Mr. Matt Day (’07) currently serves as an Assistant Principal at Cobb Sixth Grade Campus in Galena Park ISD and was recently awarded Assistant Principal of the Year 在他的选区. 除了, he serves as the Director of Christian Education and Youth Pastor for Bethel Institutional Missionary Baptist Church in Houston, TX. The following are Matt’s reflections on his journey to ETBU and beyond.
我是通过橄榄球了解到ETBU的. I was recruited in high school and visited by one of the coaches during my senior year. 我在一次招聘旅行中访问了ETBU, 还有, I learned that football was returning to ETBU and that I would be a part of a first-year football program on campus for many years. Something that stood out to me about ETBU was the family feeling and the pretty campus. 当我到那里参观时，ETBU感觉就像家一样. I’ll never forget when the Holy Spirit spoke to me while working at KFC in high school, leading me to accept the offer to join the ETBU 学生 body and football program!
Dr. 吉姆·韦伯博士. 丹尼. Randy Pringle were a few faculty members who really made a great impression on me during my years at ETBU. Dr. Webb spoke very candidly about his life and experience and never tried to sugarcoat anything he talked about. He let us know what it would take to be successful and to work hard for the things we wanted. Dr. Danny Essary比Dr. Webb but was very passionate about his studies and 学生. He made you feel like you belonged there and the importance of working hard to be successful. Mr. Randy Pringle, on the other hand, was a funny guy but had a way with words. He didn’t hold back and would tell you like it was. He asked tough questions and demanded truthful answers. 这三个都完全不同, but they had one common goal: to teach and share the truth about life. And I really appreciate who they were as educators and human beings.
I met people from every walk of life at ETBU and learned something from each one. I spent time around different types of people from different backgrounds, but I realized we had more in common than I had thought. ETBU had a family feel … like a community within a community and had an identity of its own. 自助餐厅的员工, 的守护者, and the yard crew (which I worked with) were some really nice people with whom I gained personal relationships. 当我搬到校外的公寓时, 我隔壁的邻居是厨师长, 她还教我做饭和烧烤. She would tell me when she was cooking soul food and to get something to eat. 我还和垃圾工一起工作过, 从宿舍捡垃圾, and that experience still sticks with me to this day. 校园里的人, 无论是教师还是员工, 对自己的工作感到自豪, which rubbed off on me and still is a part of who I am today.
我学习教育，成为一名教师, but my 学生 teaching was an eye-opening experience for me. It was a great insight into learning what it meant to be a teacher and how to build positive relationships with my 学生. 我学会了时刻做好准备, 永远不要寻找捷径, and only expect the results of the work I put in. 有些东西是学校教不了的, but the foundation I received at ETBU gave me the stability to grow into the leader I am today. Chapel taught me the importance of attending regular worship services and never to overlook the role that biblical truths play in our decaying society. The word of God is living, breathing, and active in today’s world and can never be replaced. I learned that life is about choices and decisions and to always make the best decisions if I want the best outcomes.
我是一名两项运动的运动员, 踢足球和打篮球, but my academics were the most important part of my academic career. The hard work that went into being a successful athlete, paired with the hard work and dedication that went into my academics, has prepared and propelled me into the position I find myself in as a husband, 父亲, 青年部长, 和学校管理者, can all be attributed to the life lessons I learned while at ETBU.