Bio

Hello,

My name is Matt Hill. I was born and raised in rural central Illinois. In 2001 I moved to Portland, OR where I cultivated my love of the outdoors with regular forays (sometimes weeks long) into the wilderness of the Cascade Mountains as well as the lush coastal forests. In 2009 I began the world's most beautiful little family here in Tempe, AZ. Since then my "little" family has grown and continues to do so. My son is 3 1/2 years old, my daughter 1 1/2, and as I write this, our newest addition should be arriving in about two weeks. It such an amazing time of development for everyone in our family with my leaving a career behind to return to school and our children growing (and multiplying). I feel that we are at a point where everything in our lives is changing for the better.

Back more years than I care to admit to, I left high school with the intent to go off to school and major in Biological Sciences/Secondary Education. I spent a year studying at Southern Illinois University and several semesters at the Junior college level. Then, as circumstances are wont to, they changed, and I was unable to continue my education.  I found myself using the carpentry skills that I learned from my father at a young age to my advantage. I spent quite a few years in the residential home construction field. After my move to Oregon, I joined the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. While in the Carpenter's Union I applied my knowledge of construction technique to the new-to-me world of large scale commercial construction. For several years I built high rises, some a tall as 32 stories! I loved the work and excelled at it. Upon moving to Arizona I found the market share for union work here is not only much smaller, but it also consists almost exclusively of bridge work. As I have done many times in life, I adapted rather quickly and again was successful. The downside to building bridges in Arizona (other than 115 degree heat) is that it does require travel. My wife and my children are the light of my life and being away from them while working did not sit well with me. After quite a lengthy period of deliberation, my wife and I decided that the best thing for me to do was come full circle and return to my first passion: Biology.

Returning to school was quite the eye opener for me. Much had changed - I have yet to see a single chalk board! Again, I adapted quickly and well to my new environment. After my first semester back, I was honored by the offer to become an SA for the Biology 181 courses. In my third semester I received another honor, The S-STEM scholarship. What an amazing program I am so lucky to be a part of.  I have had the great fortune to continue this through this, my final semester at PC.

St. Patrick's Day 2013

15 stories up from 2007