Matt Richards

About Matthew Richards

My name is Matt Richards, I was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. I was born on May 20th, 1988, and lived in Canada for the first ten years of my life. However, since then I’ve resided in the United States. I’ve lived in quite a few different places, and wherever I go I always feel that it’s a part of my life, but also one of the many places I call home.

Edmonton, Alberta

Growing up in Canada was really no different than growing in the United States. Many times my friends would paint the picture that there is radically different cultures between Americans and Canadians. However, I’ve found that there is far more similarities than differences, and there is not very much to distinguish between the two places. I had a rather average childhood: I went to the Mormon church every Sunday, I paid attention to my studies, I played soccer with my friends, and generally led a fun and adventurous life. I was home-schooled by my parents in the city of Edmonton. However, we were a part of a very active and fun homeschooling community, and I had a large number of friends within this group of people.

One of my favorite things in Canada was visiting Swiss Chalet with my family after church every Sunday. Often my grandparents would join us, as well! It was as yummy as it was fun.

So, I grew up in the Mormon church, in a big city, and a part of a great homeschooling community. This all changed in 1998, though, when my mom, dad, and my two sisters Eliza and Mady moved out to the United States when my dad was following a new job.

Morgantown, WV

We arrived in West Virginia to live in a small trailer in the middle of the woods with my entire family. It was a cramped, tiny space that was really low income. I didn’t realize just how poor we were at that point, having lived in a big house in the middle of the city my entire life. That being said, I loved it. Being outdoors was great fun, and for a young boy I found my place amoung the trees, on a gravel basketball court, and watching sports and movies with the Wilson family (our neighbors) at night. These were simpler times.

However, anything simple about that quickly left. My dad left back to Canada, the rest of my family remained in the United States (my mom and two sisters). We ended up not going back to Canada, instead moving out of the woods and into the town of Morgantown, WV. Not much later, my mom and dad were divorced and our home in Canada was sold.

Despite this sad turn of my life, we still moved on. Life was way different in a college town compared to a large city or in the middle of the woods. We soon enrolled in school, as my mom was trying to obtain her Master’s degree in Psychology. Despite being a pale, pimply, awkward Canadian homeschooler, I was able to fit in well at school, and quickly made friends.

At this point in my life, the computer was also playing a larger role. I discovered a few gamers at school, and after school we’d go home and play games over the internet, such as Starsiege: Tribes and Command & Conquer. I also began dabbling in Photoshop around this time.

I was in school from 5th to 7th grade. I did very well in school. I caught up incredibly quickly, for example, in the beginning of 5th grade I didn’t even know what cursive hand writing was; after a few weeks I could complete two or three sentences in the ten minute “journal time” every day; by the end of fifth grade I was able to complete two or three entire paragraphs, faster than anyone else. In 6th and 7th grade, I attended “Math Field Day”, where two of the best math students were selected to compete in a regional math tournament, basically.

Not only did I do well in school, but I competed in regional and state-wide Chess tournaments. I never did too well, but I did win a few trophies here and there, and was an above-average competitor. I also joined soccer teams again, and competed as a defender. My team never got very far, but each year we did make it to the playoffs. I also played a lot of pickup basketball and football games as well. I also started to get involved with watching professional and college sports, becoming huge fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers and West Virginia Mountaineers

Half way through 7th grade, however, life suddenly changed again. It was onto Thomas, WV and the Purple Fiddle.

Thomas, WV

My mom met John Bright, and they moved out to Thomas, WV and got married there in their new building – the future home of the Purple Fiddle. It quickly became a very successful coffeehouse, mountain market, and live music venue. We grew in popularity, and we’re known one of the area’s biggest attractions for tourism in the area. This was originally a family business, but over the many years, it separated from our family and became its own entity. Certainly, though, it was created by our family.

This was some of the most uneventful years of my life. I was constantly bored, delving my life into the computer: from websites to map design to gaming to web design to watching movies to generally sinking my teeth into the Internet, I spent the majority of my day on the Web. I had few friends in the area, and most of the friends I did have moved away to college. It was a socially uneventful time, and I grew rather introverted, whilst still remaining a popular figure in the online realm. This lack of a “real” life really did help me establish myself a lot online, and was successful in a lot of my ventures.

I still played chess in our family’s cafe frequently, and kept that edge. I also played soccer with a local group of players, twice a week, so I kept in decent shape and did occasionally get my ass out of the house. During the winter, though, it definitely sucked to lose this outlet of using all my built up energy.

This time of my life also had one of my biggest joys: the birth of my young brother Silas. He was an absolute treasure to the entire family, and completely loved by everyone around him. He’s grown up so far incredibly well, and has the nicest and cutest personality ever. Despite still being young, I really see him turning into a very cool person. He’s already so full of life and adventure.

At the age of 18, I attended David and Elkins college for four semesters, taking two classes each semster. It wasn’t a very difficult work load, and continued to be very computer-centric person while commuting to class every day. My mom played a huge role by driving me and my sister to school. At this point, we were still immigrants, and my sister and I were unable to get a driver’s license.

However, at the age of 20, I finally got my citizenship! I got a ton of federal and state financial aid, and was able to go to a state college. I selected Shepherd University, and am very glad I did. I packed my bags and went to school on August 2008.

Shepherdstown, WV

I now go to school as a full-time student. I’m hugely involved on campus. I’m a Mass Communication major, Journalism minor, enrolled in the Honors Program, am a member of the Program Board Executive Leadership Team (as well as the webmaster), the webmaster for Intramurals, on the Student Life Council, attend the Student Government Association (I’m the alternative senator for Program Board), am on the Technology and Information Oversight Committee, a member of the Peer Leadership / Orientation Training Program (better known as the “A-TEAM”), have attended AND presented on every year of the Student Leadership Conference, ran for Freshmen and Sophomore Student Body President, volunteered for many events such as Family Day, Late Night programs, and much more.

As you can see, I’m quite involved! Find out more about my education experience under the professional portion of my about page.