C
The
Sporting
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by Darien Koons, Development Coordinator
EACH YEAR, the Leon M. Abbott Scholarship Fund is able to help hundreds of eager students pursue their dream of higher education. The courses of study that they choose and the career paths that they ultimately pursue vary greatly. Some go on to become lawyers. Others become doctors, teachers, accountants, engineers, or any number of different things.
IN
each case, the individuals helped by the Abbott Scholarship program are using their education to improve themselves and create opportunities to enrich their future. One Abbott Scholar who has been able to leverage his education into an awesome career is Matthew Hoffman.
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Matt first became involved with the Masonic family when, in his youth, he joined his local DeMolay chapter. Like many of us, he was exposed to the fraternity by a close friend. “I had known him since kindergarten, we played baseball together,” Hoffman said. “And he came up to me and told me about this cool organization that he was a part of.”
Coming up through DeMolay, Matt was very involved. He held various offices in his local DeMolay chapter and with New Jersey DeMolay eventually culminating in serving as State Master Councilor of New Jersey DeMolay in 2017-2018. As he approached the end of his DeMolay career, Matt turned his eye to college. From a very young age, he had been enthusiastic about sports. Listening to broadcasters call play-byplay, Matt had a vision of becoming a sportscaster. “Growing up, I always wanted to do sports broadcasting,” he said, “but I realized two things: one, I really didn’t have the voice for broadcasting and two, unless you make
The Northern Light
