By Emma Johnson – Staff Reporter

Nicolina Salanto, a 2023 graduate from Jonathan Law, has started her college journey at Western New England University studying Criminal Justice and playing Division III softball. 

Going from high school to college is a big switch and can sometimes be challenging, but Salanto is working hard to keep her academics, athletics, and social life under control.  

“Being a Criminal Justice major, the workload and work itself has been very manageable,” Salanto said. “Even while playing a sport I don’t find myself buried or overwhelmed and I have been able to balance it all.” 

So far Salanto has been enjoying the time she has spent at college and is very happy with the experience of being introduced to new people and doing what she likes. 

“College has been even better than I’ve expected, from playing softball to meeting new people, taking classes that interest me, and being overall independent has been so much fun,” Salanto said. “I am very lucky to have made some amazing friends here along the way.” 

Law had a big impact on Salanto and taught her how to work through the hard parts of school and be a good leader and teammate. 

“Coming from being a three-sport athlete at Law, I had to learn time management and organizational skills which definitely was a struggle for a while, but has ultimately helped me be able to deal with being a student athlete in college,” Salanto said. “And I truly miss high school often.” 

Even though there has not been much of a struggle at college for Salanto so far, there are some difficult parts about being away from home.

“The hardest part of school is being away from my family and not being able to watch my sister through her last year of high school,” Salanto said.