity to display their skills, it will give them a chance to connect with like-minded peers from across the state.
When Trujillo isn’t engaged with the many school programs he belongs to, and isn’t’ working at his part-time job, he hangs out with his friends, like any other teenager.
“I like to play basketball, that is my stress relief,” he said. “I do have a job, as well. I work at Dairy Queen.”
Although Trujillo’s DECA focus is on finance, he plans on studying computer science when he attends New Mexico State this fall.