Nick Marotta joined the University of Rhode Island’s Student Senate in November of 2018, and just one month later he was beginning his campaign for president.
“I saw opportunities to streamline the student experience in a way to make it easy for students to make real change that affects the student body in a positive and productive way,” said the now-president. “I think we’ve done that and are still doing that.”
Marotta is a senior majoring in landscape architect with a minor in community planning, but he’s passionate about much more than just his academics.
“I would say that my biggest passion really is being involved and being instrumental in large-scale change that improves people’s lives,” Marotta said. “Everything I’ve done in the senate is for that reason.”
Even outside of the senate he uses his passions to make positive change. While paddle-boarding, Marotta will clean up the water and has demonstrated concerns surrounding issues of sustainability, which he has focused on during his time as senate president.
“I’m really able to use the senate as a phenomenal conduit to carry out my passions,” he said.
Other passions of his include music, with Jimmy Buffett being his favorite living entertainer and Michael Jackson being his favorite of all time.
In starting his campaign, Marotta believed he had many doubters. He hadn’t been involved with the senate for long, but subscribes to a philosophy of setting and visualizing your goals, believing you can achieve them, stopping at nothing and blocking out the “haters.”
His goals have drastically changed over time. Marotta remembers a period in which he wanted to be an orthodontist; clearly not a path he continued on. Still, the end goal has remained.
“I know I wanted to work for myself,” he said of his future plans and aspirations. “I do my best work when I’m working for myself, not under someone.”
Marotta has many options of what he will do post-graduation, but he’s currently working on a very special project, and one he hadn’t expected for himself: writing a book. He describes it as a “coming-of-age” story.
According to Marotta, over the summer, he had an internship with a very long commute that he does not wish to return to. Many of his friends were in a similar situation. Marotta found himself becoming an advice-giver to his friends on life, work and the future. The motivation he gave them seemed to work so well that it inspired him to write a book to help others do the same.
“It’s something for anyone that’s about to take their life to the next level,” he said. “This is the book that you need to read [before that].”
While he’s been able to give advice to his peers, Marotta knows he is very fortunate to have received great advice and learned many lessons from others, including people he believes he would have never met outside of his involvement in senate.
Marotta has accomplished a great deal in the senate surrounding parking issues, sustainability and equity, but he is not done yet, and this book is just the beginning.
“The URI student body has taught me so much and inspired me so much and has made me extraordinarily excited to see what they do in the future,” he said.
What exactly Marotta’s going to do in the future has yet to be determined, but his time with Student Senate has had a great impact on him.