The Lion's Roundtable (Guests: Matt and Rosie Matthews)
Download MP3Good day. This is Amber Narro on KSLU's ninety point nine FM. I am here at the Lions Roundtable. I have two of my favorite people with me. I've got Matt Matthews as well as Rosie Matthews.
Amber Narro:They are twins, and they are also recipients of the honors diploma here at Southeastern. Matt, last semester, and Rosie is about to walk that long road at commencement with her honors diploma as well. Congratulations, you two.
Rosie Matthews:Thank you so much.
Amber Narro:Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. So Matt, I want to start with you. You were here last semester defending your thesis.
Amber Narro:Was it last semester or
Matt Matthews:the semester before? It was a year ago now.
Amber Narro:Okay. Yeah. So it's been a little bit since you've been here, but you were able to sit on the front row at graduation, take advantage of all the things that the Honors College, gives to you here at Southeastern and get through your Honors diploma. Yeah?
Matt Matthews:Mhmm.
Amber Narro:All right. And what was the best part of doing that experience? We're just gonna dive right into it to tell students why they should do this. So I think
Matt Matthews:the thing that was most like beneficial for me and like what kept me in the Honors program was when I, first came here, I'm a nontraditional student. I didn't have a lot of support. A lot of the people in the honors program had. And the honors program kind of met me where I was and, like, built me up to the leader I graduated as. Like, my honors classes, when everything felt like it was falling apart, was always there and always consistent and always something that I was excited about.
Matt Matthews:Because I came right at the end of COVID. I was like hybrid. It was nontraditional even in that sense. And like having that there was really nice and was the reason I loved college. Like I fell in love with being an academic because of the honors program.
Amber Narro:Absolutely. So when you talk about the honors program as a nontraditional student, what did nontraditional mean for you?
Matt Matthews:So when I saw the people around me, they had a lot more financial support, a lot more familial support, fit kind of in the heteronormative standard. I am a trans man, and that did influence every step of my college career. So walking onto this campus kind of like nervous of like, do I have a place here? And like finding that place almost instantly, was like priceless for me.
Amber Narro:Indeed. And I see that a lot in the honors program because you do have a lot of people who from a lot of different walks life. Know, I definitely pride myself on having a very diverse group of individuals who can kind of come together and see people who look like them as well as not like them and be like, okay, we can all hang out together. It's fine. Right?
Amber Narro:Rosie, you talked about a topic today that your your research kind of dives into this area a bit, and and you took it into, where you're expressing your your frustrations as well as your victories through your artwork. Right? Tell me a little bit about that.
Rosie Matthews:So for me, I have always found placemaking and finding community Placemaking.
Amber Narro:You just used the word that I don't know. What is a placemaking?
Rosie Matthews:Yes. So it is like the actual act of creating space for yourself and your community or others like you. So when I was approaching my artwork and just like kind of the making of art, I kind of saw that as an extension of making place. Like I was making place for my artwork and those who resonated with it and just kind of engaging with those subjects with people who are like minded. Nice, nice.
Rosie Matthews:We talked a lot about
Amber Narro:how there can be a difference between craft and art, right? And you really took that and we just got finished with your defense. First of all, congratulations because you just defended your senior thesis and did it very successfully, answered all the questions asked and did it in a deep and meaningful way. And I think that a lot of the confusion around people who really can celebrate art and those who don't maybe understand it just yet is that, you know, anybody can do what you just did, right? Anybody can do the can paint or, you know, throw some colors on a on a canvas and and whatnot.
Amber Narro:What is the difference? And and I asked this question during the during the defense because I am a crafter and I am somebody who does therapy and puts my little ornaments together and puts my little, you know, quilting things together. But I don't go into the depth that you do with your artwork. What separates me from somebody who's doing it academically?
Rosie Matthews:Right. So when you kind of separate craft from art is when you approach the subject matter with an academic or very, like, social conscious background. When you engage with the act of making not as just I like a flower, I am going to paint a flower and when
Amber Narro:you I love how you answered that way. I loved it.
Rosie Matthews:When you take it instead of being like what could this flower represent? So it's like violets have been intrinsic symbology for the queer community and kind of leading into that realm of every choice you're making is intentional and either linked to contemporary history and art making or a history of people and making.
Amber Narro:Mhmm. Indeed. So when you started thinking about this project and you're it together and tonight you're starting with your gallery of it as well. Tell me the difference that I mean, I feel like you're approaching this from so many different angles right now. This has got to be like an emotional roller coaster, both enjoyable and somewhat reflective as well on the other side of this.
Amber Narro:You're going into your artwork with a level of frustration, then you're putting it together for a senior thesis that's very academic and in this kind of controlled environment of putting it together for your honors diploma. Now you're going to go and exhibit your artwork this evening. Are you having to think of these in three different with three different mindsets along the way?
Rosie Matthews:I would say less of different mindsets and more like different faces of the same body. So it's like all connected like say it's like a six sided dice. Yeah. It's all it's the same form but I'm having to kind of consider it from different angles. So it's like how I present on an academic front versus how I might might defend myself in an artistic front versus how I might defend the actual subject matter in a more like social societal sense.
Rosie Matthews:Like all of those things are linked and I've had four years of experience in kind of juggling the intricacies of shifting that form. But it is definitely a lot.
Amber Narro:Yeah, indeed. Matt, you went a different route with your studies. You were more on the science side of Yes. And it's fun for us as academicians to kind of watch the two of you because you approach things from very different angles right and Matt is very science y so tell me about your senior project and see what kind of different things that students could explore if they're willing to kind of go down the route of that honors diploma. So
Matt Matthews:I have a biology degree with a concentration in ecology, evolution, and environmental science. That's a mouthful. Yes. The three E's. So basically I wasn't very interested in, microbiology, and I really didn't wanna take organic chemistry, the big one.
Amber Narro:And
Matt Matthews:I love evolution. Like, one of the things that I was like, when I was deciding if I even wanted to go to college was I loved evolution. I love deep history. And I kind of was like, I applied to one school at Southeastern. I was like, I'm either gonna do what I want with my life or nothing.
Matt Matthews:And I got in with honors and kind of just like dove held first and allowed myself to explore. And I ended up working under Doctor. Anderson, the department head for biology. Ironically, in a edemollin microbiology lab, but I did an ecology project based on the white spot virus and crawfish and was looking to increase latency periods in diseased crawfish. So like in the long scheme that like farmers could sell off diseased crawfish before they die.
Matt Matthews:Because you can't sell dead seafood, but the virus that I was working with doesn't affect humans. So it's completely safe to eat. So I was trying to have a real world project of helping local, specifically in Lafayette, farmers like make protocols, engage with protocols that were easy. So a lot of what I was doing was trying to reduce this like really difficult science down to like what I could understand and what a farmer could also understand.
Amber Narro:I love that you're saying that because I think that those are the conversations that I'm having with Doctor. Morrow right now at Turtle Cove is making some programming here at Southeastern more consumable, right? For those who are not who are perhaps not as interested in going into the deep sciences, right? But appreciate them from that ecological, environmental kind of standpoint.
Matt Matthews:And one of my passions here at Southeastern that wasn't, about, like, my community was, like, making science accessible. I think the science as a whole's biggest, like, Achilles heel is it's very easy to kind of get lost in the It's intimidating, But for like making space for myself, because I'm used to having to make that community, make that space, it was very easy to transfer that over to talking about science and talking about things that were difficult, because I'm used to kind of feeling like nervous about being in a space or embarrassed in a space or like that I don't know something. So like having that personal experience and like bringing it into the sciences was so rewarding. I really enjoyed it. Indeed.
Matt Matthews:The two of you are twins and y'all are just a delight to get
Amber Narro:to know, let me just say, as your professor, as your friend, I absolutely appreciate y'all have gone through, going through this project somewhat with you. Matt, you were my first honors class that I ever taught. And, obviously I meet your I meet Rosie through there and have that kind of connection with you too through student government and things like that. And y'all took some real leadership roles while you were here. You're siblings, you're both getting the honors diploma.
Amber Narro:You've both been through leadership opportunities here creating space for people, who experience college maybe a little differently than other people or have definitely different challenges. And I'm not talking about just your community, but also making sure that there's a space for other communities as well. So I applaud the two of you in doing that and also taking on some challenges. I mean, Matt, when you were in the SGA, the leadership was changing a lot from, and I'm talking about not student leadership, but academic, the leadership of your advisors and those things were changing rapidly Absolutely. At that And then Rosie, same with you coming behind Matt and with Matt as well, having no advisor for a minute.
Amber Narro:Y'all went through some different changes and I got to say that I have said this about the student government for the past two years. I'm super proud of you because you kept things going when you didn't have leadership or you had your leadership was changing and there was maybe a gap in leadership or a gap in your advisors. And y'all really took that opportunity to make some changes that were lasting and very impactful for both faculty and students in things like just applying for grants or taking advantage of travel opportunities through the SGA. So I appreciate y'all for being part of that process. What was it like for the two of you as siblings?
Amber Narro:I mean, could y'all have a normal conversation like, I don't know, about Thanksgiving when y'all had all this stuff going on at Southeastern? What are y'all going to talk about now that you're graduating?
Rosie Matthews:And that's so funny because you bring up Thanksgiving, but in the last four years, there has not been a single Thanksgiving where Matt and I were both in attendance because we had responsibilities on campus.
Amber Narro:Oh, So how
Rosie Matthews:this will actually be the first Thanksgiving where both of us will be there.
Amber Narro:Where are you going to be?
Rosie Matthews:With our parents in Mandeville. Wonderful. Wonderful. So there will be conversation because both of us are there to have it.
Amber Narro:Yeah. And now that the thesis is done, you don't have to talk about that all the time.
Rosie Matthews:Well, mean, everyone's going to be
Matt Matthews:asking about it at Thanksgiving. It will be done.
Rosie Matthews:It'll be done. Yeah.
Amber Narro:Yeah. It went well. It was great. Fantastic. Pass the turkey, right?
Rosie Matthews:Pass the turkey. Yeah. I'm like, it's over, whatever. Give me the mashed potatoes.
Amber Narro:How long Matt does it take you to get kind of back your feet back underneath you so that that's not the only thing that you're thinking about?
Matt Matthews:I feel like I graduated last December and it's now November. And I'm just now kind of feeling that, like, I'm not a college student anymore. Like, I'm a person and the world is much bigger than what was on campus. And there's, like, a lot of excitement in that. Like, it took me a because I was doing a lot.
Matt Matthews:And I was like very spread thin my last two years. I had a lot of fingers in a lot of pots, and it was all very important to me. And I'm now just kind of in a point where, like, I've closed a lot of, like, last final knots personally, academically. So it took a while, but, like, that year wasn't, like, not spent well. Like I got to reflect on everything that I did, make sure that Rosie had that support.
Matt Matthews:We are kind of delayed in our graduations. And there was a lot of beauty in supporting Rosie in those last moments.
Amber Narro:How'd you feel that support Rosie? Because the reason why we're doing this is because y'all are twins and the other two people who are graduating this semester are married. So we've got the whole family thing going on this semester and nobody else is graduating with an honors diploma except for people who have family ties to an honors diploma, which I think is super interesting. And that's why I was like, have to talk
Matt Matthews:to me How about
Amber Narro:was it getting that support from Matt?
Rosie Matthews:It was really valuable because I as an art major pursuing an honors degree there was very little faculty understanding of the processes that go on behind the scenes.
Amber Narro:Right and a lot of that is because art students don't take this on and as you just were like no, I'm doing it with my art degree. This is what we're doing.
Rosie Matthews:Yeah, I've been, I was committed from that first day because I was in the art LLC. So my first day on campus, was like, I'm gonna do this honors thing. And when I do something, I like to see it in like through the end. So I was like H optioning my sophomore year and I've just kind of been, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna be an arts student and get an honors degree.
Amber Narro:H option. What does that mean?
Rosie Matthews:So when there are no classes that are specifically designed around being an honors class so, like, in the arts, there are really no honors classes classes designed already. So you kind of have to persuade a professor or ask nicely for them to take on a little bit of extra responsibility and a little bit of extra work to help you design and add a little bit of an addition to a class to raise the academic rigor of it and make it worthy of an honors credit. So for non kind of like STEM honors students, you kind of create your own honors pathway, which is, in my opinion, very enriching because I chose the classes that I was already interested in and got to engage with those professors very rigorously and formed some closer relationships by doing this work together. I can't remember what I was saying before.
Amber Narro:Oh, you were just saying that your support from that?
Rosie Matthews:Oh, yes. So I saw somebody do an honors thesis. And when I was like, hey, what date did you defend your thesis? Am I behind? And it's like, what did his PowerPoint look like?
Rosie Matthews:And I was at his defense. So I had a very great reflection of, like, what I needed to do. So I was, like, keeping track of the dates that he was doing and kind of paced myself off of my experience with Matt.
Amber Narro:Yeah. And I think that's what it is. It's always a community, right? And you don't have it doesn't have to be your sibling. It doesn't have to be your husband or your wife.
Amber Narro:It just needs to be somebody who is close enough to the project that'll give you a little bit of guidance, right? And I think that that's what cohorting you guys helps with as well and that you have people around you to do that. Matt, you have the benefit of there being more honors students in that science kind of area. It's kind of set up that way. They start their research very early in the sciences and might drive them through the process.
Amber Narro:So they have more professors who are familiar with what's going on in the sciences. But Rosie, you definitely had a challenge in that, you know, art, the last time that an art one was done was before I was Honors Program Director, I think. So, it's been a minute and you jumped right in and took care of it. So, I appreciate you doing that because that's what it takes for honor students to see that they can succeed is the same thing that you just described with Matt is seeing somebody else do it and going, hang on, I know Rosie, she's great. She's wonderful to talk to.
Amber Narro:I can do that if Rosie can do it, right? And I think that that's the thing that's going to keep you leaving a legacy in that area is that you've now shown other people that it can be done. And now I can talk about you too and share, you know, how deep and wonderful that conversation was in your defense. It was very touching and I appreciated that. All right.
Amber Narro:From this experience, how do you relate this to what it's going to do for you in Matt, you've been in quote unquote real world for a year, right? What did the honors program do for you and what did the honors diploma do for you as you're moving this experience into your real life quote unquote?
Matt Matthews:So as I've like kind of navigated, like being like a working adult, when I'm with like my coworkers, they all perceive me as very smart, even though a lot of them, like I'm pretty private about my life at work, But they come to me and they're like, you know, you know everything. And people who went to Southeastern, they're like, yeah, Matt's like the guy. And like being able to like, like I'm up for a lot promotions and like vertical growth at the company I work at because like I am perceived very positively and when people are like, oh, like what you do in college? I'm like, oh, I actually have an honors degree in evolution. And people are like, Woah, that's like kind of crazy.
Matt Matthews:And a lot of like the lab skills I picked up are actually very transferrable to like working with these larger machines in food service. And I have a standard of cleanliness and just how I engage myself that then put on other people of like, no, we could make this kind of gross, but why would we do that when there's a very easy solution that's half the time. So like being able to like teach people in a way that's very similar to like academics is like really rewarding and very transferable.
Amber Narro:Do you think it's a I'm glad you said that, because I feel like your message in there was that we followed a process, right? And now I can explain that process and see where the process can get better. Yeah. And I mean, Rosie, in art typically you don't necessarily have to graduate with an honors diploma to go on to graduate school or to explore your artwork any further. What is this pro what are your expectations of what this honors diploma is going to do for you?
Rosie Matthews:For me, I see it as helping me stand out when I start to apply for artist residencies and a lot of those residencies they're looking for artists who they know are going to be self motivated and can drive the creation of their own work. And for me, I feel like my honors diploma not only backs up the kind of merit of the artwork I'm creating, but my character as somebody who's self driven and who is driven to kind of continue to make artwork in a way that is not just because I'm in a facility that, like, makes it easier to do so. Wonderful. What are your plans next? What's next
Amber Narro:I for
Rosie Matthews:am actually planning to come back to Southeastern next fall to get my master's in teaching.
Amber Narro:I love that. You are gonna do so well in the classroom. Oh my gosh. Just got a taste of it. Almost gonna be wonderful.
Rosie Matthews:Went into just straight English education when I came into Southeastern. I kind of like right at that last minute I was like, no, I'm going to I think I have what it I have the chops to be an artist so I kind of committed to that. But I value having a career and being able to make my art as a in a free space without having to worry about monetizing it. So I wanted to have my time to, like, develop as an artist. But then now I'm going to be like, Okay, and I'll have a career and be an artist.
Amber Narro:I love that. I love that. And that's what I am. I am a, I have a, I have a career here. This thing is working for me.
Amber Narro:It's going okay. Right. It's okay. You. Thank you.
Amber Narro:But, the way that I my I'm a crafter. I'm not a I don't I do not I am not an artist because I do not put enough thought into this to be an artist, but I'm definitely a crafter and that is my space, you know? And I always say, if I start, like if people start depending on me for it, if I'm starting to like really use it to supplement income or anything, that's not fun anymore, you know, and it's not my place where I can have therapy anymore. So I got to think of it in that direction. Thank you for coming and sharing your story.
Amber Narro:This has been a delight to talk to you on more of a casual basis today rather than when are you turning that in and get that to me and are you sure you're going to hit your deadline? Yeah, promise you. Yes. So it has been a joy to talk to y'all and it was a joy to help in the process to get you guys to your honors diploma because y'all are going make us so proud and you already are, Matt. So thank you.
Amber Narro:I appreciate you both for coming and sharing today.
Matt Matthews:Thank you for having us.
Amber Narro:Indeed, indeed. This is Amber Narro on KSLUs ninety point nine FM. We are at the Lions Roundtable with Matt Matthews, as well as Rosie Matthews, they've been sharing their story as, they've moved through their honors diploma. And hopefully, some of you who are listening will also do that as well. You can do it.
Amber Narro:Yes. You can do it. Anyone can do it. Indeed. Say smart is contagious.
Amber Narro:So catch it. Catch the disease. We love it. Alright. Thank you for listening.
Amber Narro:This is Amber Narro. Y'all have a great day.
