About the Site

Posted By: Matthew at 11:07AM on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 -

My resume contains more current information about me, but I have decided this is the best place for a little deeper explanation on how I got to where I am. I was born in Endwell, New York which is a small town in the upstate area near the city of Binghamton. Endwell is an area with a population of about 30,000 so it is a pretty small area with mostly middle class homes and one school district. The landscape consists of a lot of frequent rolling hills and trees with a substantial amount of undeveloped land. We receive quite a bit of snow in Endwell so I am willing to bet that is where my interest for the weather came from. I lived with my mother, father, and my sister who is three years younger than I am.

In third grade I joined Cub Scouts and this began an adventure that shaped my life for the next ten years. I enjoyed my time in scouting and after I finished all my Cub Scout requirements I moved to Boy Scouts halfway through fifth grade. In Boy Scouts I quickly advanced through the ranks and in August 2005 I earned the rank of Eagle Scout. More information on my scouting adventures can be found on the Boy Scout page.

In fourth grade I joined the school band and played the clarinet. I continued playing the clarinet for the next nine years and became very involved with the band. In middle school our band took a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida. We played in the Magic Kingdom on the 4th of July. In high school I remember walking in my freshman year and seeing the band officers helping out with the class and planning activities and I knew I want to do that when I got older. Near the end of my junior year I got the opportunity to run for secretary of the bands. I won that election and then worked the next school year planning activities with my fellow officers. Our officer team did a great job and I am sure that the students really enjoyed the trip we planned along with the support to the band director we provided.

In high school I became involved in Tech Club. Tech Club was what our school called our local chapter of the Technology Student Association. In 11th and 12th grade I was secretary of my local TSA chapter. In the summer of 2005 we got the opportunity to attend the national conference and competition. I and ten other club members went by train to the city of Chicago, Illinois. At the conference we attended lectures, socials, and a competition. My friend Dan Batdorf and I placed 9th out of 150 teams in the problem solving event.

I have always enjoyed watching and playing sports. When I was five I started playing recreational soccer at our local town park. I ended up playing there for over 8 years progressing through the different age groups and eventually I impressed the director of the program enough that he offered me a job at the age of 15 to work there as a referee; more to come on the job later. In seventh grade I started playing soccer for my school. I was a starting right defense in middle school and in high school I played left midfield. I also enjoy watching hockey, playing tennis, and mountain biking.

I have had a job since I was 15 with our local town’s soccer program. The director was impressed with my ability when I played and then he offered me a job when I was old enough to work. For the first two years I was just a normal referee/coach and then when I was 17 I was given the title of Assistant Director of the Soccer Program. My responsibilities included running the program in absence of the director and delegating tasks to co-workers. I usually worked Saturdays through the months of April, May, and June, then four weeks during the summer, and weekday nights in the fall. I developed many friendships at work that will last a longtime.

Another thing that has always interested me was politics. Not so much politics as in democrats or republicans but in the way the government is run and current local issues. One issue I became heavily involved in was a developer proposed an upscale, private housing development behind my family’s home. The neighborhood was able to organize together and so far has run a successful campaign to prevent this development. To most people an upscale housing development sounds good and we agree with this. However, we have a problem with the 75foot high, 550foot long condominium complex that was proposed in the plan. This condominium complex will be visible from everyone’s home and detract from the value of existing properties. The other issue people had with it is the housing density. The current area is rural and the proposed project would triple the housing density per acre. We are currently awaiting the outcome of the town boards vote.

That seems to be all the important information about me, hope you enjoyed!

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