Brick Teen Hopes Duct Tape Tux Will Win Him A Scholarship

BRICK, NJ — When Nicholas Matawa was 6 years old, doctors told his mother he would be lucky to graduate from high school. Now, he's looking for a little more luck to win a college scholarship, after creating a prom tuxedo out of duct tape.

Matawa, a Brick Township resident, is a finalist in the Stuck at Prom scholarship competition sponsored by Duck Brand duct tape. Entering is simple: You just have to create formalwear out of duct tape. And only duct tape. Now he needs votes — lots of votes — to help him win. (You can vote here.)

If he wins, he'll receive a $10,000 scholarship which he plans to use to attend Marshall University in West Virginia, which is home to the Autism Training Center, a nationally recognized program for individuals on the autism spectrum.

Nick was diagnosed with autism following in incident at school, said his mother, Renee Nitti. The school psychiatrist suggested institutionalizing him, because in addition to the autism, Nick was diagnosed with ADHD, obsessive compulsive disorter and oppositional defiance disorder, she said.

"Put all those together and it can be a tornado," she said. But a referral to Children's Specialized Hospital, which treats children with special needs, and extensive work at his out-of-district placement helped Nick work through many of the challenges he has faced to finish school at Brick Memorial High School.

"We're fortunate that we have Children's Specialized Hospital in our state," Renee said. "A lot of people don't even know about it."

She said Nick attended a summer program at Marshall's Autism Training Center last summer, a program that had 400 applicants; Nick had to go through an interview process and was one of 25 students to make the final cut, Renee said. The center's college program uses "a positive behavior support approach to assist participating students ... learn skills which will help them earn a college degree, work in their chosen field, and live a productive, independent, and quality life," the Marshall website says.

That's what Nick wants, his mother said. She fought for him to be allowed to take the SAT, and worked to make sure he was prepared to take the test as well.

Now he is set to return to Marshall in July to pursue a degree in radio and TV management from the university, she said.

"He wants to prove that students like him, if given the chance, can work (a job)," Renee said. Too often, special needs students are simply put on Supplemental Security Income when they age out of school-based education programs.

"Why not give them a chance to make their own income?" Renee said. "There are companies out there who want these children" as employees.

The $10,000 scholarship would go a long way to helping Nick make the most of his opportunity, Renee said, because there are few grants and scholarships available to students on the autism spectrum or to students with any kind of special needs. That's something she hopes they can change; she would like to create a scholarship fund for students like Nick, to help them pursue a career.

For the Stuck at Prom contest, Nick created a tuxedo for his senior prom completely out of duct tape. It took 29 rolls of tape and 34 hours of work to create the full ensemble of jacket, trousers, vest, and top hat, and even his shoes. (You can vote here.)

"My prom's theme was 'Around the World,' so the first thing I thought to myself was that 'Hey, I love my country, how do incorporate that into my project?' " he wrote. His decision was to go patriotic.

Finding the right colors and designs of tape took trips to multiple stores, he said.

"When I was creating the shoes I wanted them to have a little more contrast so I decided I wanted to use a white sparkle duct tape, which took me trips to four different stores just to locate a single roll of it," he said.

The entries were judged and the finalists, including Nick, were named June 14; public voting runs through June 25, with the winners announced in July, according to the contest rules. This is the 18th year of the contest. View his entry here.

Renee said she also wants to make it easier for other families to find help, so they don't have to spend so many hours researching ways to help their children reach their full potential — something that she said has been a fight every step of the way for her son.

"With early intervention and early treatment, there's so much that can be done and so much they can achieve," Renee said.

The contest, in addition to being a chance at a scholarship, also is an opportunity to tell Nick's story and encourage others, Renee said.

"Nick's realizing he has a chance to make a difference," Renee said. "He wants to see change."

"It's been a lot of long, hard, difficult years," Renee said. "I won't lie. But I want to give hope to other families. Don't give up. There is a place for your child. There are a lot of colleges that have supports for students like my son."

Note: This article has been updated to clarify that the admissions process Nick went through was for the 2017 summer program and not for admission to Marshall.

Photos by Renee Nitti, published with permission, show Nick in his tuxedo and him at Marshall for the summer program in 2017.