Nathan J. Nitczynski

Nathan Nitczynski is an Academic Counselor at Mercyhurst University. Along with his job as an academic counselor, he is a Dance Instructor at Infinity Dance Academy.


Nathan attended Mercyhurst Prep for high school. He was an active student at his high school;  he participated in Spanish Club, Bible Study, Show Choir, Dance Company, Theater, and was a member of the International Thespian Society. His passions and extracurricular activities continued when he continued his higher education.

Nathan earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication at Thiel College. He was a member of the Student Government Association, Theater, Musical Theater, Varsity Danceline, and was on the Competitive Dance Team. His highlights at Thiel College consisted of being on the Competitive Dance Team, earning Alpha Psi Omega, Thiel Players, and The Student Government Association (SGA). He went on to pursue his Masters of Science in Education, College Counseling and Student Affairs at Youngstown State University.



Nathan has an impressive job background in the dance field, some of his past jobs in dance

have included; he was a Dance Teacher at Kristin's Dance, in 2016. As a Dance Teacher, he instructed dance classes to students among different age groups and skillsets. His focus was on tap, jazz, ballet, and lyrical dance. As he worked as a Dance Teacher, he was a Choreographer at Greenville Area Community Theater. Through this, he would teach dance and movement to cast members of the theatrical productions for this community theater program. From 2016 to 2017, he was a Competition Team Director for AC Dance Company. Through this program, he implemented and designed a curriculum for Dance Team in two different genres of dance. He coordinated competition and convention events with parents of students of the teams. He choreographed routines to be adjusted to regional events. As he was a Competition Team Director for AC Dance Company, he was the Assistant Director at ViBe Dance Academy. As the Assistant Director, he would teach dance to students from age five through adulthood. He would continue to choreograph dance routines in various genres, as he coached competition teams. His main areas of choreography consisted of jazz, ballet, tap, lyrical, pointe, and hip hop. As he works as an Academic Counselor at Mercyhurst, he continues to work as a Dance Instructor at Infinity Dance Academy. He teaches dance to people of any age group.


Nathan has worked as an Academic Counselor at Mercyhurst since March of 2018, and from January 2018 through February 2018, he worked as a graduate intern for The Office of Academic Support and Learning Differences at the University. Before working at Mercyhurst, he worked as a Career Development Graduate Assistant at Hiram College. Through this, he would coordinate undergraduate interns at Hiram College to ensure satisfaction among each internship group. He would meet with several diverse undergraduate students to review their resumes, assist them in writing cover letters, and discuss their career goals. He would plan and execute programming and events for undergraduate students to  engage in their professional development. His past work experience in the field of academia is continuous and impressive for his age.


Nathan's past experiences have set him up to assist students in achieving success in their academics at Mercyhurst University. If students ever need assistance for anything or advice, Nathan is a great person to go to. He works with students in the Ridge College of Intelligence Studies and Applied Sciences, and his willingness to go above and beyond to help anyone he can.


- Isabel C. Merriman

Nicholas S. Wendelboe

Nicholas S. Wendelboe is a native of Erie, Pennsylvania. He is currently a Junior majoring in Integrated Media and Strategic Communication. He helps run Laker Student Media or LSM for short. He also has a passion for music.

Nicholas is a critical player in the success of Laker Student Media, as he does not only have a passion for media production, but he has actively begun pursuing work in that field. He does professional videography on the weekends to gain the skills to achieve success in the media and marketing field. His goal is to become successful in the digital marketing field, while he continues to run his own videography business on the side called 'Wendelboe Media.'  He hopes that his experiences will lead him to become a critical team player at Erie Insurance or another local digital marketing and advertising firm. 



Nicholas has a passion that goes beyond media production, which is music. He has been a guitarist for the past six and a half years. His favorite type of music to listen to is the 1980's hard rock and can often be found jamming to 80's rock music with his friends. He plans to develop his future band further, "Anemoia." He can go on endlessly about music and his passion for it. Since he has a strong passion for 80s rock hard rock music, the head of the Communication department Brian Sheridan. will often talk about Nicholas in some of his Lectures as they have similar tastes in music. Their overlapping tastes in music sometimes correlate with the material Brian is teaching. Brian uses Nicholas as an example as it becomes more relatable to his students. 


Nicholas would describe himself as a history nerd, as he enjoys the subject matter. The specific part of history he is fascinated the most by is the European Theatre of World War II. 

Nicholas is active in and out of the Mercyhurst Community and has many skills in various areas of video production. He can talk to you and take the time to teach you the basics of video production and help you improve your skills over time. If you have a chance to talk to him, I would recommend it, as you may learn a lot. 

- Isabel C. Merriman 

Alex Wargo

Alex Wargo is a Sophmore from Irwin, Pennsylvania, majoring in Accounting with a Communication minor. He is considering double majoring in Accounting and Economics. He is an active member of Laker Student Media (LSM). 

After Alex graduates, he intends to get a job as an accountant. He finds that accounting is easy and that finding a job will not be an issue as there are several jobs in that field. He is a firm believer that he will not have a problem finding a well-paying job. 

Alex in an LSM segment 

Alex joined Laker Student Media because he has a passion for media work for quite a few years. He began doing clubs like Laker Student Media throughout high school and has had a passion for it since he started. Alex appears in several segments, including 'Movie Minute,' which you can find on the Laker Student Media YouTube page. He enjoys the whole process of creating the content for the club. His minor in Communication has assisted in creating popular content. He is constantly coming up with new segment ideas for Laker Student Media, and it is evident he is passionate about the different aspects of the club. 


Alex grew up with his family and their dog. His father is named Denis, and his mother is named Maure. Denis does Data Entry for a living, and his mother is an Audiologist at the VA, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His sister Abby is a senior at Duquesne, majoring in Criminal Psychology. He also has a pet dog named Rolucy, who has been apart of his life for the past five years. 

Alex is known for cracking jokes and being a free spirit. In his free time, you can often find him in the studio working on new projects for Laker Student Media. He is passionate about this club, and he can bring valuable experiences to the table. 

- Isabel C. Merriman

Jillian "Jill" Marcelli

Jillian "Jill" Marcelli is a senior double majoring in Graphic Design and Communication. She was born and raised in Olean, New York. 

Jill's goal is to achieve a high-paying job doing Graphic Design for companies that work alongside their customers to create personalized advertising. She has taken advantage of several internships to reach her career goal. Some of her internships have consist of; several writing internships in communication and working on web design for companies like DOT FM, Mercyhurst Athletics, Menergie, and Studios. 

Jill is an active member around campus Mercyhurst, as she writes for The Mercaid and is involved in Photo Club. These two organizations that she is a part of are setting her up for success in the field she hopes to enter after she graduates. 




Jill's parents provided her with different tools to help her achieve success in Graphic Design. Her parents often gave her art supplies, and she was able to create more through that. She was always encouraged to be active and go outside, unlike her friends who stayed inside and played video games. She believes it was a good thing that she was encouraged to go outside and do art, instead of staying indoors playing video games, as her friends did. She thinks if she had played video games. She would not be as dedicated and passionate for what she hopes to achieve. 

In Jill's free time outside, she played year-round soccer and ran track in High School. She was more active and driven than her friends. She had a goal to continue in college, but that was not an option as she suffered a dislocation in her left shoulder from soccer. She hopes to find a way to pursue her passion for soccer in the future.

Jill is an incredibly kind person, and it easy to talk to. She can often be found working on different Graphic Design projects as she is driven to achieve success in the goals she hopes to achieve. She will find success in the area of Graphic Design with her strong work ethic and passion for her studies. 


- Isabel C. Merriman 

Isabel C. Merriman

My name is Isabel Merriman, and I am a sophomore from Cleveland, Ohio. I am majoring in Integrated Media and Strategic Communication, and I am one of the two students running this blog for the semester. I chose Mercyhurst for several reasons. One of the main reasons was the Learning Differences program. I felt I would be set up for success not only for my time at Mercyhurst but in the work world as well.

I loved the size of the University and its values. My career goal is to give back to people with special needs of any form, by creating more jobs, pathways, and opportunities for those who face challenges. I grew up with a brother who has cognitive special needs; it isn't always easy being an older sister to your older brother. When I was in the fifth grade, I was taking a typing class, but I couldn't keep up due to my learning differences. So, I started volunteering in the multi-handicap room and did that until I graduated high school.

During the last month of my senior year, I did my senior project at MCPc. MCPc is the Cyber Security company partnered with Mercyhurst.  During my time there, I interviewed corporate executives of many tech companies. I brought awareness to the apps and software that have helped people on the spectrum excel as well as different opportunities that could be implemented at those companies for those who face different challenges.

At the end of my freshman year, I got cut from the rowing team, and I brought up creating a more inclusive relationship between athletics and the AIM program. The idea will have a few pilot programs this coming year.

I am looking forward to posting bios about others around campus, so we can get to know one another better. It is common to walk past someone or talk to someone yet know little to nothing about that person. The goal of this blog is to help us get to know one another around campus.

- Isabel C. Merriman

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