HONING HIS TRADE

For as long as I can remember, Nicholas has been curious and has gone deep on the subjects that interest him - key attributes for a journalist. His first foray into journalism was his eighth grade independent project, which included an interview with a professional soccer player. For that project, he was mentored by a journalist from our local paper, The Oregonian.

Since then, he has continued to immerse himself in the journalistic trade. He started the Gryphon Sports Live media outlet at Greenhills High School, elevating the athletes and bringing play by play coverage to many sporting events. This was a lifeline during the COVID pandemic when fans were not allowed to attend games. He had the opportunity to call games at Michigan Stadium and Ford Field. He contributed in-depth articles to the school newspaper, The Alcove.

From there it has only been up. He started a substack on the beautiful game. He became a sports writer for The Daily Orange, Syracuse's school newspaper his freshman year and has filed some detailed player profiles and gripping accounts of games - accounts that felt more alive and vibrant than the sporting event on which they were based that I had just watched. He excelled as a summer intern at the Ann Arbor News, and so many of my friends commented on how well-written his articles were.

This year his peers encouraged him to apply for the position of sports editor, which he secured. During our European vacation he somehow juggled vacation and waking up in the middle of the night since the Syracuse sporting events were happening six hours earlier. Check out the recent Syracuse Lacrosse Guide that he helped to put together and his feature article!

He is unflappable, and I so admire his passion and ability to keep going. I look to him for inspiration and want him to know how much he matters to those with whom he works, his readers, his fellow students, his friends, and our family. I cannot wait to see where life takes him. I know it will be interesting!