In the Light: Matt Zee
The following article was published on March 28, 2019, via The Colgate Maroon-News (www.thecolgatemaroonnews.com). It was reprinted with permission from Rose Corcoran, the author of the article, which highlights Matt Zee (Iota/Colgate 2019).
After a lifetime on the move, in locations ranging from Texas to Singapore, senior Matt Zee was drawn to Colgate not simply for its renowned academics, but also for its tight-knit community.
“I moved around a lot when I was growing up, so the most stable thing was instability. When I got to Colgate, I really appreciated having my own place for four years,” Zee said.
Zee has made Colgate his home through his involvement in community service. He has done this by helping incoming students find the same sense of home he found here through his position on Link Staff, a dedicated group of upperclassmen who work with first-years throughout orientation. Zee emphatically describes Link Staff as one of his favorite groups on campus, and he cherishes the opportunity to help new students adjust and learn to love Colgate while being part of such an incredible group of volunteers.
Zee is an active member of the Hamilton community and runs the Sidekick tutoring program, which pairs Colgate Students with local Hamilton students. He has been working with his “sidekick” Landon for three years and has loved watching him grow at the program.
Zee also contributes to the community through his involvement in Greek life as a member of Theta Chi and the Konosioni Senior Honor Society.
Even with all of these activities keeping him occupied, Zee has managed to excel academically. Part of his academic success is likely due to his love for writing, which was his motivation for pairing his political science and creative writing concentrations. In fact, one of his fondest memories at Colgate took place in a creative writing class his sophomore year with a particularly memorable visiting professor.
“We all went into class and the guy I was sitting next to, I thought he was a senior maybe, was just wearing a t-shirt and jeans. We were all talking about how excited we were and then after ten minutes of wondering where the professor was, the guy sitting next to me stood up with the syllabus,” Zee said.
When asked what makes Colgate unique, Zee reflected for a moment before returning to the irreplaceable community he has found here. He likes being able to find a familiar face anywhere on campus and setting roots down in one place, providing a consistency his upbringing lacked.
“I think sense of place is really big here. Colgate is so isolated; it’s like its own world that we all live in for now,” Zee said.
Zee advises underclassmen them to try new things, meet new people, be open to different perspectives and to accumulate as many experiences as possible before its time to leave Colgate’s little world on the hill.
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