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Name:
Matthew Benjamin Jacobs His Deal: Ok, so here is we're I'm coming from. I grew up in an affluent suburb north of Chicago called Riverwoods. It was in the area of Highland Park, Northbrook, Buffalo Grove, if that means anything to you. I spent my entire childhood there minus the year and a half I spent in the city before I knew I existed. I really liked growning up there even though it was about as homogenous as can be (My high school had about 20 blacks and hispanics, total). The only time I was ever "cool" was during junior high. See, in 4th grade Jeff Heller moved down the street and he was cool. We became friends and I slowly made my way into his group of friends. I was funny so people liked me. I kept on being ridiculous throughout junior high and I got a record setting 56 detentions in 6th grade. They all came as a result of me talking to someone or making a stupid face or chewing gum upside down. Point is, I was cool. It was fun because I have had more girlfriends between 6th and 8th grade then I have since then. And I had cool friends. I should note that throughout this period I still hung out with Will all the time after school and on the weekends. By the end of 8th grade I realized that being cool wasn't all that much fun and the people were just alright. So I waited until high school to get out. High school came and I did indeed make my way out of the cool crowd. It was an amicable break up and no one was permanently scarred. I spent the beginning of high school with my friends left over from junior high: sarah pettit, will and brandon geuder. I also hung out with a girl named Noelle Machnicki. I hung out with her because I liked her. Then I realized she didn't like me or I didn't want to try to do something anymore, and we remained friends. Up through junior year I spent most of my time with noelle and will, seperately. I also was on the tennis team freshman and sophmore year, which i enjoyed very much but i hated my coach. The people on the team were great and my nickname was "pubic head." I spent a lot of time working on Operation Snowball, which began as an anti-substance program but over time developed into a self image improvement thang. It was a weekend retreat where you went away, relaxed, played games and talked about things that interested you, bothered you, pissed you off or made you cry. It was and is an amazing program. Everyone who went on it with an open mind loved it or at least took something important away. This program was also my original inspiration to not drink or do drugs. I still don't and I think it is the best decision I have ever made. Maybe not the best, but I just see no need for it in my life. I am a big enough goof without alcohol, I don't brush my teeth so my breath already stinks, and if I want to mellow out I'll just curl up on my couch with the tv remote. Moving on, high school ended with a beautiful senior year. I found a great group of friends who I am still actively in contact with today. I really love all of my closest friends from this group and it has been tough to match this group in the three yeats I have been in college. We had a ton of fun and kept it real. Now I am at UW-Madison and I hated it when I got here. It is huge (40k people), uninviting and relatively homogenous. I wanted to meet new and different people and there were 5 people from my high school on my floor freshman year in the dorms. I applied to transfer to Tufts but I decided not to, even though I was more or less secured a spot. I wonder what life would have been like had I moved to Boston? Who knows, but it would be different I bet. I have spent the majority of my college life on the Music Committee booking concerts for our unions. We book 3 live shows a weekend and over 200 events every year. I was a volunteer freshman year, the director sophmore year and now I am a very active volunteer. It is a lot of fun and all my best friends are from this committee. I am studying film and political science, but the poli sci thing is an old major revived just a few weeks ago by the election. I love film and I love studying it but I doubt I'll do anything with it. Over the last two years what I have spent the most time with is websites. I have designed 4 or 5 including my own over time and I loved every minute of it. It combines my artistic side with my math-oriented side and it is a perfect mix for my brain. I would like to go to graduate school to study new media design. Life at this point is nothing I can complain about. I have a great family and great friends, but I still find room to complain. I would love to have a girlfriend for two reasons: 1. I would love to find someone I can completely relate to. 2. I just miss being intimate and cuddly with someone. It is so underappreciated. I also would like to know what I should do with my life. I feel like I need to do something that is especially worthwhile and important. I mean, I am on this earth and what the hell am I here for? Life is such a crazy thing that I couldn't imagine that there isn't some greater meaning to it all. So I figure I have to find some kind of activity that will change the world as we know it. But, of course, I don't know what it is. All I have going for me is that a Chinese fortune teller told my mom that I would be "very, very successful." I hope he wasn't talking out of his ass. I want to do something important. Some final
random thoughts: I love the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears.
I love love love photography and I wish I did it more or went to
an art school for it. I also love looking at other people's photographs.
I think they are all so brilliant. I also love post-modern art and
architecture. An architect, another job I would have in another
life. I would like to learn guitar so I can stop being an appreciater
and start making music. I love singing. I don't have the best voice,
but if I have a chance to sing, I will. I would like to get a dog.
My roommate for next year is Jannelle Ruswick. I love gadgets. I
wish I could get paid in toys instead of in money. I wish everyone
smiled and laughed more. I want to know what you're thinking, tell
me what's on your mind. I love to cook. I have just written a very
long autobiography. |