When an international student arrived on Ohio Northern University’s campus, Nick Kamatali became one of their first ONU friends.
While an ONU student, Nick made a special effort to help ONU international students navigate college life in a different country.
The psychology and communication studies major emigrated to the U.S. with his family when he was a toddler. Growing up, he traveled extensively with his family during the summers throughout Europe and Africa, experiencing what it’s like to be a newcomer in unfamiliar cultures.
Nick’s quest to befriend international students, therefore, stemmed from his deep well of empathy and his interest in the human traits that bind people from all cultural backgrounds.
“International students are kind of a reflection of myself,” he said. “I wanted them to prosper and grow. I really tried to get to know them and their needs, so that I could help them succeed at ONU.”
From striking up conversations in the library, to answering questions about American culture, to hosting Friday evening dinners, Nick provided international students with invaluable guidance and friendship.
“I valued the smaller things,” he said. “Quite frankly, I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, I was just there for them. I was in the spaces that they were in and I just talked to them.”
His ability to speak and understand several languages, and to forge friendships with international students, enabled Nick to obtain student employment with the Global Initiatives office on campus. Additionally, he worked with ONU’s Communications and Marketing department producing social media videos; he served as vice president of both his fraternity, Phi Delta, and the World Student Organization; and he was active in ONU club sports.
The summer before his senior year, Nick traveled across Japan with two ONU professors and 17 fellow students to explore anime, a popular media form that originated in Japan.
“It was an unforgettable experience,” he said.
Nick’s interest in culture and human behavior is what inspired him to major in psychology and communication studies. “Both these majors are interconnected with so many other fields, and that’s what I love about them,” he said.
His plan is to attend graduate school in Austria to become a clinical psychologist. He also hopes to visit many of his international friends in their home countries, holding close the ONU friendships he has so purposefully forged.
To him, that’s what makes ONU special, he added. Being a small university in a small town, ONU is the perfect place to invest in relationships that will last a lifetime. “It’s a place where you can really spend time getting to know people,” he said.