March 09, 2012
Nicole DeCapua ’05CPS, ’07MPS, ’09PD knows all about the value
of persistence. She lives with the realization that
opportunity often comes to us disguised as misfortune, and is
committed to encouraging others to follow her example when it comes
to overcoming challenges.
A
triple St. John’s University alumna who expects to receive her
Ed.D. from Creighton University in December 2013, DeCapua is
currently Associate Director of the Academically Gifted and
Talented Program at Montclair State University (NJ). She describes
the program as “…a mini-college for kids from kindergarten to 11th
grade who are gifted and talented.” The program is held on weekends
and during the summer and offers both academic and fun classes for
young people who have been tested and proven to have special
talents.
“The best part of my job is being able to create classes and
find teachers who are as passionate about education as I am,” she
said. “It’s kind of amazing to see the classes that I put together,
that I personally come up with, and literally watch the students in
those classes becoming educated right before my eyes.”
DeCapua acknowledges that she wasn’t always committed to
excellence in education, and believes that if it wasn’t for St.
John’s, she would not be as successful as she is today. Many of her
family members had attended the University, making it an almost
foregone conclusion that she would follow in their footsteps.
The journey, however, wasn’t easy.
“I wasn’t the most stellar student coming in,” she recalled,
“and I was actually conditionally admitted. I had two years to
prove myself and if at the end of those two years my grades weren’t
3.0 or better, I would be granted an Associate’s Degree and that
would be it.”
She was making good progress until her Dad developed a serious
form of cancer. An only child in a single parent home, she cared
for him until he passed away during the second semester of her
Sophomore year. At that point she was physically and emotionally
drained and had decided to discontinue her education.
“When my father passed away in March of 2003 I wasn’t where I
should have been,” she said, “so I went to the Dean of St. John’s
College of Professional Studies and told her that I was done, and
that I was dropping out of St. John’s because I just couldn’t do
it. Everyone, from the Dean to the secretaries, basically begged me
to stay on until the end of the semester. They pleaded with me to
just stay until May, when the semester would be over. They told me
to finish it out in the best way that I could.”
Moved by the faith that the St. John’s staff had in her, DeCapua
agreed to remain. By the time the semester was over she had gotten
back on track and was offered a spot in the four-year program. She
went on to complete her B.S. in Legal Studies, made the Dean’s
List, was offered a position as a Graduate Assistant with the
professor who had become her mentor and friend, Dr. James O’Keefe
’79SVC and subsequently earned her M.P.S. in Criminal Justice and
Professional Diploma in Instructional Leadership and
Administration.
She had come a long way since the darkest days of her life, and
was driven to succeed as much for those who believed in her as for
herself.
“I wanted to be who those people wanted me to become after they
put so much faith in me,” she noted. “I couldn’t believe that they
cared so much about one individual student when there were
literally hundreds of students for them to be concerned about.
That’s when I realized that St. John’s wasn’t just a school – St.
John’s was a family. I had made a family there, and that was very
important for me.”
DeCapua believes that the way the University rallied around her
when she was feeling overwhelmed is a reflection of the values that
seem to be a part of everything that happens at St. John’s. She is
proud of those values and goes out of her way to carry them into
every area of her personal and professional life. An appreciation
of what the University did for her serves as the foundation for
what she does for others, a characteristic that she finds in so
many St. John’s alumni.
“The people at the University are living proof that the
Vincentian mission still exists in 2012,” she remarked. “St. John’s
graduates still hold on to that mission, because when we were there
that’s what was instilled in us. You find St. John’s alumni
wherever you go, and if you’re from St. John’s, that mission and
those values are in your life. It might sound trite, but I know
that St. John’s made me who I am today, and I will always make it a
point to do whatever I can for people, because that’s what was done
for me. Helping to inspire others, especially the young people whom
I work with every day, is my way of saying thank you to the
University that didn’t let me slip away when things were
tough.”