After leaving a positive impression on Coupeville High School, Nathaniel Foote is now planting his imprint on a  larger stage, the University of Nevada.

Foote excelled academically at CHS, earning valedictorian honors for the class of 2012.

At Reno, he has continued to shine in the classroom. This spring he was one of only two juniors to receive the Phi Kappa Phi award presented to the university’s top students.

“It was an enormous honor,” Foote said. “I didn’t even comprehend just how big an honor it was until I attended the ceremony. Most of the people there were faculty, with a handful of seniors and grad students. I also got to shake hands with the university president, Mark Johnson, which was exciting.”

A peek at Foote’s academic load and grades reveal why he won the award. He is majoring in geology and geological engineering and minoring in hydrogeology and math.

“I am one class away from a major in hydrogeology, so I will probably end up with three majors,” he said.

After a string of all “A’s,” Foote received his first two  “B’s” recently.

Breaking the string of all “A’s”  “wasn’t a big deal,” Foote said.

“My family is already so proud of me and doesn’t necessarily put pressure on me to get good grades,” he added. “I just like to get good grades because I like to do things right and I find it a personal challenge. I got the ‘B’ because I was taking a lot of credits in hard upper-level classes. In a way, I’m actually surprised that I got ‘A’s’ for as long as I did.”

Foote is an outstanding scholar, but he doesn’t spend all his time in the library or buried in a book.

He is an enthusiastic follower of the University of Nevada athletics teams, the Wolf Pack.

“I suppose it started in my freshman year when I joined Blue Crew, which is a student spirit club,” Foote said. “When I first started attending the games, I had lots of fun. I then wanted to challenge myself to attend as many games as possible. Plus it was a nice break from doing homework.”

After his freshman year, Foote received the Leader of the Pack Award, which was a signed basketball from the men’s basketball team. During the football season of his junior year, he was chosen Student of the Game and had his picture shown on the jumbotron during a game.

Initially he followed the large crowds to the football and men’s basketball games, then he started attending other activities.

“I realized that there are other athletic teams who work at least as hard and deserve support,” he said, “so I also watch volleyball, women’s soccer, women’s basketball and softball.”

His support didn’t go unnoticed.

At the first basketball game of Foote’s junior year, the cheer coach recognized him for his dedicated attendance and dubbed him Superfan, and then invited him to sit next to the cheerleaders in front of the band.

Being Superfan comes with “lots of perks,” Foote said.

One was getting to present the “Pack Supports Pack” Award at the Wolfies, an event where deserving teams and individuals are honored.

During the presentation, Foote wore a custom-made Superfan T-shirt and various pieces of sports equipment.

Foote said he can maintain his success in the classroom and spend time watching the Wolf Pack contests because he manages his time well.

“I have learned to not procrastinate, which is prevalent among many college students.”

Lesson learned.