To different people, the name “Cedric Nowatzyk” means very different things. A writer to some, a therapist to others, he has impacted the people around him in countless ways. But as he sits on the patterned couches of the Nichols Atrium, a bright grin crossing his usually solemn countenance as he recalls past experiences and memories, it is clear that above all other things, Cedric Nowatzyk (12) is a friend.

Senior Mathew Mammen, who has known Cedric since freshman year, admires his ability to fully apply himself to help the people around him and the “quiet confidence” and “general intelligence” he exudes in regards to understanding people.

“Sometimes he can come across as awkward, saying the wrong things at the wrong time, but I think that’s mostly a function of how deeply he cares about [people] in general,” Mathew said. “[Cedric] will dedicate his life, all his blood, sweat and tears, to any of [his passions] at the drop of a hat, which I appreciate as [his] friend.”

As a confidant for those around him, Cedric first grew interested in the field of psychology when he researched the subject independently to learn how to best help people emotionally and be a better friend. However, he also acknowledges the many challenges he faced in this journey and how working with his mentor Daniel Burgess, a local marriage and family therapist, allowed him to learn from a professional in the discipline.

“One of the biggest mistakes I made in psychology was just getting carried away with how much I tried to help,” Cedric said. “I over-exerted myself, and I pressured one of my friends a bit too much. Just having someone who’s refined in a field as a rock to bounce ideas off of and learn what you’re doing wrong, it’s effective both in learning psychology itself and also just being a better person.”

Brian Park (12), who has known Cedric since elementary school, adds how his passion for psychology often extends beyond a counseling office and into other aspects of his life, like with his interactions with people.

“He’s quite honest, sometimes maybe brutally so, but I think that’s a good trait to find in a friend,” Brian said. “He’s that guy who gives you feedback on how you’re doing as a person, and if you’re not doing that well then he makes sure to tell you.”

Although Cedric’s ultimate dream is to be a therapist, as merely a seventeen-year-old he has managed to check off another goal on his list: writing a book.

His novel, “Our Stories in the Mirror,” which was published in August of his senior year, is a realistic meditative fiction story about a writer who believes too much in the power of stories and how the character’s life falls apart in result of that. Like many other things in Cedric’s life, it connects back to his passion for psychology and his interest in further exploring the human mind.

“I wrote [my book] to deconstruct a lot of stereotypes in literature,” he said. “I felt like the literary antagonist, the archetype of it, was actually bad for mental health issues and that trying to imagine yourself as a hero in a story might not have the best effects on your life, as a lot of them would have you believe.”

Cedric has been trying to write a book for the last seven years, but compared to his past story ideas, “Our Stories in the Mirror” contains a message he truly wanted to share with others, which greatly motivated him to complete the novel. He even joined a local writing club, called Write to the End, where writers could receive constructive feedback from each other during the process.

“[Working with adult writers at Write to the End was] intimidating at first,” Cedric said. “It got better though, mostly because of the jokes in my story. Humor is one of those things that has a very auditory response. You know if you’re doing something right when you tell a joke because the other person will laugh. You can’t really expect that kind of response when you write tragedy.”

Yet despite all these accomplishments, whether as a therapist or an author, Cedric also remembers the obstacles he has faced and continues to deal with to this day.

“I suffer from prosopagnosia, which is a facial cognitive disorder, so I don’t talk to too many people because it’s hard to keep track of identities,” he said. “All faces look the same to me, so I require hair styles, hair colors, different voices and stuff like that in order to differentiate people. As a result I have trouble recognizing a lot of my classmates, and I don’t have as large a social circle as most people do.”

Despite his condition, Cedric has still made a lasting impact on the people close to him.

“He is a great problem solver, and he’s a really good person to talk to when you have a challenging issue that you’re facing,” chemistry teacher David Casso, who is Cedric’s advisor, said. “When I’m in a position where I really don’t know what to do and I’ve thought through all my choices, I will sometimes think to myself, ‘what would Cedric do?’ And a lot of times, it will bring up a unique approach that will solve the problem.”

Overall, as a therapist, writer and, most importantly, a friend, Cedric has pushed boundaries and learned to grow from past mistakes, and it is difficult to be certain of what he will be accomplishing in the future.

“At this point, it’s kind of hard to define what my comfort zone is because I don’t spend much time in it,” Cedric said. “I’m known for just going for things, and I feel like the idea of a comfort zone hasn’t really been applied to me for a while, since I can hold true to statement that I’ve never had an idea that I wouldn’t just chase immediately.”