Finding Home: Matthew Williams
Italy: the food, the wine, the culture, a place to call home — at least for Matthew. Matthew Williams is a senior English major, but his talents and passions lie far beyond just the scope of the English language. While Matthew is the president of the English Honors Society, he is fluent in both French and Italian. And while he was born and raised in Seattle and has loved his time in Los Angeles, his heart truly lies in Italy.
Matthew has just finished up his Fulbright application, applying for the year-long fellowship to teach English in Italy. This is something that he’s been set on since studying abroad in Florence last spring. “I just fell in love with the city,” Matthew says about his time abroad. “It felt like a place where I could be myself.” The moment that inspired his decision to follow through with the months-long Fulbright application process was while he was exploring Florence with someone he met the second day he was overseas. Matthew knew limited Italian, and his friend knew little English, but they were still able to build a relationship. One instance, when his friend was struggling with his English, Matthew was able to use his own understanding of both Italian and English grammar to help his friend use English more effectively. Matthew says, “I recognized that I do have the ability to help people.” He’s been hooked on the idea ever since.
Matthew also has a passion for the food of Italy. Italians, it seems to Matthew, have a much better relationship to food than Americans do. Compared to the U.S., where everything seems to be infused with preservatives and GMOs, the opportunity to experience the tradition of fresh ingredients in Italy is hard to pass up. Matthew has tried to be vegan in the past for environmental reasons, and while he now occasionally eats some cruelty-free dairy products and meats, he thinks that the practice has led to an overall healthier lifestyle.
Learning new languages, sourcing environmentally-friendly food products, and traveling abroad makes Matthew quite the global citizen. I might be bias, but I think he’s the perfect Fulbright applicant.
