From depression to probation to PhD: a ChE alum’s story of overcoming obstacles

In an intensely personal and inspiring journey, Nick Gregorich shares his transformation from an undergraduate facing significant challenges to becoming a successful postdoctoral researcher. His story is a powerful testament to resilience, transformation, and the power of mentorship and self-belief.

Nick, now thriving at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, returned to campus to share his story with current UM students, giving him a chance to reflect on the difficulties he has overcome. His early years were challenging. Born with sensorineural hearing loss, he faced difficulties navigating everyday conversations and experiences. Yet, he embraced resilience, stating, “it is still difficult for me to hear many common syllables of the English language, especially at higher frequencies. Fortunately, I wear hearing aids and learned how to fluently lip read at a young age to help fill in the gaps.” Despite the challenges, Nick’s drive to pursue STEM fields, where those with hearing impairments are underrepresented, fueled his ambition. During his time as an undergraduate, he was fortunately provided communication access realtime translation (CART) captioning through the Services for Students with Disabilities. These captions were instrumental in Nick learning everything that was said during lecture, particularly things he could not hear.

Nick reflects on his upbringing in Michigan, highlighting a troubling period marked by depression and heightened expectations. His college years at the University of Michigan, from 2009 to 2016, were turbulent. Faced with academic struggles and mental health challenges, he found himself overwhelmed, leading to academic probation and breaks in his studies. He describes his depression as a “sine wave,” acknowledging periods of intense lows where he sought refuge in video games and the comfort of his grandparents.

Feeling isolated and pressured, Nick hit rock bottom in 2013, taking a year off from university to reassess his life’s direction. During this hiatus, he worked at a grocery store while contemplating his future. “I felt like a failure. I felt like I wasted every opportunity that was given to me,” he recalls. During this break, Nick worked various jobs, including at Nino Salvaggio’s grocery store, while attending courses at Macomb Community College. This period was crucial for self-reflection and realignment of his goals. He also worked hard with his therapist to develop an action plan for him to better navigate his depression if he were to return to Michigan and enroll in chemical engineering again.

A pivotal moment came when Dr. Susan Montgomery, a mentor who believed in Nick’s potential, encouraged him to return to UM with renewed focus. Within days of her reaching out to him over the winter holiday break, Nick seized this last opportunity. Unsure of how he’d pay for tuition or where he’d live, he took a leap of faith in himself. “It’s never too late to consciously decide that you want to make a change in your life and go down a different path. When I went back this time, I wanted to prove to myself that I was capable of doing this and earning a degree here, and accomplishing something for my own well-being,” Nick recalls how transformative this semester was, and will be forever grateful for Dr. Susan Montgomery believing in him at a time when he didn’t yet believe in himself. Inspiring others is now something he strives to do in his everyday professional life through mentoring of undergraduate researchers and encouraging them to pursue doctoral degrees in chemical engineering.

Nick catching up with Susan Montgomery on campus in April 2025.

Back on campus, he adopted new routines and habits such as meditation and diary writing to support his mental health, leveraging campus resources as much as possible. His determination paid off, as he began to excel academically. At one point he got an email from professor Timothy Scott, who’s class he had retaken, excitedly pointing out the incredible change in his thermodynamics grade. That first semester he returned to campus, he received “A” letter grades in both of his chemical engineering courses.

“I had proven to myself that I was capable of doing this. I was able to be a chemical engineer at Michigan.”

Despite a successful turnaround, translating it into internship opportunities proved challenging due to his cumulative GPA. However, a serendipitous connection led to a valuable internship experience at Grid Logic, a startup in metropolitan Detroit owned by a University of Michigan alumnus, Dr. Matthew Holcomb. This opened doors to research and inspired Nick’s graduate school pursuit. He soon joined Dr. Sunitha Nagrath’s group as an undergraduate researcher and remained in the group until he graduated.

Nick reconnecting with Professor Sunitha Nagrath at the AIChE Conference in 2024.

Even with initial setbacks in graduate school applications, Nick’s resilience led him to Clemson University in 2017. His doctoral research on lignin-containing hydrogels for membrane-based separations exemplified his passion for intersecting polymer chemistry and sustainable practices. At Clemson, Nick excelled academically and emerged as a supportive mentor, guiding other students with joy and purpose.

By 2023, Nick completed his Ph.D., marking the successful culmination of his formal education. Now, as a postdoctoral researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, he applies his skills to impactful research addressing climate change through carbon capture projects. He manages a team focusing on reducing industrial CO₂ emissions and exploring oceanic CO₂ absorption methods.

Reflecting on his journey, Nick encourages others to persist and believe in themselves. “Hard work doesn’t go unnoticed, and whether it’s now or in five or ten years, a door is going to open and provide you an opportunity when you least expect it,” he assures.

Nick’s narrative stands as a testament to overcoming setbacks and leveraging personal challenges to build a life marked by professional success and personal fulfillment. Through every twist and turn, Nick’s dedication to changing his path exemplifies the transformative power of resilience, mentoring, and self-belief.

Returning to campus to share his story with other students, he wants to make sure students know that they always have a chance to start over. “Regardless of where you are at in life, it is never too late to make a change. Keep going!”