Nicoletta Pelchat made great strides as a student at Montgomery County Community College. Now, she is looking forward to an exciting future.

When the Lafayette Hill resident graduated from high school, Pelchat only knew that she wanted to continue her education. She initially planned to stay at Montco for a brief period before transferring to another school, but after meeting with Honors Advisor Samuel Wallace and joining the Honors Program, she felt the push to complete her associate’s degree.

Dedicated to her studies, Pelchat was invited to become a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges. In her second year at Montco, Pelchat was elected to be the President of the Honors Program.

Pelchat attributes her initial success at the College to her involvement in the Honor’s Program.

“The Honors Program really helped me get through these two years,” she said. “Right off the bat, it helped me get more involved on campus, and I made a lot of friends through the program.”

Having many interests, Pelchat chose to pursue a Liberal Studies degree, but through her classes, she found her passion for business topics.

“I’m really happy that I started with Liberal Studies,” she said. “I’m happy that I tried different classes and was able to experience different things before landing on business.”

Pelchat’s proudest moments come from her involvement with Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), a professional business leader’s club. Phi Beta Lambda is the college division of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). Pelchat became involved in PBL in 2018 before the annual Future Business Leaders of America – Phi Beta Lambda State Leadership Conference, which features competitive events and elections for students across the state. At the conference, she competed and placed in two events, which allowed her to advance to the national competition in Baltimore.

After her performance at the national competition, Pelchat became a leader in the club. She was elected co-president with fellow student Barry Hunsberger. During her time as co-president, PBL increased membership, encouraged community service among the members and worked with other clubs and events on campus, such as Montco Radio’s Rock N Cans food drive event.

In March 2019, Pelchat led PBL back to the FBLA-PBL State Leadership Conference in Harrisburg. As co-president, Pelchat was eager to help her fellow members and teammates prepare for the competition with training, practice tests and mock judges, including English Professor Dr. Marc Schuster. The seven PBL students from Montco placed in nine categories, with Pelchat earning first place in Public Speaking and first place in Business Sustainability as a team with fellow student Loymi Peralta Cruz.

Pelchat is proud of both her teammates and Damon Gray, PBL’s Faculty Advisor, who encouraged Pelchat to take her leadership position. Under Pelchat’s leadership, the PBL students nominated Gray for Advisor of the Year, which he won at the State Leadership Conference.

Pelchat, Peralta Cruz, Hunsberger and fellow PBL members Justin Ziegler, Mike Antoine and James Sovocool will be competing in the FBLA-PBL National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas from June 24-27.

After graduating with the Montco Class of 2019, Pelchat wants to continue her business education at a four-year university. She is also planning to join her future school’s PBL chapter and continue in an Honors Program.

Pelchat eagerly looks forward to her future and she is grateful to Montco for being her foundation.

“There has been a lot of growth, and Montco has helped me get there,” she said. “I am happy that I stayed the full two years here. It’s been a great experience and I’m glad I started here.”

There has been a lot of growth, and Montco has helped me get there, she said. I am happy that I stayed the full two years here. It’s been a great experience and I’m glad I started here.