STARS Spotlight
Michael Petrazzuolo, ‘20 Michael Petrazzuolo, of Oakland, is a first-generation college student who began his academic journey as a NJ STARS student at Bergen Community College. The NJ STARS scholarship allowed Petrazzuolo to focus on academics and involve himself across numerous organizations on campus. Originally attending Rutgers University in New Brunswick to run track and field, Petrazzuolo says that he chose to attend a community college instead because he believed that he would be able to find out what he really wanted to do after graduating college. Some of the things that made Bergen stand out for him were the small class sizes, excellent professors, and fantastic resources that organizations like Phi Theta Kappa and the Dr. Judith K. Winn School of Honors offered students. Petrazzuolo was involved in numerous business-oriented organizations at Bergen. He served as President of the Future Business Leaders of America, one of Bergen’s largest business clubs. He was the Team Leader of the NJC4 Case Competition Team, which is a competition hosted by Rutgers Business School and M&T Bank where community college students analyze, develop, and present their solution to a business case study written by a Rutgers business professor. Petrazzuolo was also the Vice President and Co-Founder of Bergen’s Net Impact Chapter. He enrolled the club in the Up to Us Competition, a competition focused on promoting the awareness of the United States’ debt-crisis through extensive campaigning, and placed 3rd out of 144 two-year and four-year institutions. He also attended the 2019 Net Impact Conference in Detroit, Michigan to represent Bergen Community College. Petrazzuolo was actively involved in both the Dr. Judith K. Winn School of Honors and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. As the treasurer for the Dr. Judith K. Winn School of Honors, he oversaw the finances of the club, creating fundraising events, and utilizing the budget to expand the capabilities of the honors program. As for PTK, Petrazzuolo was the Vice President of Finance where he served a similar role of recording the organization’s expenses and organized fund-raising events. Petrazzuolo served as the Research Leader of the PTK Honors in Action Project, an academic research competition focused on nine themes related to the Honors Study Theme. Petrazzuolo and his team conducted an experiment consisting of 180 participants to study the effects of subliminal messages in political advertisements by using statistical analysis and eyetracking technology. His contribution would lead to the project placing in the Top 5 Best Projects in Theme 4 and Top 30 Best Honors in Action Projects out of 1300 active chapters.
One of Petrazzuolo’s greatest achievements at Bergen was making the semi-finals of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. In 2020, the JKC Scholarship was given to only 50 of the most distinguished community college students in the country and covers up to $40,000/year for three years. What makes this accolade special was that his brother, Antonio, was also a JKC semi-finalist at Bergen two years earlier. Petrazzuolo graduated Bergen with a Dr. Judith K. Winn School of Honors Associate Degree in General Studies in May 2020 and was one of 53 students who earned a Dr. Judith K. Winn School of Honors Dual Honors Award for both the honors program and PTK. He is currently a senior at the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, where he is double majoring in Finance and Environmental, Energy, & Resource Economics. He is planning on working in the renewable energy industry, where he will be interning as a Project Finance and Valuation Intern this summer. Petrazzuolo transferred to Cornell University where he doublemajored in Finance and Environmental, Energy & Resource Economics. He is planning on working in the renewable energy industry and is currently interning at Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses as Project Finance and Valuation Intern. ● Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Epsilon Phi Chapter Vice President of Finance ● Phi Theta Kappa Distinguished Chapter Team Member ● Phi Theta Kappa Top 50 Most Distinguished Chapter Officers (Middle States) ● Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Semi-Finalist ● Dr. Judith K. Winn School of Honors Treasurer ● Dr. Judith K. Winn School of Honors & Phi Theta Kappa Dual Honors Award ● Vice President/Co-Founder of the Net Impact Chapter, Bergen Community College ● Bergen Community College LEADS Program Member ● 2-Time Team Leader for the NJC4 Case Competition ● President of the Future Business Leaders of America ● Phi Theta Kappa Graduate ● Graduated with a 3.93 GPA ● 2022 Cornell University, B.A. in Finance and Energy Economics • Graduated with a 3.94 GPA