April Renzella

The Best of the Best  

            The college process is one of the most stressful times in any senior in high school’s life.

            Whether it is the Common App, the dreaded essay, or the several supplements, getting to college can seem harder than being in college! According to the Princeton Review, Stonehill College has been ranked as one of the ‘Best Northeastern Colleges’ and judging by the amount of incoming freshman, this statement is anything but disagreeable. Rumor around campus in the middle of April was that a lofty 750 incoming freshman have already committed themselves to Stonehill. That’s almost as many students enrolled in the class of 2015, which currently stands at 579. Talk about high numbers! That already makes up about twenty five percent of the school.

            According to the Stonehill College Admissions Office, the average accepted student has an ACT score of 27 and a combined SAT Reading and Math score of 1210. Almost 75% of students have completed at least one AP course and 80% played a varsity sport. These are considered pretty high standards for a small liberal arts college nestled in Easton, MA.

            Since the year of 2011, Stonehill has become ‘Test Optional’ meaning that they allow applicants to apply without sending their ACT or SAT scores. Although this may seem like a sweet deal, students who don’t submit their scores will have a lot more concentration from admissions on their essay, high school grades, as well as their extra curriculars. The percentage of accepted students who are admitted without test scores has yet to be released, however the numbers must be small.

            Masconomet Senior Ben Zaniewski will be attending Stonehill in the fall on a full scholarship, not to mention he will be joining his sister on campus. Although he admits that Stonehill was not his first choice, he did say the decision came easy. “Not only does Stonehill have my major and ROTC, I am also very familiar with the campus as it is,” he said, “I have plenty of connections to upper classmen through my sister, can attend essentially for free, and it is not too far away from home. The reputation of the school as a growing educational center was also a huge draw compared to my other choices.”

            Stonehill’s growing popularity and rising reputation has drawn in students from all over the world. In fact, a group of students from India all traveled over together to the United States to continue their education at the catholic college. Although the majority of students come from the northeast, Stonehill is trying to diversify their community by adding students from across the country and over seas.

            Stonehill is known to be one of the happiest colleges in the United States. With happy students, a large variety of sports teams, and strong academics, it makes for the perfect school for any kind of student.

To apply to Stonehill College, visit www.stonehillcollegeadmissions.org

            

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9qMAQcOJ-E&feature=plcp

Meg Lewis: Nicole Colantonio

      As I sat down with Nicole, I was prepared to have a conversation with a girl my age, which I could obviously relate to. What I came out with was a conversation with someone who was wise beyond her years.

     Two days after moving into her sophomore year dorm room at Stonehill College, Nicole Colantonio received a call from her doctor, she had stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She immediately began a whirlwind of surgeries and treatments, and started calling Children’s hospital at Boston her second home.

     Children’s Hospital was somewhere Colantonio had never been before her illness, and yet it has changed her perception of hospitals in a good way.

“I was blown away at how nice everyone was. I had to get a surgery that I was awake for and there was one guy whose job it was to hold my hand, and he did, for the whole time!” Colantonio said.

     Because of the amazing care she received during her time in Children’s, Colantonio has decided that she definitely wants to work in hospitals, or social work in the future.

     As she eloquently spoke of her whirlwind past year, you would never know she was the girl who managed to both spell and bubble in her name wrong on her PSATs because she got so nervous.

“Weirdly enough, having cancer has made me more confident, and able to talk to people more, because everyone was coming to me asking questions.” Colantonio said.

     In every other way, Colantonio is a normal 19 year-old girl. During the time I interviewed her, we somehow segued into her intense love for Chinese food. She gave a great recommendation for a restaurant down the street from Stonehill, and subtly told me to look for a figure named “George”, who has told her she is his best customer.

     Although she may have loved the care she was receiving, there were aspects of Children’s that didn’t apply to her situation. Her boyfriend of over a year, Joey Scherr, was not close family, so couldn’t be let into her treatments. Colantonio and Scherr would put their displays of affection on hold and pretend to be siblings when he would want to visit her.

“They never really have boyfriends to deal with in Children’s, so it was a little weird, but we made it work.”

     If having one daughter with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma wasn’t enough for this family, Nicole’s 14 year-old sister, Kaitlyn, was diagnosed soon after with double kidney failure.

     Thankfully, Kaitlyn and Nicole’s dad was recently found out to be a match for a kidney transplant that will take place this summer, ironically, on Nicole’s 20^th birthday.

     Everyone who knows Colantonio at Stonehill College are nothing if not impressed by her spirit and drive. Professor Estelle Wenson had Nicole when she was a first-semester freshman, and again this current semester.  

      “Considering what she’s going through, not only with herself, but her sister’s sickness, and the toll that is taking on her family, she is simply amazing, I don’t know how she’s doing it” Wenson said.

     A fellow student, Junior Lauren Zdanis, is in a communications course with Colantonio this semester, and had never met her before. 

“The first time I met her, I didn’t even know she had cancer until someone told me. She seemed like a normal student, and such a sweet girl.” Zdanis said.

      The feats that Colantonio has accomplished in the past year have been nothing short of impressive. What she told me next was simply astounding. She’s on track to graduate with the rest of her class. This is thanks partly to AP credits Colantonio received in high school, but mostly to the faculty at Stonehill, as they taped lectures last semester.

“The staff has been so accommodating and so willing to help out, it really has been great” Colantonio said.

       Recently, Stonehill College held the annual “Relay for Life”, a fundraising event for the American Cancer society. This year’s event brought over 400 students who participated. Colantonio was one of them.

     Junior at Stonehill, Bryan Tavares was there, and simply having Colantonio there to tell her story was something he won’t soon forget.

“She is truly inspirational, she was such a motivating force during Relay for Life” Tavares said.

      As of a few weeks ago, Colantonio is officially cancer free. She humbly gives credit for this accomplishment not to herself, but to her family, friends, and boyfriend who have helped her along the way. If she likes it or not, Nicole has become an inspiration to many students on the Stonehill College campus. One of her classmates, Vivian Fitzgerald, is one of those inspired students.

“She inspires me to keep going through whatever I’m going through, if she can have a smile on her face doing what she’s doing, then so can I“ Fitzgerald said.

Potential to Be

Megan Brennan

            You stand there looking into a wall with shades of green, and slight shades of brown. The pattern repeats down all of the rows. The faces, although they represent the same values, have different lines and crevices on their skin, which are unique to them and important to the group. Each is an individual, each is part of a team, and each saw within themselves the potential to be and because of that, they are.

            Katie Krach, a freshman here at Stonehill College, came to Stonehill this fall with that potential inside of her. She joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and began a new journey, a new adventure. ROTC requires a lot of time, energy, and focus as the program works to mold young adults into stronger leaders and people. Although this is the case, ROTC is not put in place to fill empty jars; the program works on “developing leadership and managerial potential”, as said in the Stonehill ROTC introduction. The types of students that enter into the ROTC program see a small glow within themselves, in which they then learn how to develop so that they glimmer on the outside.

            An old friend of Krach’s, Caitlin Donnelly, has seen Katie’s potential all along, but its visibility has not always been so clear. In high school Donnelly recalled having to order sandwiches for Krach because she did not want to talk to the people behind the counter. Krach would go from situations like that to taking charge slightly in an environmental club at her high school, where she would take on the role of leader in the manner of sharing and explaining her knowledge about the environment. Donnelly has seen these sparks of potential shoot out of Krach every now and again, but over the course of Katie’s freshman year, Donnelly has seen her potential begin to take form and her independence grow.

            Sophomore and ROTC member, John Smoot, has been Krach’s team leader at points throughout the past school year. He recalls Krach’s personality at the beginning of the year to be quiet, and more or less introverted. After being a part of the ROTC program over her freshman year, Smoot noticed she has begun to open up and fit more comfortably into her own shoes. Now more extroverted, Krach has shown more confidence. During the morning Physical Training (PT) classes that take place three times a week, Smoot said Krach has significantly improved in the fact that she puts herself out there, especially in the sports games, and ends up making some of the most important plays.

            It is harder for Krach to see the change within herself as she has slowly been molded throughout the past two semesters. Although, Krach has been able to see self-improvement in certain lifestyle areas.

            “I am better at organizing my time,” said Krach. Not only that, but Krach proudly mentioned that she could now do thirty-two push-ups, whereas she could only do one at the beginning of the year. At an ROTC award ceremony last weekend, Krach received the Honey Badger award, commending her for her hard work and outstanding success in her physical ability. The potential she saw within herself was not just one of a slight glow of leadership, of strength, but of motivation to work towards something important.

            There is a seed of potential that lies within each human heart, blood pumping through it and nourishing it constantly, but the only water that will make it sprout is your ability to see it laying there. Katie Krach noticed her seed and let it grow.

            “Krach is a really good addition to the team,” said Smoot. “She’s already grown in strides.”

Bacall Brooks: Shining All-Star

Bacall Brooks: Shining All-Star

       Sweat trickles down her forehead as she swings her racket back and forth on the tennis court. Her multi-colored headband brightly distinguishes her from the other players. The vibrant colors of senior Bacall Brooks’ hairpiece are suggestive of the positive energy that is constantly exuding from her.


     This Hawaiian-born athlete was deemed unique the day she was born. Her distinctive first name was chosen by her father. The name “Bacall” is a German surname, and Brooks’ great-grandmother was from Germany. When Brooks was a child she disliked her name and wanted to change it to something more common. However, by the time she reached high school, she became rooted in her identity and felt her name had become a part of her. Although her unique first name makes her stand out, her career as a college tennis player has also proved to be anything but ordinary.

     Brooks’ experience as a Stonehill College women’s tennis player has been an emotional rollercoaster. Prior to entering college, Brooks grappled with the decision to play hockey or tennis at the collegiate level. She chose tennis, claiming it is a lifelong sport. As an incoming freshman, Brooks had been confident with her abilities as a player because she had excelled at the high school level. However, she quickly realized that college tennis would present more challenges to her and potentially even dwarf her skills. By her sophomore year she reevaluated what she needed to work on to play at a college level and alas felt more equipped to be on the court during the NE-10, an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division II. Junior year was a bit fragmented for Brooks as she spent the fall semester abroad in New Zealand.

     “I didn’t play at all for a whole semester and then I came back and luckily, as I shook the rust off, my skills came right back,” Brooks said.

     For Brooks, her senior year has been one of the best. She claims that it is truly hard to believe how quickly the time has gone by.

     “It seems like just yesterday I was coming to my first practice as a freshman. I wasn’t even able to hold my racket because my palms were so sweaty,” she admitted.

     Brooks’ teammates admit that she is the glue that holds the team together. Her determined work ethic on and off the court is inspiring to her teammates.

     Fellow teammate, Jackie Harrow, describes Brooks as an irreplaceable player. “Bacall has a very positive attitude and serves as a mediator for our team. We can all rely on her to make us laugh or relieve tension on the court,” Harrow said.

     Other than the athletic fame of tennis, Brooks’ tennis career has also served as a tie for holding her family together. Brooks’ parents divorced when she was 11 years old, but tennis always remained a stronghold for the family. Her parents’ divorce has made her grow as a person because she had to compensate for living in a fragmented household. However, no matter where Brooks is living, both her mother and father make every effort to attend her tennis matches.

     “My parents have always gotten along, so it is a comfort to have them both at my matches,” Brooks said.

     Stepping off the court and into the classroom, Brooks proudly holds the highest GPA for the Stonehill women’s tennis team and has made the athletic honor roll every semester of her collegiate career. This honor roll requires each athlete to hold a 3.2 GPA or higher. It is no surprise that Brooks holds this achievement because she is dedicated to all that she does. Senior Sarah Galligan, Brooks’ friend, describes Brooks’ never-ending motivation.

     “Bacall is energetic and dedicated. She always goes above and beyond,” Galligan said.

     Aside from tennis, Brooks has had another fulfilling experience by traveling to another continent. Brooks’ Hawaiian roots influenced her decision to study abroad in New Zealand; an experience that proved transformational. She traveled to New Zealand all alone and was forced to become self-sufficient as she was responsible for buying her own groceries and being money cautious. At the same time, this experience made her gain more respect for other cultures. Brooks was exposed to an entirely different point of view and New Zealand’s outlook of the United States made her appreciate home.

     “This experience gave me the travel bug and made me want to travel more,” Brooks said.

     As for life after Stonehill College, Brooks plans to spend the summer waitressing in Newport, RI. This upcoming fall she hopes to start a year long program teaching English in either South America or Costa Rica.

     “I definitely think I am going to take a break from competitive tennis because it has been mentally trying over the past four years,” she said.

     No matter what Brooks decides to do in the future, she will most definitely stray from the norm. As you walk around campus, you cannot ignore the bright, energetic vibes of Bacall Brooks, felt not only on the tennis courts, but also in the lives of many.


Click the link to see an interview with Bacall Brooks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gqrMLYJS0o&feature=youtu.be

Interview with Brianna Sessa

Kaitlyn Spinali- Profile story

Born to be a nurse

     On May 23, 1990, Nicole Katherine Spinali was born to parents Joseph and Karen Spinali. According to her mother, growing up the blue eyed, blonde haired little girl was a very sweet child always showing deep concern for the wellbeing of others.

     “She was shy outside of the house, not as shy as her sister was in all honesty, but when she was home, she was anything but shy. Inside and in front of her family, she was a very funny and energetic little girl. Her and her sister were little partners in crime,” said Karen Spinali.

     Today, in her early twenties, Spinali maintains her girl next door appearance and is an intelligent, goal driving senior at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH.

     As a student in their prestigious nursing program, Spinali has recently celebrated her accomplishments by taking part in the traditional Nursing Pining Ceremony, an event designed to mark the students’ completion of the program.

     “I was so nervous and anxious that day, we all were,” said Spinali, “I got over whelmed with emotion when everyone gave use a standing ovation after receiving our nursing pins.”

     Although many students enter into college with uncertainty over what they wish to pursue, an event from her past so greatly affected Spinali that her decision did not prove to be difficult.

     “When I was younger, I visited a younger cousin of mine in the hospital,” said Spinali, “He was in there for surgery and I remember going to visit him and thinking how great it was to have so many people there to comfort and care for him.”

    Spinali admits that when deciding which college to attend, she chose Saint Anselm College not only for its traditional and beautiful college campus, but also for the reputation of its nursing program.

     “Their program is known to be one of the most unbeatable on the east coast,” said Spinali.

     She freely admits however, that it would be remiss of her to say that there were never times where she may have questioned her choice to enroll in the program.

     “I question my choice every day of my life,” said Spinali laughing, “no I’m only teasing. In all seriousness, there are stressful times for sure, but you find that in any major that you choose. When you find a specialty that you truly love, in my case pediatrics, it all becomes worth it.”

     On one occasion, during her nursing maternity rotation at a local hospital in near Manchester, NH, Spinali was given the opportunity to help deliver and hold a newborn baby boy whose mother she had been with since the start of her shift that morning. According to Spinali, it was one of the highlights of her time in the nursing program.

    With good times there are bound to also be bad and Spinali wasn’t the only one to notice the intensity of the nursing program.

     “It wasn’t the easiest road for her I know, but I never had any doubt that she could do it,” said her mother, Karen Spinali.

     “She never came out of her room when she said a test,” said one of Spinali’s best friends and fellow nursing student, Anne Harrington, “no study breaks allowed!”

     All of the hard work during the first three years of her college career paid off as she landed a preceptorship at her dream location, Boston’s Children’s Hospital, for the spring semester of her senior year.

     “It was a dream come true the day I found out I would be able to work there even for a little bit,” said Spinali.

     Spinali’s pinning ceremony recently took place on Saturday, April 28, 2012. She celebrated her hard work and accomplishments among friends and family and is set to graduate from the college on Saturday, May 19, 2012.

     As for those who are electing to follow in her footsteps at the college, Spinali has a few words of advice.

     “Don’t give up,” said Spinali, “as much as you may want to at times and feel like you are way too overwhelmed, when you finally get that moment of clarity where you find a specialty that you truly love, all the stress doesn’t seem to matter anymore.” 

     Following in the medical footsteps of her father, Nicole Spinali is certain that being a nurse is her life’s purpose and friends and family could not agree more.

     “Nursing is the perfect fit for her, it’s very natural and matches well with her personality,” said Harrington.

     “I was born to work with children, if I am not doing that then I feel like I will not be fulfilling my life’s calling,” said Spinali.

Click here to see Nicole's video interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YTmT_20mUk&feature=youtu.be

    

Tom Kazanowski Profile Story

Video

Mike Pietrowski: Truly a Good Guy

By Tom Kazanowski

The Stonehill College Audio/Visual department is one of the busiest departments on campus. Not only is the department responsible for all classroom technology, but it is depended upon to cover all events from athletics to extracurriculars. The man behind this entire operation is Mike Pietrowski.

Mike Pietrowski is the Director of Media and Videography services at Stonehill College. Being the Director of the department, it is Pietrowski’s responsibility to field all requests for staffing and equipment to be provided for events on campus that need coverage. Because of the high demand on his department, Pietrowski has three full time employees working for him as well as four work study students. Prior to working for Stonehill College, Pietrowski was employed by Mashpee Public Schools where he served a similar role as he does today with the College.

“In any given week, we can be working around the clock. Some mornings I’m in the office at 6:30 and don’t leave until 9:00 at night”, said Pietrowski.

John Kitson, one of the full time employees in the department has been working at Stonehill since he graduated in 2008. “I really enjoy being here at the College. I would not have traded my experience here as a student for anything, and the same feeling has continued since I began working for Mike” said Kitson.

Though it is Pietrowski’s job to organize all of the events that need to be covered, he can be seen on campus working events daily. This past fall he was in charge of the Hi-Pod filming for the football games at W.B. Mason Stadium. Additionally, he is present at nearly every high end event that takes place on campus just to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Mike Pietrowski (above) at his desk in Duffy.

            Pietrowski has been here for nearly thirteen years and he still continues to get the most satisfaction from his job when he is able to work with students.  One of his work study students, Sophomore Pete Scanlon, described what it is like dealing with Pietrowski. “I have been working for Mike since the beginning of this academic year and it has been a very rewarding experience. Going into the job, I did not really know much about the field, but Mike quickly helped me out and I have made major strides. I have learned very valuable lessons not only in the Audio/Visual department but in my overall work ethic”, said Scanlon.

One of Pietrowski’s former work study students, Taylor Rosenbauer, had similar praises directed towards him. “I really enjoyed working for Mike. He allowed me to further explore my interest in the Videography field, and I definitely could see myself getting involved in it when I graduate from school. Most importantly though, Mike has become a great friend”, said Rosenbauer.

In the fall of 2011, Pietrowski was responsible for bringing Jim Zumwalt, son of the former Chief of Naval Operations Elmo Zumwalt, to Stonehill’s campus. Zumwalt’s visit was special in the fact that he was able to make a presentation to the Stonehill community. His expertise in the Vietnamese strategy in the Vietnam War provided the student body with very interesting information. Pietrowski met Zumwalt a number of years back at an event in Washington D.C., and they have been friends ever since then.

In 2010, Pietrowski organized a trip with four students on campus to attend the National Association of Broadcasting’s annual convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. While in Las Vegas, the group learned about much of the new audio and visual technology that was to come out in the few years after that. Former Stonehill student, Justin Coonan was one of the four students to attend the convention. “It was a rewarding experience being able to go to NAB. Because I used to be a work study student for Mike, learning about the up and coming technology did not only help me while at school, but since I have been away from school as well”, said Coonan.

Pietrowski’s office in Duffy Academic Building is filled with countless pictures of himself and celebrities and public figures that he has met as a direct result in being involved in this industry. Some notable people include Pope John Paul II, Morgan Freeman and Ronald Regan. Because he has worked hard and achieved the expertise that he has, opportunities like this have come about. It’s perks like this that make it easier for Pietrowski to come back every year to Stonehill. However, if it was not for the students that he helps on a daily basis, he would not get nearly as much satisfaction out of the job. His work with them both on and off campus has helped develop students both academically and socially. Mike Pietrowski is one of those good guys on Stonehill College’s campus.

Nicole Colantonio: The Amazing Journey of a Survivor by Angie Moskwa

                                       Nicole Colantonio: The Amazing Journey of a Survivor  

       As she rounded the final bend of the track at Relay for Life, an overwhelming feeling came over her. She was part of a group of the strongest, most courageous people in the world; soldiers who had defeated the notorious enemy of cancer and were now walking together as a unified force of vivacity. As they neared the finish line, her knees began to tremble and she could feel a smile creeping up to her ears. She firmly placed her foot on the finish line, declaring victory over the illness that had changed her life. She is Nicole Colantonio, a survivor who defeated cancer at the age of 19.

Sophomore Nicole Colantonio was diagnosed with Stage IV Hodgkin’s lymphoma disease on August 25, 2011, just two days after she had moved back to Stonehill College for job training at the Information Technology Desk. Hodgkin’s lymphoma disease is a type of cancer which is quite common in teenagers and, as the American Cancer Society informs, it originates in the lymphocytes which are part of the immune system. “My first reaction was of pure shock. I knew I had to make a huge change to the whole year that I had planned. I didn’t know who to talk to first or what to do. Everything was happening all at once, it was overwhelming” Colantanio said.

            Colantonio received care at Children’s Hospital Boston and the Jimmy Fund Clinic, the pediatric clinic of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  Her case of Hodgkin’s lymphoma disease was the most advanced that doctors at Children’s Hospital Boston had ever seen. Doctors treated Colantonio with a very harsh, European trial treatment which was originally made for adults. “I was really sick for a long time. I couldn’t walk for a while. My hands stopped working and my legs stopped working. I was also eating a lot which caused weight gain” Colantonio said.

Colantonio endured 22 weeks of chemotherapy which included a rotation of three weeks of treatment and then one week of rest. She had to take a chemo pill every day and receive an infusion of chemo drugs once a week. Colantonio also endured 17 radiation treatments, each lasting 50 minutes. She has also undergone three surgeries.

“She is amazingly tough and is beautiful inside and out. Nicole has had such an amazing attitude through the cancer process. It amazes me how upbeat she keeps” Colantonio’s boyfriend Joey Scherr said. Colantonio always kept an optimistic and positive attitude towards life and her fight against cancer. “She was so sure that the disease would not take over her life and she made it seem like nothing could stop her. I was so proud to see how much she grew from being that timid tiny girl into this inspiring role model, not letting this disease get to her” former roommate and close friend Emily Buckley said. Doctors told Colantonio that she might not see her 20^th birthday. Instead of allowing this news to deflate her, she responded with an optimistic attitude, putting all of her energy into getting better. “I thought about all of my future plans such as graduating and getting married. All of these plans were now something I had to fight for rather than a given right. I made these my goals to achieve along with seeing my little sister get better. She is also suffering from an illness” Colantonio said.

Colantonio used the motto “No One Fights Alone” to fuel her fight against cancer. The motto originated from co-workers at the Information Technology Desk at Stonehill College. “The Help Desk people knew first. The next day when I came into work, they were wearing ‘No One Fights Alone’ bracelets and gave some to me. My mom gave them out at work and my sister gave them out at school. In October, a math teacher at my high school passed away from Lymphoma. The color for Lymphoma is green and a lot of people were wearing it in support. It turned into a community type thing. It made me feel so loved that people who didn’t even know me were pulling for me” Colantonio said. 

Colantonio’s parents, sister, boyfriend, and extended family all supported her throughout her fight against cancer. Her parents and sister, Katelyn Colantonio, helped her in every way possible, trying to make her feel as comfortable as they could. Her boyfriend, also a sophomore at Stonehill College, would attend chemotherapy on Thursdays with Colantonio. He would sometimes visit from Thursday to Sunday to be there for her as much as he could. “My first priority was to go to every single chemo appointment. I would sometimes skip entire days of classes every week because I wanted to be there for her so badly” Scherr said. Scherr also showed support for his girlfriend by shaving his head. “I was afraid of how people would look at me. We were both bald and going through the same thing which made me feel better. He knew that I was embarrassed so he kept on doing it” Colantonio said. Colantonio’s extended family was also very involved in her fight and supported her by taking her to chemotherapy appointments and cooking her meals.

While going through treatment, Colantonio also worked hard in her three classes at Stonehill College. Although she was not able to be physically present in the classroom, a student from the class would record the lectures so that Colantonio would be able to watch them from her home. “It was great. My professors were very understanding and would let me write about my experience which helped” Colantonio said. Colantonio received full credit for her LC called “Freud in the Modern World.” She will also be taking a class in Criminology during the summer session at Stonehill College to get back on track with her academics.

            Colantonio also led a Relay for Life Team in April at Stonehill College this year called “Nicole’s Suitehearts.” The members on the team consisted of her boyfriend and the suitemates with whom she planned on living in the fall before she was diagnosed with cancer. “My suitemates all kept up with me throughout my fight. They were very involved and showed their support” Colantonio said. Her suitemate and friend, Chrissy Talbot, describes some of the ways in which they supported Colantonio. “My friends and I tried to support Nicole by being there for her. Her roommate, Kylie Krause, made sure their room was available to Nicole if she needed somewhere to rest. My own roommate, Jessica Ford, participated in Relay for Life for Nicole this past year and walked 100 laps in honor of Nicole. We even photo-shopped Nicole into a picture of our group of friends so she wouldn't feel left out.”

Colantonio also presented a slideshow at Relay for Life which included pictures that depicted her fight against cancer. “I decided to make a slideshow so that people could better understand what living with cancer is like. Through the images, they could picture their life with cancer, making it more personal” Colantonio said. Colantonio also gave thanks to those who supported her in the slideshow. “I was blown away that she put me in it. I didn’t feel like I did anything concrete, but it showed me how much I was a part of her fight” Scherr said. Nicole’s suitemates also found the slideshow very moving. “I thought it was really touching. Like I said before, how much she has grown and how much this experience matured her really showed and I’m so proud to call her not only a survivor but one of my closest friends at Stonehill” Buckley said.

Colantonio is currently in remission and has officially returned to Stonehill College as a commuter student. She is a Communications and English double major who aspires to work in Children’s Hospital Boston in nonprofit fundraising and social work. She is interested in helping children adjust to living life in the hospital and counseling families who are experiencing shock in dealing with their child’s illness. Colantonio also plans to write a book within the next couple of years detailing her experiences fighting cancer. It has been a long and exhausting journey both physically and mentally for Colantonio, but she has crossed the finish line and is quickly re-lacing her sneakers to prepare for the expedition into her bright future.