For many, doing as much as they possibly can in high school is all in the hopes of an easier transition into college. AP classes, honor roll, extracurriculars, and building portfolios… all while holding on to the hope that the hard work will one day pay off. North Penn High School alum Nicole Mattiacci claims that it does.
In February of the 2022-2023 school year, Knight Crier Staff Writer Yamuni Kaijumi wrote a profile article on a senior named Nicole Mattiacci. Kaijumi commented on Mattiacci’s dreams of potentially “help[ing] address and resolve environmental issues on a global scale,” and her great displays of leadership in her various activities.
Two years later, in 2025, as a junior at Mount Holyoke College, Mattiacci has made big leaps towards her goal of becoming involved in international environmental conversations and shares wisdom about her own experiences as a college student.
“In terms of what I’m involved in right now in college in comparison to North Penn, I would say that a lot of what I’m doing is really just an extension of what I did [back then],” Mattiacci explained.
Mattiacci is currently the director general of Mount Holyoke’s Five College Model UN Conference, the committee chair in student government, an environmental policy research assistant, an admissions’ ambassador, and works for the career development center. But during her years at North Penn, she was the president of Model UN, the president of the Democrats Club, and the vice president of ENACT.
“I became interested in environmental policy and just the environment in general through being in ENACT and working with the nonprofit Clean Allies that we collaborated with. It was nice being in ENACT for those two years and then that was kind of a great gateway into environmental leadership,” Mattiacci recounted.
Mattiacci is a double major in international relations and environmental studies, and also finds time for her various extracurriculars. The benefits of a double major are that a person can find where their separate passions overlap, but this path comes with a completely different workload.
“I kind of knew what I wanted to study through classes in high school and through getting involved in organizations, and I found a lot of interconnectedness between my two majors as well. The topic of my research right now is global environmental governance,” Mattiacci said. “I chose these majors for practicality because they are majors that you can apply to a lot of different things, but it’s also about finding a passion as well.”
Mattiacci has found a passion for both her majors, and the opportunities that her college provides help her fulfill those dreams.
“Being in classes with people from all walks of life is really, really important,” Mattiacci emphasized. “You’ll learn as much about the world through those other people as you will in your classes.”
Another difficulty that comes with college is the distance from family and friends. Mattiacci, who is very close with her family, moved five hours away from home to pursue her education. For those who are thinking about college far from home, she mentioned some things to consider.
“I’m very independent in comparison to some other people, so I definitely wanted to get out of Pennsylvania and explore the rest of the Northeast… But for college students, it might be hard to remember to call people and check in on them, but I think it’s really important to keep in contact with your family and try not to forget about them,” Mattiacci recommended.
As a junior in college and halfway through her college career, Mattiacci has learned from some experiences and hopes for new ones.
“I was very locked in during my first two years. I prioritized school and my academics and extracurriculars, so I kind of put off the social side of college, but this semester, I’m trying to do more going out with my friends and taking a bunch of trips… The social experience is just as important as academics in a few ways,” Mattiacci said.
But before she leaves, Mattiacci has a list of things she still wants to accomplish.
“[My college] has a lot of really quirky, unknown traditions, so my goal is really just to go to as many traditions and events as possible.. Once you leave college, you will never be in that kind of environment where there are so many resources and people coming to campus to talk ever again, and so it’s really good to try and take as many opportunities as possible and not limit yourself because you feel like it’s not for you,” Mattiacci explained.
Mattiacci leaves graduating students with some advice:
“I’ve talked to a lot of employers in grad schools, and I’ve also talked to a lot of alums… for the people I’ve talked to, they’ve said that the most important thing that they’re looking for is not only the content in your brain, but also your soft skills. How you deal with conflict, how you think outside the box, how you think from different perspectives- those are the kinds of skills that are really seen beyond just memorizing the facts.”