Paige Nielsen

Classroom

Paige Nielsen is a defender at the University of North Carolina and obtains a 3.178 grade-point average in business administration.  She studies as part of the Edmund B. Ross II BSBA Endowment in the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC, while also being on an athletic scholarship for the women’s soccer team. She was named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll in each of her first three years as a Tar Heel. In 2014, she was one of just three UNC Students to be named an Eve Carson Scholar, a scholarship that honors students at the University who achieve in athletics, community service or academics and is named for former student body president Eve Carson who was slain during her senior year at Carolina in 2008.

Character

The 2015 UNC women’s soccer team captain has gone above and beyond as far as experience outside the classroom goes. Nielsen particiated in the China Global Immersion Elective at Kenan-Flagler Business School, in which she participated in a 14-day intensive study-abroad program to learn about business and local economics firsthand by meeting with business leaders in local and multinational companies. She visited 17 different American and Chinese companies in Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei. The previous summer, Nielsen was a summer intern at Wells Fargo, and this past summer she served as a summer analyst in sales and trading for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Community

Nielsen visited patients at the UNC Children’s hospital with other student-athletes and hosted them at UNC sporting events as part of the Carolina Dreams program. She also has held soccer clinics for families who donated money and shoes to the less fortunate in Kibera, Kenya, and raised over $2,500. Nielsen recently raised close to $50,000 for her mother’s stem cell transplant to cure Stage 4 Lymphoma. Her mother, Kathy Nielsen, tragically passed away in the late spring from the disease. 

Nielsen was a Richard A. Baddour Carolina Leadership Academy participant at UNC where she was selected for leadership training in the premier leadership development program in collegiate athletics. Additionally, Nielsen has two years of leadership training under her belt; of which includes interactive lectures and hands-on activities. Nielsen is also a member of Kenan-Flagler Student Advisory Board.

Competition

Nielsen is starting central defender for UNC for this upcoming season after playing three years as a forward, including being a starter in 2014. Nielsen is a member of the 2012 NCAA National Champions and a part of a program with 22 national championships. She has participated in the team’s leadership council to help plan practices, team study halls and solve team problems. Nielsen received 2013 and 2014 Most Improved Player Award, and 2014 Offensive Player of the Year Award on the UNC women’s soccer team. Nielsen was the team’s leading goal scorer in 2014 and led team in game-winning goals last year on a squad which tied for the ACC regular-season championship.