Citizenship Through Acedemic Exploration

     Citizenship is a difficult concept to quantify. In order to be considered a citizen, must a person fit a certain physical description? Should they speak a certain language, or subscribe to a specific set of beliefs? I would argue that these are not the true criteria for citizenship, but instead that a personal stake in the community and purposeful effort to improve it are the true criteria for citizenship. These are not difficult standards to meet. As a member of a community, you very likely hold a personal stake, as its improvement or decline will directly affect you, and improvements come in many different forms, from picking up a piece of trash as you walk, to voting for a bill you think would make life better, to creating more efficient technology.

     The most interesting and beneficial way to contribute to the community in my opinion is working to advance academics and science. Improvements in these fields have the potential to benefit not only the relatively small communities (anything from countries down), but the entire planet in both tangible and abstract ways. On the small scale, tangible advancements in defense technology, manufacturing, and resource acquisition help to make our country more secure and prosperous, while abstract motion in philosophy and ethics are making us question our laws and even rewrite them in the interest of equality and changing morals. On the large scale, advancements in medicine, genetic engineering, and environmental science are saving lives, eradicating diseases., feeding the poor, and pushing the world towards a more sustainable way of life. Research into geology and physics are helping us all to understand how our world was formed, how to better predict and prepare for natural disasters, and to travel through space to other worlds.

      How you contribute, and even how large the impact of your contributions are is mostly unimportant. What matters is that you care enough for the community to make the effort.

Meet Matthew

 Meet Matthew

   I'm Matthew Hammons, an engineering student at Glendale Community College. I started this college thing recently, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far. I have always loved learning, and am a repository for a wide array of mostly useless information. I spend a large portion of my free time reading articles on anything from current events to animal trivia. I also read books so quickly that I often end up exhausting the list of books I want to read. I listen to almost any music, other than country, though my favorites are rock. Lately I've been addicted to the musical Hamilton. If you haven't heard it, it's on Spotify for free, and it's well worth the time and effort. It doubles as a crash course on one of the most important yet underappreciated founding fathers, as well as the formation of the United States. Other than all that, I build computes for my friends, cook pretty well, enjoy working with my hands, and love my dog Loki way too much.

 

Look at that cute punk. How could you not love him?

 
   I left high school in 2007, and enlisted in the Army. Originally I only meant to do four years and then go to college, but I turned out to be a very good soldier. I was a metalworker by trade, and quickly rose through the ranks, achieving the rank of Sergeant after only two and a half years, and the rank of Staff Sergeant in just six and a half years. In this time I deployed twice to Afghanistan, lived in six states (mostly Alaska and North Carolina), as well as spending decent amounts of time in a few more states and seven countries. I finally decided it was time to get out after eight years and some health problems to pursue my education. I am happy to be a civilian again, and I only miss a few things. I miss the people I worked with and lead, Alaska, and jumping out of aircraft.

   That's enough about me for now. I look forward to getting to know all of you a little better and learning from you. I hope we can have some good discussions, and become better people because of them.