Matthew Gray’s face across campus is a familiar sight for many. Currently a fourth year University College student, Matthew is studying history and political science. Being one of the UofT student life ambassadors, his picture was plastered along every booklet handed to incoming freshmen this year. When asked about his role as a UofT Student Life Ambassador, he replies by saying. “I engage new students through social media.” After all, in the society of today, social networking IS the way to go when connecting with fellow peers.
“Lover of bow ties, good design, and political comedies” is what his Twitter bio reads. His tweets prove to be both insightful and appealing as he informs his followers of upcoming events at UofT and provides numerous tips on various aspects of student life, amongst many other things. Matthew also tweets about his daily activities from time to time, which helps to provide his followers an excellent glimpse of the gregarious personality hidden behind that friendly face.
In addition to helping out incoming freshman, Matthew is also currently the Design Editor at The Varsity and is involved in the Toronto Globalist, UofT’s very own international affairs magazine. Matthew describes his job at the Varsity as “challenging, fast-paced, and very engaging, with a very tight-knit team.” Of all the many extra-curriculars that he is part of, Matthew describes his job at the Varsity to be the most rewarding. He believes that the Varsity is a rewarding experience and that he is learning a lot about how to be a part of a very large and complicated workflow, and how to work with other people in a very time-sensitive environment. And it’s quite apt. After all, the Varsity is one of the biggest publications on campus and it also happens to be second-oldest student newspaper in Canada!
All seriousness aside, Matthew’s perfect day is as follows: wake up, grab a coffee at Diabolos in University College, read the campus papers, nap on the JCR couches, and go to a stimulating and engaging lecture. While most people would classify perfect days to be a once-in-a-blue-moon type of experience, Matthew says that his perfect day plays out pretty often. Can you say lucky! His favorite places on campus include University College’s Junior Common Room and Hart House, of course. When asked about his favorite books, he replied with, “Only three?” – which is quite understandable. Being an avid reader myself, I completely understand how hard it is to choose only a few books out of the hundreds that have been read to date.
But UofT is not all sparkles and glitters. Everyone has a love/ hate relationship with his great post-secondary institution; everyone, including Matthew. He loves the fact that UofT has such great professor, “some of the top people in their respective fields”, but one thing he hates is the lack of funding.
Matthew dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Ever since he was a child, he has taken inspiration from the late Steve Jobs. He also dreams of working in politics, or publications in the future. Given the fact that he was named one of the top 100 Canadian Student Leaders in 2010 and given his involvement on campus, it seems his dreams are definitely not out of his reach.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is Matthew Gray in a nutshell. Be sure to follow him on twitter if you would like to get to know him more!
Photo credit: Bernarda Gospic, The Varsity
Links: www.twitter.com/Matthew_UofT
http://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/Student-Resources/Student-Life-Ambassadors/Matthew.htm