John Matter

Department: Anthropology

What Award/Scholarship did you receive? Dr. Midori Arima Scholarship in Anthropology

When do you expect to graduate? I plan to graduate in Spring of 2024, however, I am considering adding a major
and staying another year at all if possible.

Where do you call home? I grew up here in Santa Cruz, so my home is the mountains and the sea.

With all of the choices for college, what made UC Santa Cruz stand out? My brother is an alumnus, and I have admiration for the type of research done here, as well as the struggle of the student over the years on issues of social justice like apartheid divestment, and environmental justice movements.

What is your field of focus? I came here after years of working masonry with a pretty clear plan of studying
paleo lifeways and, specializing in writing science journals and articles in the field of archaeology. While I’m still heading in that direction, I have since become interested in writing ethnographies on subjects related to social and
environmental justice.

What do you hope to do once you graduate from UC Santa Cruz? I plan on working in CRM while pursuing a career as a writer. I very much enjoy reading science journals breaking them down into more palatable reading for the general public. Dr. Midori’s story inspires me to not give up on this goal despite my age.

What is one memorable moment that stands out for you as a student here? I was really excited the first time I got great feedback from a professor on a paper I wrote about the relevance of anthropological focus on culture. I was not happy with it when I turned it in, and thought I may have been overly critical of the theoretical perspectives we were focusing on in class. Turns out, critical is encouraged at UCSC.

What is your one piece of advice for incoming students about life at UC Santa Cruz? If you feel overwhelmed when they get here, for whatever reason, reach out to your peers, the students here are supportive, they know your struggle, and they know what it takes to get through the quarter system. (The quarter system goes by pretty fast, get in a time management routine that works for you and stay with it.)

How will this scholarship impact your academic life /research? While the money will be very helpful, as I’m taking tough classes over the summer, it’s the motivational factor of being recognized by Dr. Midori’s fund, that will most significantly impact me going forward. I owe it to Midori, not just to see this through, but to get published in my sixties. When I do, I’ll light a candle in her honor. Count on it.