Nolan Comparetto: Finding Belonging Through SeaPerch

Growing up, school felt like a place where I was always in trouble, even when I honestly did not know what I did wrong. I was the kid who could not sit still, who asked a million questions, who noticed everything, and who sometimes felt like my brain was running five different programs at the same time.

Then I met a teacher who did not label me as a problem.

The Teacher Who Changed Everything

Mrs. Conerly saw something in me before I saw it in myself. When I could not sit still in second grade, she did not get mad or embarrassed. She got creative. She gave me my own walking and movement area so I could move while still listening and learning. It sounds simple, but it changed everything. She showed me that I was not “too much,” I just needed the right supports.

That same year, she encouraged me to enter the Brazoria County Science Fair. I was obsessed with airplanes, probably because my parents met in flight school and aircraft have been part of my world forever. I researched different aircraft shapes, different wing designs, and how those differences could change flight.

I wanted my experiment to be real, so I built an aircraft launching system so the tests would not be flawed by human error, or as I called it, “a Nolan oops.” I launched and recorded each design multiple times and documented everything. My dad always says the difference between science and messing around is writing it down. He is not wrong.

And that year, I won first place overall champion across grades K through 12. Yes, you read that right. A second grader.

Mrs. Conerly was there that day, and she has been there for me ever since. I do not know if everyone gets a teacher who changes the course of their life, but I hope they do.

When Life Got Hard

A year later, I went through something traumatic that pulled me out of school for a while and changed our family. I had to relearn how to feel safe in the world again. My parents never left my side, and my little brother held my hand and promised he would always protect me. We were close before, but after that, we became Warriors together.

When I came back to school, things were not easy. I struggled. I felt on edge. And when kids sense fear, sometimes they use it. That is where bullying started, and it made it even harder to focus and feel like I belonged.

Then SeaPerch showed up in my life, and everything shifted.

Finding My People

SeaPerch is not just building an ROV. It is problem solving, teamwork, failure, redesign, and trying again. It is learning how to take a mess and turn it into a plan. It is learning how to breathe, slow down, and fix what is not working.

It is also where I started finding something I did not even realize I needed, my people.

When I joined SeaPerch with Brooklynn and Julian, I could feel the difference immediately. I could feel myself relax. I started making friends again. I started feeling like I could take up space without being judged for it.

By fifth grade, I was blessed with another once in a lifetime teacher, Mrs. Moore. She reminded me that I am smart, and that just because my brain does things differently, that does not change the amount of knowledge I have or the skills I can build. With her support, and with my team, I started to thrive again.

PB & Jellyfish became more than teammates. They became family.

Family protects each other. Family stands up for you whether you are in the room or not. Family shows up for the good and the bad. Family laughs with you and cries with you. That is what we became during that SeaPerch season.

SeaPerch Did Something I Did Not Expect

SeaPerch helped me build confidence in myself and in my abilities. It taught me how to work through problems without getting overwhelmed. I still get overwhelmed sometimes, but with my team by my side, I can reset, regulate, and focus again on what needs to be done.

In SeaPerch, my brain was not treated like a bad thing. I was never made to feel odd or out of place. I was not “too much.” I was just Nolan, and I had a role, and my role mattered.

That is one of the many reasons I care so deeply about SEAPERCH Foundation.

Why SEAPERCH Foundation Matters

On the way to the 2025 International SeaPerch Challenge, we started asking a question that would not leave us alone.

What happens to the teams who do not have parents who can fundraise, or schools with resources, or a community that knows how to help?

We were lucky. We had people show up for us. We had parents and supporters who helped make our journey possible. But every kid who has that engineering passion deserves a chance, not just the kids who get lucky.

So we came home and asked our parents to help us start something bigger than ourselves.

A lot of paperwork and legwork later, SEAPERCH Foundation was born.

Since then, we have helped:

• Fund and launch a new SeaPerch program at a local junior high school, including multiple teams

• Build practice obstacle course materials local teams can use

• Mentor elementary SeaPerch teams and help them learn beyond the build manual

• Expand our community outreach through Project JellyClean, including lake cleanups, bayou cleanups, and beach cleanups

One of my favorite things is working with younger teams and getting to tell them the truth they need to hear.

You did not fail. Your ROV did not fail. The design simply did not work for that situation. Trust the data, learn from it, and start again with more knowledge than you had before.

That is not failure. That is engineering.

My Hope

My hope is that we keep growing this foundation so more students can experience what SeaPerch gave me, belonging, mentorship, teamwork, and the confidence that comes from building something real.

Because the biggest thing I learned is this: Finding your people can change your whole life. Finding a place where you feel like you truly belong makes the world seem right, no matter what you have been through before, during, or after. Knowing you belong and know you have "your people" lets you know you will be okay, at the end of the day, you will be okay, you may not be all right now, but you will be okay (I bet you can guess who my mom's favorite singer is).

Because the biggest thing I learned is this, finding your people can change your whole life. Finding a place where you truly belong makes the world feel right, no matter what you have been through before, during, or after. Knowing you belong, knowing you have your people, reminds you that you will be okay. And if you have ever listened to Jelly Roll, you know exactly what I mean, I am not okay, but it is all going to be alright.

If you want to help more students find their people, we would love to have you with us. You can support SEAPERCH Foundation by volunteering, sponsoring, donating, or helping a team in need, and becoming part of this Jellyfish journey.

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