Ben Wheeler
Friends and family describe Ben as a witty, outgoing, compassionate person who always has others in mind. He is referred to as reliable and caring and someone who radiates empathy and joy.
Ben loves to sing. He has been involved in Choir all four years of high school. He was selected for All State choir for two years. He is involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Club, Partner’s Club, the Stock Market Club and DECA.
Ben hopes to pursue a business degree in college, most likely at MSU’s Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship. Ben states, “ I am very interested in all things business and love learning about the different aspects of the subject.”
His summer jobs have helped prepare him for the business world. He’s worked at Valley View golf course and for a private construction/excavation company where he learned valuable skills. “ I am very thankful for that job as it taught me so many things that I can apply in the future.”
The majority of Ben’s free time throughout high school has been spent with football. He says that all of the time and practice, “taught me to do hard things and work through adversity.” His hard work paid off as he was part of the AA state championship team his junior year. He played on the varsity football team for three out the four years and is currently a team captain. Ben spent three years on the track and field team and two years playing basketball.
Ben shared his love of sports through many youth sports opportunities throughout the valley. He helped run a basketball tournament for kids in elementary and middle school, helped umpire youth softball and coached a local youth football camp. He worked as a referee in youth football games this fall. He realizes the positive impact he has on younger players. He states, “ I once was in the same situation, being a young football player that looked up to older players.”
Ben is proud of earning academic all state accolades during many athletic seasons (four times for football and twice for both basketball and track and field). Learning to balance athletics and academics proved to be challenging yet rewarding for Ben. His favorite class is marketing. According to Ben, “I learned so much and have been very engaged in the material. I learned about pricing, branding, distribution, and so many more exciting topics. This is something I plan on studying further in my future so I am very glad I am getting exposure to it in high school.”
Ben is most proud of his family. “Not only am I very invested in the lives of my immediate family, I also am very interested in my ancestors and the story of why I am where I am. I love doing research on how my ancestral family got to Montana in the late 1800s and the struggles that they had to go through.” Ben is the youngest of four children. His father recently worked through a health scare, and Ben says, “ I learned so much from my dad during the health trial that he faced. He introduced a new perspective on life to me and helped me value certain things that I did not value as much before. He showed me how strong he was and how he still cared deeply about me. My family and I have gone through some seasons of life that have been hard and I am very grateful and proud of them.”
