Berlin Area School District welcomed a youth motivational speaker Nick “Sunshine” Tokman on January 26. Tokman visits many schools sharing his special message with students and staff: Be your own captain.
“Be true to yourself, go after what you want, push through the tough obstacles in order to help you push through your path,” Tokman said.
Agriculture teacher Melissa Miller played a key role in bringing Tokman to the district. She first saw him at the 2024 FFA State Convention, where he was a keynote speaker during the State Degree ceremony.
“Everyone who stayed and listened felt more motivated afterwards,” Miller said. “He was theatrical and entertaining to watch.”
Before becoming a motivational speaker, Tokman spent years fishing in Alaska and also acting in a documentary reality-TV series “Deadliest Catch.” After leaving, he began to do motivational speeches for younger audiences. He has been doing motivational speeches for eight years now and has been featured on NBC, ABC, and 100+ radio shows. Despite his changing career and his adventurous background, Tokman states that his biggest motivation comes from his grandmother, who helped shape his outlook on life.
“I gave up fishing to become a motivational speaker because I’m basically talking to a younger version of myself,” Tokman said.
Growing up he struggled with self-worth and made choices that set him back in his tracks. Now, his goal is to redirect students focusing away from negative outside influences back onto themselves and what they truly want out of life.
“The most rewarding part of doing speeches is realizing that I helped a person along their path to be true to themselves and go after what they want out of life,” Tokman said
Tokman also explains the challenges behind his motivational speeches.
“It’s a lot of work, and a lot of things that we have to do behind the scenes that not a lot of people realize, such as hiring people, fixing the schedule, seeing if the plan will actually go through,” Tokman said.
Junior Xiomara Fuentes responded positively to the speech Tokman gave. Fuentes explains that it made a lasting impact on her.
“He touched my heart honestly,” Fuentes said. “What he said was true about me. He made me want to keep going with things I wanted to give up on.”
Fuentes also says she appreciates how Tokman centered his speech around being your own captain.
“You can’t let anybody stop you from being yourself,” Fuentes said. “We need more speakers like Nick.”
Tokman thanks the Berlin Area School District for allowing him to come in and give motivation to the students who needed it with his upbeat personality, real-life experiences, and heartfelt message.
“Thank you so much for having me at the school. Berlin was amazing,” Tokman said.
