An Honor Student Who Helps Others

Starting from a young age, Michael Niola, a senior at St. John’s Preparatory School in Astoria, found himself in a position to help others. Growing up in Elmhurst with his two younger brothers, Mario, 13, and Steven, 10, he spent much of his free time teaching them the same lessons he had previously learned.
With that in mind, he started tutoring fellow students as an eighth grader, and continued throughout his four years of high school.
When he hears of a fellow student who needs help, he will sacrifice his lunch period to offer guidance.
He took it a step further this fall when he overheard a few classmates in a discussion with his guidance counselor, Charles Gilley, pertaining to their tutoring duties for their Christian Service class at a nearby grammar school. He knew their duties at Immaculate Conception Grammar School were for credits.
Yet, Niola figured, he had tutored all his life so why not help out at the local elementary school.
There, he tutors youngsters in math, specifically basic geometry and word problems, and reading.
“I just like the simple fact that I can help people,” said Niola, who tutors at Immaculate Conception Mondays and Thursdays. “I like seeing them improve and get better and then the benefit they get from it.”
Most would do so with Niola as a teacher. At St. John’s Prep, he has a near impeccable 96.4 average. He recently scored a 1840 out of 2400 on the SATs.
As a senior, picking a college is just around the corner. Niola is applying to Columbia, Manhattan, Fordham and Cornell but his top choice is Princeton, because of its Ivy League pedigree and prestigious academics.
Niola’s strongest suit, ever since he was very young, has been math. This year, he took calculus, which he said was the most challenging, but he eventually got the hang of it.
Why is math so easy, one might ask.
“There’s just something about math,” Niola said. “The way it makes me think. I can apply everyday math concepts to everyday life and it makes it interesting to me.”
A member of the National Honor Society because of his impressive academic standing, Niola isn’t one dimensional. He was a member of the St. John’s Prep CHSAA “B” city championship soccer team. In his free time, he also plays a lot of basketball and baseball.
Outside of tutoring, sports and his studies, Niola, 17, also helps the less fortunate. He is a member of his school’s Campus Life Team, a group that has spent time at various soup kitchens and donated blood.
“I just like to see the happiness of the people who go there and get free meals,” said Niola of his time at the soup kitchen. “It brings a joy to me.”
The only drawback with this bright young man, Gilley says, is he will never turn down any task or query.
“I have to be careful not to ask him to do too much,” he says.
That’s a nice problem to have with a young man, though.
“He’s a unique individual,” Gilley said, “in that he always pushes himself to do more. … He is very responsible.”