Stepping onto the Mount campus in late August, many Mounties couldn’t help but wonder who the man riding on a motorcycle was in the parking lot of Mount Saint Joseph Academy.
Now the community knows the man on the motorcycle as Mr. Michael Nevadomski, one of the Mount’s newest theology teachers. He can often be found teaching old testament and world religions while he is within the walls of Mount Saint Joseph Academy, but his life just years before couldn’t have been more different.
Nevadomski was a journalist before he went into teaching, having worked at The Guardian, helping to start the Economist Pomegranate column, engaging in the Industry Beat in Washington, and doing freelance and editorial work in Egypt. He is also fluent in Arabic.
“He is very knowledgeable. You can ask him anything. He definitely knows his stuff. He’s helping out whenever we need,” Mr. Matthew Dominick, theology teacher, said.
He has not let his shift in career stop him from finding common ground with his students.
Like many Mounties, Nevadomski is a hardcore Taylor Swift fan, even having a mug in his office that is proudly plastered with the word “swiftie.” He remarked that his favorite album is 1989 and he had been a fan ever since high school, secretly loving Swift’s hit song “Love Story.”
“I think that if you dissected the lyrics of 1989 that it’s one of the great works of contemporary poetry,” Nevadomski said.
In addition to a “swiftie mug,” a skull can also be found in his office, which he regards as a symbol of “memento mori”- a reminder that we will all eventually die one day. However, as gruesome as it sounds, Nevadomski views it from a positive angle.
“It’s a call to action to do good things with your life, and be virtuous and do the best you can with the time you have,” Nevadomski said.
When Mounties think of Mr. Nevadomski, they can’t help but think about his motorcycle, which he has had for over a decade. Becoming engrossed in “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert M. Pirsig, his love for the bike was born.
“When you’re on a motorcycle you really get to experience the world as you’re going through it. What I love about the motorcycle is actually that you’re out there, with your foot on the ground. You’re hot when it’s hot outside, you’re cold when it’s cold outside. There’s a kind of vulnerability to it,” Nevadomski said.
While Nevadomski was not thinking about teaching while growing up in South Florida and attending Middlebury College, a small part of him knew he was always going to end up within the walls of a school.
“I always knew I was going to end up teaching but I always wanted to try out other things before that. But I was not aware of how much I was going to love it,” Nevadomski said.
“We’re always sharing books. I enjoy having conversations with him about great writers like Flannery O’Connor, Hemingway, philosophers and theologians,” theology teacher Maureen Furletti ‘91 said.
When he is not riding his motorcycle or teaching, Nevadomski can be found at his home in West Philly spending time with his wife of eleven years and two yo
ung sons, Gabriel and Andrew.
He also enjoys woodworking in his garage workshop and is even teaching his son Gabriel how to whittle and play catch. He also is very involved in his church, working as the head Sacristan Facilities Coordinator at Saint Francis de Sales.
“He’s enthusiastically embraced the mission of the school and he brings many gifts to share with our community,” theology teacher Susan Gallen said.
