Student athlete Nicole DeMarco knows how to have fun and work hard. She is a student athlete who has won numerous awards for academic achievement. She enjoys home repair and improvement projects and running through the intramural fields. She is a member of the women’s track and field squad and a member of the Security Leadership Program at UGA’s Center for International Trade and Security. There, she is involved in the research and analysis of nuclear nonproliferation and export controls. After graduation, she plans to move to Washington, D.C. to work.
Hometown:
Lawrenceville, Ga
High School:
Brookwood High School
Degree objective:
A.B. in international affairs
Expected graduation:
Spring 2008
University highlights, achievements, awards and scholarships:
During my time here at UGA, I have consistently been a HOPE scholarship recipient, a member of the Dean’s List, and a SEC Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Award recipient. I have the Ramsey Scholarship for Academic/Athletic Achievement, and I am a UGA Track and Field athletic scholarship recipient. I am a member of the Security Leadership Program at the Center for International Trade and Security, where I am involved in the research and analysis of nuclear nonproliferation and export controls, among other things. This past summer, I interned as a research assistant at the CITS’ Washington, D.C. office, and was involved with numerous research projects, Hill briefings and grant proposals. I continued my work with CITS when I returned to Athens, working on a research project throughout the fall titled The Nonproliferation Commitments, Capacity, and Compliance Project in which we used a unique methodology to analyze select countries’ export control systems for conventional and unconventional weapons as well as dual-use technologies. I am a member of the Roosevelt Institute, where my research partner and I co-authored and submitted our policy, titled Emergency Preparedness: Bringing it to Georgia, to the CURO Symposium. We intend to present at additional conferences this spring. I volunteer with One Athens: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty, where I am involved with organizing and executing a series of town hall meetings to discuss policy prescriptions and implementation with community leaders. This semester, I am also part of a student project that is helping to host a series of campus debates with political organizations to educate UGA students about the pertinent issues in the upcoming 2008 Presidential Election. I began working with the International Center for Democratic Governance at the Carl Vinson Center as a research assistant this January. Athletically, I was named team captain of the UGA Women’s Cross Country Team, I have competed in five SEC championships, and I was a member of the 2006 Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field SEC Championship Squad. I have also competed in three NCAA Division I National Cross Country Championship meets.
Current Employment:
I am now a research assistant for the International Center for Democratic Governance with the Carl Vinson Institute of Governance. I was just recently in charge of putting together an event titled UGA China Networking Roundtable which included the distinguished keynote speaker Qiao Hong, the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China. I have also helped draft a Department of State proposal for two African legislative exchange programs.
Family Ties to UGA:
My brother graduated from UGA, and I hope to recruit my younger sister too.
I chose to attend UGA because…
…out of all the colleges I visited, UGA reigned supreme in its combination of academic, athletic and social opportunities. Whereas some schools could offer a top notch athletic program or an Ivy League education, Georgia was the only one that offered the quality of both, in addition to a highly active student body and a fantastic downtown area. Not to mention, red and black are much more flattering colors to wear than any shade of orange.
My favorite things to do on campus are…
…to sit outside and read on North Campus during the spring and fall. The campus is stunningly beautiful. Of course, I have enjoyed many long afternoons spent running throughout the intramural fields with my girls.
When I have free time, I like…
…doing home improvement projects. I love organizing day long projects of painting or yard work and long afternoons at Home Depot. Don’t ask me how, but I managed to find roommates who not only put up with my landscaping and renovation projects, but they also partake in the activities.
The craziest thing I’ve done is…
…jump into Lake Michigan after a cross country meet at Notre Dame…in October.
My favorite place to study is…
…in the coffee room (formerly the red room, but a few buckets of paint later it is now a light brown) at my house off Habersham. After dinner, my roommates and I occupy the four seats around the table, and I can always count of some form of comic relief in approximately 15 to 30 minute intervals. With the recent addition of my pups, Tootsie and Daisy, I forget the sometimes mundane task of studying when I am among the bustle of Habersham’s six female occupants.
My favorite professor is…
…Bryan Early. Not only is he a great teacher who sparked my interest in international security, he has also become a mentor for me. He is an extremely approachable person, and despite being deep in his own dissertation, he always had his office door open for an afternoon of “Help! What am I going to do with my life?!?!” He is one of those people who has 37,000 things on his plate but is always ready to help someone else out.
If I could share an afternoon with anyone, I would love to share it with…
…my grandparents. They died before I was old enough to appreciate all that they had done during their lives, and now I have so many questions I would love to ask. Both of my grandfathers grew up in the thick of the Depression and were WWII veterans, and I was just too young to comprehend the stories they told in the context of the time in which they lived. Both of my grandmothers were such strong, beautiful women who lived during the feminist revolution. I’d love to talk to them about the social changes they experienced first hand, and discuss the areas which still need improvement. Plus, I need to find out where I got all my good looks and charm.
If I knew I could not fail, I would…
…pick up my old clarinet and play in front of a packed concert hall.
After graduation, I plan to…
…go up to Washington, D.C. and try my luck there. And if the U.S. political system won’t have me, I’m going to try my luck on the other side of the pond with my boy, William. Who knows, maybe I’ll skip the elected system of governance all together and become the next queen of England.
The one UGA experience I will always remember will be…
…the first time I stepped up to the starting line at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The competition took place in late November in Indiana, and it was a freezing cold day. We were in the middle of farmland. Standing there surrounded by All-Americans and NCAA champions, I felt a profound amount of camaraderie and companionship with my six other teammates and my coach. It had been a long season, and injuries ended the season prematurely for three of our top runners. No one thought we had a chance of getting to the championship. We had qualified only 10 days earlier after a heroic performance where we took second at regionals. After countless 6:30 a.m. practices and brutal afternoon workouts, we had made it there, and I’ll never forget how that felt.