Nick Swan ’19 feels a strong sense of loyalty toward Florida Atlantic, a feeling he developed before he even stepped foot on campus.
Growing up in Orlando, Swan was a talented high school pitcher with aspirations of playing college baseball. He committed to Florida Atlantic as a high school junior, but disaster stuck the following year. Swan injured his throwing elbow and required Tommy John surgery, which entails a lengthy recovery process of usually more than 14 months.
Swan was dreading the phone call with Florida Atlantic Baseball Coach John McCormack to share news that he’d be arriving to school with an injured arm, but quickly realized all his worrying was for nothing.
“[McCormack] was just so calm, cool and collected the whole time,” Swan said, adding McCormack assured him they would be honoring his commitment. “That made me realize that I made the right choice of going to FAU.”
Swan spent four years as a student-athlete on the baseball team, capped off by a sensational Senior Day outing at home. Coming out of the bullpen, Swan pitched six innings in “the best game I ever threw on an FAU Baseball field” to secure the win, which clinched the regular season conference title and gave McCormack his milestone 400th career victory.
“It was a lot of things culminating at one time,” Swan said. “We dogpiled, celebrated and had a great time, so I’d say that’s probably my favorite baseball memory.”
During his senior year at Florida Atlantic, Swan also served as president of the Student Athlete Advisory, allowing him an incredible opportunity to gain insight into the inner workings of the university and learn from key figures like Vice President and Director of Athletics Brian White.
After graduating from Florida Atlantic with a degree in communication studies, Swan stayed local, joining Northwestern Mutual Striano Financial Group as a financial advisor.
“I gravitated toward Northwestern because of the culture of the people that I met there, and it felt like a team environment,” Swan said. “A lot of what I do now in the day-to-day are traits I learned by playing college sports, being process oriented, doing the little things right, and trusting the bigger picture.”
In additional to his financial career, Swan also serves on the Florida Atlantic Alumni Association Board of Directors, allowing him to continue giving back to the university.
“I think what I’ve been most impressed with is that it’s a team environment of trying to build and grow [the Alumni Association],” Swan said. “In the past year, we’re up in almost every category from donations to scholarships.”
