Senior Spotlight: Sydney Messerlie
Launch the media gallery 1 playerOn February 2, 2008, Shawn and Amanda Messerlie were blessed with a beautiful daughter, Sydney Kay Messerlie, at the Faith Regional Hospital in Norfolk, Nebraska.
Sydney has two half-siblings: Shelby Novak, 37, and Shay Messerlie, 25. Along with her two half-siblings, she has one full sister, Syerra Messerlie, 13, who is a 7th grader at Leigh Community Schools. Sydney's grandparents are Jack and Lori Denker of Stanton, Nebraska, and Rose Messerlie of South Sioux City, Nebraska.
You can tell Sydney’s family has a breed of dog they love, because their family wouldn’t be complete without their three Dachshunds: Faith, Duke, and Oliver.
Throughout Sydney's high school career, she has been involved in lots of activities that keep her busy, including Speech, One-Act, Dance, and Choir for four years; FFA and FBLA for three years; FCCLA, Band, Softball, Golf, Journalism, and Yearbook for 2 years: and Cheer and Trapshooting for 1 year.
Sydney has also filled her time up with activities outside of school, such as St. Mary’s Church Youth Group and Boy Scouts for 7 years; Girl Scouts for 3 years; and Youth Advisory Committee and Order of the Arrow for 2 years.
Through many of these activities, Sydney has achieved many awards and honors, such as Eagle Scout, 2026; East Husker Conference Best Supporting Actress, 2025; State One-Act Top Performer recognition, 2024; Arrowman of the Year, 2024-2025; Bronze at State FFA in Junior Public Speaking, 2024; FCCLA STAR project State Qualifier, 2026; and State Speech Qualifier, 2026.
Sydney's proudest accomplishment in high school so far was becoming an Eagle Scout in February of this year.
When she’s not excelling in her extracurriculars, Sydney works at Fits & Giggles Daycare in Leigh, and Camp Cedars and Camp Amikaro in Cedar Bluffs. Sydney also shows off her over creative side by having her own business! She makes sells and makes her own handmade jewelry!
After high school, Sydney plans to further her love of working with children by double-majoring in Early Childhood Education and Human Services, while also earning an endorsement in Theater and Speech at Wayne State College. She hopes to become a preschool teacher, as well as one day becoming a theater and speech coach.
If Sydney were to win the lottery, she would try to save some of the money, while also investing some of it for her future endeavors. Sydney stated that in this day in age you never have enough money to pay off taxes or debts. That’s why she would like to save a lot of it, but she says she might need a shopping trip or two as well.
If Sydney could travel anywhere in the world, she would visit either Australia or the UK because it looks gorgeous and she loves the scenery. Three words that Sydney uses to describe herself are optimistic, nurturing, and open-minded.
Sydney’s biggest pet peeve is when people put down others because they think it’s “funny” or when they try to act like they are better than everyone else. Her most embarrassing moment in high school was hitting the gas pump at Main Stop with her car last year.
In 10-15 years, Sydney sees herself beginning a family while working at a school. She can also see herself staying up late like Mrs. Fischer to work on scripts or organizing stuff for speech meets.
Three goals on Sydney’s bucket list are to travel to every state, make an impact on someone’s life, and to win the lottery or become rich in some way.
With all of Sydney’s accomplishments, she reflects on all of the people who have shaped her into the person she is today. One of those people whom Sydney admires is her grandma. “She offers great advice and has been there with me for everything, even when it has been messy. She knows how to care and be honest at the same time,” Sydney said.
Sydney says her favorite high school memory was going to “Senior Sunrise” this year. Sydney said that seeing the sunrise on her last first day of school and eating breakfast with the people she grew up with will always have a special place in her heart.
While Sydney stays busy with all of her extracurriculars, when she has free time, she loves to camp and be a part of Scout camps and other organizations. She also loves to color, read, go on walks, and just be a part of any outside activity.
Some of Sydney’s favorite things include her favorite subject, choir; favorite show, You; favorite song, “Her” by ZVC and Annika Wells; favorite sports team, the Kansas City Chiefs; favorite food, sushi (specifically the chicken tempura roll); favorite author, Natasha Preston; favorite extracurriculars, speech and one-act; favorite sports, softball and golf; and finally, her favorite thing about school is aiding for the preschool.
Sydney's biggest heartbreak will be when she graduates and she sees all the preschool kids, elementary kids, teachers, and friends for the last time. Her final advice to the underclassmen is “Don’t be the reason someone dreads coming to school, and kindness doesn’t need a name.”
We wish Sydney the best of luck in her future!