 Nilsson was also a talented high school student, and as such also an exchange student in the United States.At this time he was thinking of becoming a pediatrician or a chef.Back in Sweden, Nilsson passed "studentexamen" at Katedralskolan in Lund in 1976 and was supposed to do his military service in Karlskrona Coastal Artillery Regiment (KA 2) in Karlskrona but instead, two weeks after graduation from Katedralskolan, he enrolled at the Swedish Air Force Flying School in Ljungbyhed.