CHICAGO – At first glance, Mount Carmel High School’s Nicolas Mullen seems like a typical high school athlete. Mullen, a senior, juggles three sports while balancing academics.
However, behind his multiple varsity letters is a story deeply rooted in family, culture, and the lessons he learned from his Puerto Rican heritage.
For the Mullen family, athleticism runs in the blood. Joanna Bauza, Mullen’s mother, once the top-ranked tennis player in Puerto Rico, instilled in him a strong work ethic. “Athletically, it all came from my mom,” he said. “She just went after it every day and never got bored. She passed that on to me.” His father, who built a successful business alongside his mother, taught him that the same drive applies off the field as well.
Mullen was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Chicago at the age of two. A few years later, his family moved again to Spain, where he lived from the ages of eight to 10. Then just a couple of years following that move, the Mullen family moved back to Chicago. The experience of living abroad left a lasting impact on Mullen’s identity.
Being fluent in both Spanish and English, Mullen believes being bilingual is an asset. “It opens a lot of doors,” he explains. “People are caught off guard when they hear me speak Spanish. My soccer team is mostly Mexican, and quite a few speak Spanish. It’s been really useful.”
Mullen’s athletic journey hasn’t been straightforward. He started with tennis, inspired by his mom’s success, then added soccer at the age of four. But it wasn't until after living in Spain that he discovered his passion for baseball, which he began to prioritize in high school. “Baseball didn’t come naturally to me like soccer did. I liked working for it,” he said.
Senior year of high school, Mullen added football to his fall schedule, as he took up kicking. Even with his busy schedule, he found a way to balance everything, sometimes traveling straight from one game to another.
Not only does Mullen excel athletically, but he also maintains a GPA well above the average. “Freshman year, it was hard to balance everything,” he said. “But I’ve always had good habits. Any free time I had, I would be doing work– even during my commute.”
His mother, Bauza, believes this is due to the environment he is in at Mount Carmel. “We never really had to push Nico with his academics. I think he saw some of his teammates in AP classes and he thought well if they can do it I can do it. So he did and he has 100s in almost all of them,” she stated.
Mullen gives credit to his family– for teaching him how to be independent. Co-founders of their company, his parents are often busy. As a result, he learned how to cook by watching his grandmother. Additionally, he learned to do his laundry and navigate Chicago’s public transportation system. “I could live on my own if I had to,” he said. “A lot of what I like to do comes from my family. They’ve made me who I am.”
Mullen is not a stranger to making sacrifices– but he doesn’t view sacrifices in a negative light. In his pursuit of both academic and athletic excellence, he’s had to miss out on some high school experiences. “I didn’t used to think I was missing out. I just wanted to play sports and get good grades,” he said. “I think skipping out on parties kept me motivated.”
As Mullen prepares for life after Mount Carmel, he carries with him the characteristics of hard work and humility, something he learned early from his parents. Whether it’s on the field or in the classroom, his family’s influence is evident in everything.
“They’ve [his family] given me the opportunity, and I’ve taken it,” he said. With a strong foundation of pride in his heritage, family support and work ethic, Nico Mullen’s journey is just getting started.
