Meet Matthew Nguyen ’24
Matthew Nguyen ’24
Osteopathic Medicine - Biochemistry 4+4
Matthew Nguyen, a California native, is happy he found Seton Hill through a Google search.
“I had been searching for small schools with a science and music program when I came across Seton Hill. It turns out I had a friend of a friend who was at Seton Hill in the Physician Assistant program and after talking to them, I decided to apply.”
Matthew was accepted into a number of different programs, but what drew him to Seton Hill were the small class sizes and opportunities to be involved in many activities. “One of my friends goes to a much larger school where he has to apply and interview to get into a club or organization because of the number of students on campus,” said Matthew, “I wanted to go to a school where I could participate in just about anything I wanted to.”
Matthew says being involved on campus has been crucial for adapting to college life. Like many students, Matthew struggled making friends at first, especially being from out of state. During his second semester at Seton Hill, Matthew decided to join the Volleyball Club. “Immediately, everyone was so kind and welcoming,” says Matthew, “I have made so many friends, and not just friends who only get together during scheduled games. We’ve become a community, and I even found my current roommates through this club.” In addition to his involvement in the Volleyball Club, Matthew is also an Orientation Leader, Student Ambassador, and member of Campus Ministry, Una Voce (Seton Hill’s chamber choir), and the Men’s Glee Club.
When asked what he has been most proud of accomplishing so far at Seton Hill, one thing stood out in particular to Matthew. In February of 2021, Matthew was asked if he wanted to participate in a virtual talent show raising money for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Matthew was very interested. He got together with a friend from Seton Hill and the two of them composed an acapella cover. “Since it was just the two of us, we had to record ourselves multiple times, covering different parts of the song each time,” said Matthew, “We ended up with about 75 recordings that we had to compile in the end, which we had another friend help us edit and turn into a video.”
The goal for each talent was to raise $500, and Matthew’s performance wound up raising over $2,000, and he and his friend won the talent show. “It was a huge accomplishment to put in all of that hard work and see how much money it raised,” said Matthew, “It was also a lot of fun.”
Matthew’s interest in music did not begin until 8th grade when a teacher inspired him to start. “I began studying music on my own, and I learned a lot, especially about the correlation between music and STEM,” said Matthew.
Seton Hill has given Matthew the opportunity to combine his interest for science and music, where he is able to major in biochemistry as well as complete a minor in music theory. “A lot of people are surprised when I tell them I major in science and minor in music because they think they have nothing to do with each other,” said Matthew. “Most people think it’s only creativity that drives music, which can be true depending on the artist. However, I think about music in terms of logic. There is a logical thought process that goes into composing music and I find it very interesting how it correlates with the various aspects of STEM research.”
Matthew says he has a lot of goals set for himself during his time at Seton Hill, but he shared one goal in particular. “I want to continue to form bonds with the people I am meeting and create friendships that will last forever.”