Mr. Nathan Zucco has had a long journey leading up to his return to his former high school.. He graduated from LHS in class of 2016 where he secured many senior superlatives from his peers, such as,drama king, most likely to be caught texting in class, life of the class, and ironically—most likely to leave Ludlow. 

Mr. Zucco explained that when he was in high school he could never picture living or working in Ludlow past high school; he wanted to get out. He could have never pictured not only coming back to Ludlow but also working in his alma mater. 

During high school, he was very involved—he played soccer for all 4 years as well as volleyball for 2 years and participated in many other school activities. He said some of his favorite high school memories included “prom, senior show, soccer and volleyball.”

During his senior year of high school, a member of The Cub, Felica Robare, wrote an article about Mr Zucco titled “Nathan Zucco: putting others first,” back in 2015. Robare quotes one of Mr. Zucco’s coworkers at the boys and girls club, Alicia Ferreira, saying “he is dependable, intriguing, and definitely very good with the kids. He always knows how to put a smile on someone’s face whether it’s a co-worker or one of the kids.”

This could not be more true—Mr. Zucco has always had that ability to just make people smile and he is the type of person that you know will always be there for you. Mr. Zucco was mine and many other juniors at LHS’s counselor at the club and my earliest memories of him almost always included him making me laugh and feel better. He has one of those personalities that just make him easy to talk to—a trait of a great future guidance counselor whether he knew it then or not. 

Throughout high school and the beginning of college Mr. Zucco was set on becoming a dentist. He began shadowing a dental surgeon at Holyoke Community College his freshman year of college, which he did not enjoy and led him to foster doubts of pursuing a dental career. He then transferred to Springfield Technical Community College to become a certified dental hygienist. He continued to feel like something was not right for him in this field.

 His junior year of college, he switched his major to psychology and transferred to Springfield College. In his senior year of college he took an internship at LHS and he absolutely loved it and felt right at home. “I began to love guidance, but I specifically loved it at LHS,” Mr. Zucco explained. He graduated from Springfield College with a degree in psychology  and began pursuing a masters degree in guidance.

Where many students at LHS may recognize Mr. Zucco is from his many jobs he has held, particularly in childcare. He started as a camp counselor at the Ludlow Boys and Girls Club for the current juniors when we were in kindergarten. He then got promoted to Education Coordinator where he was in charge of all education services. 

After a few years of working at The Boys and Girls Club, he chose a job at Whitney Park’s summer camp where he was the director. Natalia Houlihan, former Boys and Girls Club kid and Whitney Park camper, explains “It’s always nice to see a familiar face from our childhood at school.”

Mr. Zucco’s story of redirection truly shows that life may have many twists and turns but you will always end up where you are supposed to be. Mr. Zucco himself advises students that “You do not need to know what you want to do—you can always change your mind.” He also advises students to “make connections, not compare yourself to others, and most importantly be a good person and make an effort to reach out to other people.”