A BRIEF HISTORY OF MATT

Well as you may have deduced already, my name is Matt. I was born into this world in 1977, a bright spark of hope for the future that would save mankind from self-induced apocalypse.

Well, okay, maybe not. :)

I grew up in the rural midwest of Illinois, where I spent my entire life (albeit with a few family vacations across the rest of the country, and even a hs trip to France once). In the Fall of 1995, I began classes at the University of Chicago. I had done some major butt-kicking in my high school A.P. Bio class, and so started out majoring in science at college (non-pre-med!). Midway through my second year, some of my friends talked me into taking a history class as an elective with them. History had always been something I'd enjoyed, and I found that when I was in the class with my friends, that my original passion was resurfacing. After much soul-searching, I came to the realization that the biology labs weren't nearly as full-filling for me as the history books.

So I changed majors and started anew in what would become the chosen field for my diploma. I specialized in the 20th century: World War II and the Cold War. To me, understanding such things had always lead to illumination and enlightenment when I would sit down at night and watch the evening news. A child of the '80s, some of my earliest formulative memories were of Reagan and Gorbachev, so to know what had preceeded them was to understand what they were trying to accomplish in remaking the world as they did. Searching for understanding as to the origins of the Cold War conflict, I did my BA paper on the Berlin Airlift; it was not my most inspired work unfortunately, but it did help me to gain insight into the world as it was in the late 1940s. (If you're looking for me at my more articulate in my academic work, you can read about Anthony & Cleopatra, or the Battle of Tsushima.)

Along the way, I made some wonderful friends, and had some wonderful experiences. U of C is a great adventure, and for me at least, lived up to the charge of its first President, William Rainey Harper, to be "the greatest show on earth". If you doubt me, check out Hyde Park in January during Kuviasungnerk, when people rise at 6am every day to do the Kangeiko exercises for the sole purpose of getting a T-shirt, or in spring quarter, when the madness of the Scav Hunt hits campus. One day, I will update this section further to describe some of the adventures I had during my four years there. Suffice it to say, when I do, College Bowl will be a major part of it.

I graduated in June 1999. That was a thrilling experience, and a rite of passage for me. In my family, graduating from college is the 3rd biggest day in a person's life, after getting married, and having kids. But more than being significant for me, the Spring 1999 commencement was a big one for the University, as it featured as a guest speaker, the President of the United States, Bill Clinton. For whatever you may personally think of the man, to shake hands with the Leader of the Free World as you collect your diploma, is a very heady experience.

After I graduated, I sublet an apartment in Chicago, and worked part-time at the University for the Chicago Chronicle while I looked for full-time employment over that summer. I finally found it at Sprint PCS which was opening up a new facility in a Chicago suburb. For 9 months, I was with them, working my best to do my part to provide "World Class Customer Service" and make the company the cutting edge leader in the emerging wireless industry.

Eventually though, the job turned out not to be what I expected. The opportunistic future I had forseen was becoming grueling drudgery instead. (I have found myself with such greater sympathy for pregnant women after the experience, having been with Sprint exactly 9 months to the day from when I started to when I left.) Again, I was faced with a major decision and a lot of soul-searching, and, as when I changed college majors, I made a significant choice to change my life.

My apartment lease in Chicago had been up at the end of June 2000, and since I would have to move, I opted to load up the car, and make a real move. I packed up my things, and traveled cross-country to Washington, D.C., where I am now. It is a strange experience for me, and I sometimes feel like a literary character transported to another world of fantasy, so different are things from my midwestern roots. Other times, I wonder that I knew anything different. I have continued my long legacy of participating in academic competition, helping out the College Bowl teams for George Washington University and George Mason University, in various capacities. I am also becoming an active member in the D.C. Club of the U of C Alumni Group. It is slow going getting acclimated to my new eastern surroudings, but I am making progress. And as I do, there will be further chapters to be added here.

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http://www.geocities.com/mattuofc/bio.html

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