Notre Dame Prep’s foundation of faith helped keep him grounded in religion when others tried to discourage
Nick Pilchak graduated from Notre Dame Prep in 2000. He matriculated to Princeton University for his degree in politics, then got a JD from Harvard. But it was his experience at Notre Dame, and most especially his time on the debate team, that helped lead him to his current position as assistant U.S. attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California in San Diego. Also, he says, a couple of California girls had something to do with it.
When Pilchak was a freshman at Notre Dame, Norm Kotarski was starting a debate team and asked Pilchak if he wanted to join. “I spent four years at NDP arguing with other high school kids as well as debate coaches (our own, those from other schools), judges, my family and innocent bystanders,” he said. “I wasn’t very good at it, but I enjoyed it a lot.”
He says high school debate also created just the right personality imbalance so that when he got to Princeton and went to an exhibition debate where four college kids spent an hour brilliantly (and viciously, he notes) one-upping each other about some random subject, he thought, “These are my people.”
Pilchak cautions, though, with tongue firmly in cheek. “A word to any older alums with high school-age children: Don’t consider letting your kids join the debate team unless you’re willing to run the very serious risk that they will grow up to become attorneys. I’ve seen it happen too many times.”
For Pilchak, however, nothing compares to arguing on one’s feet against an intelligent and motivated opponent. “One of the most refreshing things about my current job is that I get to do it day in and day out—and on behalf of the United States of America, which is a pretty good client.”
“Too smart” to be religious
When Pilchak first got to Princeton, it was bit of a surprise for him that his Catholic faith, which was so much a part of his Notre Dame Prep education, turned out to be such big help to him as a college student. As a member of the university’s debate team, Pilchak traveled often to other colleges on the debate circuit. He sometimes wore his Catholic faith on his sleeves and more than once encountered comments about how he was “too smart” to be religious.
“Of course, it was relatively easy to be Catholic at a Catholic high school like Notre Dame where doing something else made you the exception,” he says. “It was much different at college. Traveling to other schools and debating for Princeton, people seemed genuinely puzzled about my adherence to my religion. The well of confidence and competence in the faith that NDP helped build up in me was one of the pillars I leaned on in a time when many people encouraged me to walk away from it.”
Building character
Another major contribution that Notre Dame made for Pilchak was what he says was the long, thankless process of teaching him to write.
“Many schools, even good ones, don’t focus much on writing,” he said. “For example, I married someone—I won’t mention her name because she spoke with me on condition of anonymity—who writes very well but went through 22 years of school without ever diagramming a sentence. I can’t remember now whether that particular practice was inflicted on me at NDP or earlier in grade school, but I consider it a badge of honor. Now, for the rest of my life, in an emergency situation I can rely on pure instinct to figure out which word is modified by the preposition.
“But seriously, if any of my English teachers are reading this, don’t let these quotes fool you. Many people consider me a decent writer. Some of them even speak English as their first language!”
Math, he says, was a different animal altogether. “With apologies to Mr. Borton, another one of the best teachers I’ve ever had, I didn’t use the math I learned at NDP for one minute after I got out of calculus my senior year,” he said. “But I’m still glad I took the class, because now that I’m a father, I’m required to believe in ‘character-building experiences.’
California girls
IRISH asked Pilchak what brought him to California in the first place. “Girls,” he says without hesitation. “Two girls in particular—my wife, Kristin, and our daughter, Elizabeth.” Pilchak and his wife have been living and working in California since 2012 after he left a large law firm in Boston to take an assistant U.S. attorney position in San Diego. The fact that Kristin was born and raised in San Diego made the move an easy decision. Plus, they had a one-year-old daughter (Elizabeth) at the time with a son soon to follow. Having one set of grandparents close by—well, it just seemed like the perfect move for them.
“I do miss Michigan, though,” Pilchak says. “It feels very strange to raise children who only know snowmen from the movie ‘Frozen.’ But Elizabeth’s little brother Michael has inflicted so much damage on our house, I doubt that we’d be able to sell it even if we wanted to move.”
Made a difference
When asked about a teacher or teachers who may have made a big impact on him while at Notre Dame, Pilchak again doesn’t hesitate.
“My favorite teacher would have to be Norm Kotarski, who also was my debate coach. He contributed so much to my high school experience and was clearly so invested in the success and development of his students. He believed in me, and I’m grateful for that. That said, there were lots of excellent teachers when I was there—and I’m sure there still are. [Editor’s note: Yes, many!] All of them made a tremendous difference in my education and my life.”
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.