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A Real-World Outlet for Creativity
When Matt Staples came to William Jewell, he thought the place to apply his creativity would be outside of the classroom. A member of a local rock band, Matt continued to pursue his interest in music with a minor. He chose a business major as a matter of practicality.
But in a marketing class with Debbie Scarfino, Associate Professor of Business and Sam Walton Fellow, Matt discovered a different outlet for his passion. “Marketing class introduced a different side to business that I hadn’t experienced yet. It let my creative side come out,” he said.
It was this creative side of Matt that was needed to help prepare Jewell’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapter for a regional competition. With an impressive array of projects to present, the team needed a video to go along with the presentation.
“I hadn’t worked with video editing of any kind before,” Matt said. “But I got some software, and tapes with footage from the entire year, and I put together a 24-minute video that was synchronized with everything the script said.”
Matt became a full-fledged member of SIFE.
Jewell’s chapter of this international organization, now in its third year, manages a portfolio of projects, which it presents at competitions with other college and university chapters at regional and national competitions around the country.
These projects are judged on seven criteria, ranging from entrepreneurship to business ethics. As a member of Jewell’s SIFE team, Matt has traveled from Philadelphia to Chicago for regional and national tournaments.
An example of such a project is Chessmates, a program that provides weekly one-on-one interaction between college and high school students. Through playing chess, the college students become mentors for their younger counterparts. This project specifically addresses the success skills criterion.
Matt is the Chessmates’ project manager and the first-ever President of Jewell’s SIFE Chapter. He oversees big picture elements like campus recruitment and thinking ahead for regional and national competitions. “I make sure that we’re acting today so that we’re in a good place when we go to competition,” he said.
Thanks to SIFE, Matt is graduating from Jewell and entering the “real world” with more than a great classroom education. His experiences include setting agendas for business advisory board meetings, preparing PowerPoint and video presentations for conferences, and managing long-term projects that impact the community.
“I can take on more than I ever imagined that I could,” Matt said.
It’s no wonder that Matt was offered a job almost a full year before graduating. As a business consultant for the healthcare company Cerner, Matt will continue to use his creativity to identify solutions to problems.
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