My wife is Genevieve and we have a 2 year old son named Nikolai.
Before coming to ASU, I was an Arabic linguist in the Air Force for eight years. My wife used to be in the service as well; that’s how we met. I’m from Colorado and she is from various places along the East coast. Her family currently lives in upstate New York.
In addition to my studies in civil and environmental engineering, I also work part-time as a freelance translator – trying to put those years of language experience to good use while in school. My wife is also a student at ASU, pursuing a degree in anthropology. We both transferred our credits from our associate degrees that we earned while in the service. Since they were mostly liberal arts credits, they transferred well into her degree program, and she’s a junior. I, on the other hand, did not pick such a transferable major. I’m still considered a freshman in my degree program since language and area studies credits don’t apply very well to an engineering degree.
So why did I pick civil and environmental engineering when hardly any of my credits transferred? Well, I wanted to choose something completely different from language studies because I was bored with it. Plus, there’s not that much demand for it in the jobs market and there is virtually no innovation. I wanted to pick something that was different yet challenging – something that had a strong demand, something I could do almost anywhere, and something that pays well. Civil/environmental engineering looked like a good match, so I went with it.
Why choose ASU when neither of us is from Arizona? Well, that’s something that requires a bit more explanation. See, when I left the Air Force at the end of 2010, we were living in California near the Defense Language Institute in Monterey where I had worked as a language instructor. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do next, whether it would be searching for a job or going back to school or anything in between. Genevieve happens to have a friend named Fran (also a veteran) who moved to this area because her husband got a job as an enrollment counselor at the University of Phoenix. Fran convinced Genevieve that moving out here to be friends and neighbors would be just the best thing ever. Since I didn’t have any prospects at the time, I went along with the idea. The promise of free childcare being provided by Fran, a mother of two girls slightly older than our son, sounded pretty great. It soon became clear to me that going back to school was a better option than looking for a new job since my skills in language are not really useful at all, outside of the translation world. I'm too old to start at the bottom of the ladder at a dead-end job, so here I am.
hey matt! so just read your blog and it’s a great story man. My cousin was in the air force so i have a lot of respect for what you’ve done. I like your spur of the moment decision to choose ASU, I kind of did the same thing. I had family who lived about 15 minutes from the ASU campus and i thought it would be a great experiences to have the convenience of going to my uncles house anytime I want to. Well, they decided to move to Texas and I was in Arizona all by myself. It’s great to see the value you put into your education. When I was in the middle of my senior year, I wasn’t sure what i wanted to do with my life, whether it be college or work. My mom gave me this large speech about the value of college and how it will benefit the life of my family in the future. Seeing your wife and child puts more weight into the words my mom told me. Knowing that you are acting upon the need to support as well as something that interests you really makes me feel like i am not alone anymore. So i guess i should stop rambling on about my respect for you and what you are doing. Good post man, looking forward to get to know you better.
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading your post Matt. I think that it's pretty cool that you are a Air Force veteran, I plan on enlisting once I get out of ASU. Being a translator sounds pretty cool, I don't plan on doing anything like that but I bet you have some pretty cool stories. By the way your son looks adorable. I like that you deiced to go back to school after getting out instead of trying to work your way up in a job that has no real future with this economy. Also love that you and your wife picked ASU over lame U of Gay.... haha I really liked your post it actually kept me interested. I wish the best for you and your school and for you and your family. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso your blog name is hilarious. lmao