Student shines in high school, university

DEDHAM – It’s a rare student who graduates from high school and at the same time completes her first year as a college student. But so it was when Brewer High School student Nikole Noddin, 16, of Dedham, donned her cap and gown in June.

Noddin began her journey to outstanding academic achievement as a home-schooled pupil from second to fifth grade. During that time, she and her brother Douglas each earned a junior black belt in tae kwon do – the youngest in the dojo to do so.

The daughter of Douglas and Holly Noddin, she developed an interest in science at an early age and as a middle school pupil her child window safety gate invention, entered in a school science fair, won a $50 prize from Ames Corp.

About to enter eighth grade, Noddin felt ready to skip that grade and go directly into high school. She was six weeks shy of her 13th birthday when she began her freshman year at a private high school, transferring later in the year to Brewer High. Her career goal was to study medicine after high school.

Noddin ranked near the top of her class at Brewer High School and earned a 4.0 GPA in her first year at the University of Maine. She commuted 40 minutes, one way, each day to attend college classes. In addition, she completed four honors accelerated courses and three advanced placement courses.

In teaching her for two years, math teacher Terry Hopkins cited Noddin’s maturity and self-motivation in her studies, adding that she was among the top students he had seen in years of teaching.

As a high school student, Noddin participated in Key Club and was captain of the cheerleading squad. She won the Superintendent’s Award, was inducted into the National Honor Society, received the Holy Cross Book Prize and attended the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine at Babson College.

As a first-year UMaine student, she maintained a 4.0 GPA both semesters, made the dean’s list, won the Biological Sciences Book Award for the highest GPA as a freshman, was one of the highest-ranking first-year students and became a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

Excelling in academics is only one aspect of Noddin’s busy life. She has worked as a blueberry raker and now works at a local fish market and restaurant. She also has stepped in to assume many family responsibilities since her mother’s illness.

In the community, she has helped with Ronald McDonald House Charities, Manna soup kitchen and the Bangor Area Shelter, and been an assistant cheering coach on the middle school level.

“Whether seeing Nikole through the eyes of the proud father that I am,” said her father, Douglas Noddin, “or taking a step back and trying to perceive her as objectively as possible, I am constantly amazed by her strength, character and potential. Outwardly she appears to be a shy, quiet person, but her determination is undeniable.”