While attending college in Philadelphia, Nick Miccarelli's experience was twice interrupted to serve in the military overseas.
The 2007 Penn alumnus and Iraq War veteran has long been preparing for a life of service - he completed basic training with the Pennsylvania National Guard before finishing high school - and is now running for a position in Pennsylvania's General Assembly.
He is seeking a spot in the state House of Representatives as a Republican in Delaware County - and he's just 26 years old.
Miccarelli, who is vying to replace the retiring state representative Ron Raymond, said the economy is the most important issue in the campaign.
Miccarelli said he wants to work to bring "good paying jobs back to Delaware County."
He added that he doesn't see his age as a barrier this political season.
"This year, being new to politics has been an aid to us," Miccarelli said.
Having members of the military in political positions is important, and relatively rare, he said.
"There are very few soldiers and veterans getting involved in politics," Miccarelli said, whose father is a Korean War veteran and whose uncle is a Vietnam War veteran.
Miccarelli enrolled at Temple University in the summer of 2001, and was deployed to Kosovo in March 2003.
While there, he applied to Penn and transferred to the University for the fall 2004 semester.
But within two years, his military service would again interfere with an average college experience. He was deployed to Iraq in January 2006.
The Ivy League environment Miccarelli found at Penn contrasted sharply with his experiences in the National Guard.
Describing his spread-out college years as "tough," Miccarelli alternated between "obedience and attention to detail in the army" and "Penn's value of free-thinking."
"My reception was so varied" at Penn, Miccarelli said. He said he encountered "harassment" from those who wanted to debate the Iraq War with him, but also found support with his Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity brothers and his roommate, who was involved in ROTC.
"I was a better and happier student because of my world service," Miccarelli said, who became president of the College Republicans.
Since graduating from Penn, Miccarelli has served as Raymond's chief-of-staff in Harrisburg.
Miccarelli will face Democrat John DeFrancisco in November's general election.
