There is more to Nicole Protolipac than the average person might expect.
Protolipac, the public relations chair of Ball State's Latino Student Union, is not Hispanic as many members are. In LSU, anyone is able to join, but Protolipac said members of the organization were hesitant to accept her at first because she appears to be an average Caucasian woman in her 20s.
She's not. Protolipac is Croatian. She's also a Catholic and attends church every Sunday - but doesn't attend Mass. Protolipac spends her Sunday mornings exploring the religions she does not practice in an effort to expand her horizons.
"My views on many things have changed since I've come (to Ball State)," Protolipac said.
Most of Protolipac's high school friends were Hispanic, which is why she was interested in the Latin-American culture upon arriving in Muncie. As soon as a friend introduced her to LSU, she was hooked and dove in headfirst. Members were afraid she would not last long because she was not Hispanic, but today she is a leader of LSU during its time of highest membership. She says her Croatian background and Caucasian appearance allows her to be an effective liaison between Latino students and people outside of LSU who are not Latino.
"It's easy for me to talk to people because I'm not (Latino)," Protolipac said. "(But) I'm a lot less white than most people think I am."
Unfortunately, the same roots that brought Protolipac success in LSU caused self-conflict when she arrived at Ball State this year as a resident assistant. Protolipac was assigned to lead a hall of 64 white women from middle-class suburban neighborhoods in Studebaker East. Having grown up in Whiting, a Northwest Indiana town, Protolipac was never exposed to the middle-class suburban culture.
"I was upset that I didn't have racial and ethnic diversity on my floor," Protolipac said.
"My views on many things have changed since I+â-òve come (to Ball State)." Nicole Protolipac
junior
However, she now calls her experience as an RA one of the best of her life. It taught her to relate to and talk to different people.
"It was amazing how quickly (the residents) gained respect for me," Protolipac said.
The experience was brief, as Protolipac, then 20-years-old, came home from an evening of underage drinking and caught some of her residents smoking. Protolipac said it was obvious to them that she was drunk, and out of respect for them and in fear of being hypocritical, she turned herself in to the hall director.
"It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do," Protolipac said.
Her termination came the same day. Protolipac now lives in Studebaker West with a freshman roommate whose views from time to time clash with hers. But her experience as an RA has helped her relate to her roommate.
"It's a lot easier to talk with her," Protolipac said.
The most important turning point Protolipac recalls in her life at Ball State, though, is the meeting between herself and her best friend, a Catholic lesbian who challenges Protolipac's own beliefs. Both she and her best friend now visit churches aside from their own to find out what appeals to people about other faiths.
"I tend to want to reach out to other religions," Protolipac said.
This summer, Protolipac will be working an internship at the biology lab at the University of Chicago, close to home.
Doing so will bring her closer to her family, a very important part of her life.
"I'm a big believer in family and morals," Protolipac said.
Although she is only able to visit on breaks, she tries to call home at least once every two weeks. Her parents are both divorced and re-married. The entire family is close, though. Despite all the changes Protolipac has made in her life, her belief in family has survived it all.
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