Vendor Writing

Volunteer Spotlight: Mattew Murrow

BY NORMA B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

I was happy to get to spend some time getting to know Matt Murrow, one of our newest volunteers. I must admit, this interview took a LONG time to develop. I first met with him in person on a blustery cold day outside The Contributor office.

Later as I was attempting to put it all together, I felt the interview was incomplete, lacking something. That led to a phone conversation to get more insight into the journey that led him here.

Let me begin by saying that to me, although he assured me he doesn’t sing, Matt DEFINITELY gives off an Adam Lambert vibe. (For those who don’t know, Adam Lambert was the runner-up on season 8 of American Idol.)

That being said, Matt grew up in Akron, Ohio (the city's main claim to fame is that it has the distinction of being the home of NBA great Lebron James).

That's where Matt began his collegiate career at the University of Akron, as well as where he obtained an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Physics.

He moved to Nashville in the Fall of 2019, to work on his PhD in Physics from Vanderbilt, which will come in the Spring/Summer of 2024, because as he stated in our interview, "Everything Is Physics."

It was there his interests shifted to include Cognitive Science/Psychology, which helps to determine and build a model of people’s behavior. (This made me think of Criminal Minds.)

He was drawn to pursue that path after collaborating one of his advisors at Vanderbilt and his wife (also a Vanderbilt professor) on their projects.

Though they may seem like unrelated fields, he assured me that there are "remarkable similarities" between the two, and that the tools needed to complete each course of study are essentially the same.

So how did he come in contact with The Contributor?

Contributor vendor Dwayne B. was selling the paper on 25th Avenue by the VA near the Vanderbilt campus three years ago, and he bought papers from him.

Matt had become frustrated when he realized academia was self-contained and disconnected from the real world, stating, "it’s like living in a bubble."

In order to counteract the effects of that, he wanted to find a meaningful way to give back to the world around him.

He knew he needed to be doing SOMETHING to help people solve problems on an individual basis, although he admits he didn’t know exactly what that would look like. It was a bit fuzzy, futuristic, much like what’s to come in the future once his 10 year college career comes to an end.

He admits he’s still sorting it all out.

After having what he described as a "tumultuous year," personally, he went through training and began volunteering with The Contributor in the Fall 2022, it was the organization he was most familiar with.

He says it has been a meaningful experience that has served as a reminder of how wonderful people including the staff, vendors, and volunteers in the organization are. He says he has no expectation of getting something in return, he just enjoys helping people.

After all, "spreading more LOVE in the world" is what drives him, and these days we can ALL certainly use more of that!