100 Years, 100 Stories

Matt Younger

Associate in Arts
Graduation Year: 2000

North Central Missouri College was one of the most important junctures of my life. I was a first-generation college student who never believed I’d be able to afford college (& in fact, I studied auto body in technical school before realizing that I had a chance at college through NCMC). My parents were skeptical of my decision to go, too poor to assist with any of the expenses, not able to give me much advice about how to succeed & we had a fairly strained relationship at the time, in general, which also wasn’t helpful.

I eventually earned an Master’s Degree in Health Systems Administration at Georgetown University & held a lot of leadership positions in healthcare & state government before becoming the CEO of the community health center where I received my healthcare as a kid, on the sliding fee scale. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last several years.

But I still remember my whole academic career starting at NCMC, as I sat across a desk from John Brandt, in Financial Aid. I was nervous about the cost & as I signed the paperwork there on campus, he explained that taking out those loans was a way of leveraging my resources to invest in a startup company called Matt Younger, LLC. He said I shouldn’t do it unless I really believed it was going to be a good investment, but if I made the most of it, it could pay dividends. He told me I’d be wise to invest both money & effort in my education early in my life, because as long as I was smart about it & took it seriously, the value would grow exponentially, just like a 401(k). So, I made the investments & he was right & I’m living a life appreciably different from that of my childhood as a result.

Ginny Wikoff, in the counseling department, helped me understand that it was ok to “agree to disagree” with my parents, even about fundamental, important things & that even having different values didn’t necessarily preclude people from being a family — & she turned out to be right, too. Ginny also introduced me to people in the community who eventually became almost additional parents for me there at college — Ed & Mary Holt, Ellen & Gary Dolan & others, who invited me into their homes, introduced me to their own kids, took me to church, bought me lunches & basically just found ways to check up on me & make sure that I was doing well. I didn’t “fall through the cracks” as a Freshman, because I couldn’t have. Too many people were holding me up.

Lucjan Mordzak, who taught Psychology & Sociology, seemed different from me in just about every regard at first & he gradually became an important mentor, as well. I was an intelligent kid with intellectual curiosity, raised in a place that hadn’t encouraged or challenged me academically & I think he saw me as sort of an immigrant to academia & almost a kindred spirit in that way — someone taking big risks, alone, in search of a better life. When he read magazine or journal articles or books that he thought were important, he saved them up gave them to me when he was finished — lots of them. He had gained weight after moving to Trenton & actually gave me his expensive suits & pants that no longer fit & they barely needed tailoring. When I graduated from NCMC, I wore them in the capitol, as an intern in Governor Holden’s office. Dr. Mordzak also introduced me to some of his friends in the health care field in Trenton, because I’d told him I ultimately wanted to work in health care somehow. One of them, a general surgeon who lived in town just briefly & whose name I can’t remember, now, let me shadow him at work. Someone from his office then introduced me to Alta Eitel, the first woman to graduate from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, who had lived in the area forever. She was still maintaining her D.O. license, in her late 80s. She & I stayed in touch & she became someone I could even help from time to time & feel like I was giving something back.

Jack Smith, who taught English & Philosophy, set high standards for his courses & the material was difficult, but he was so thorough & intelligent, I wanted to impress him. He basically introduced me to both subjects & piqued such an interest in me that I earned my B.A. in English & Philosophy & I still love both subjects. I can’t imagine my life without literature, now. Despite what some might consider my academic disadvantages, as a graduate student at a top university, I was able to successfully compete (if that’s the word for it) with my classmates, graduating with highest honors, because Dr. Smith taught me so much, so quickly, that I arrived there prepared & I wasn’t intimidated. Later, at other, more expensive schools, I couldn’t believe so many first-year students were paying more than I did to be taught by graduate students in classes so large that almost no one remembered them.

Tracy Jaynes, the Director of Residence Life, hired me as an R.A. in Ellsworth Hall during my second semester & she gradually became such a close & important friend that I traveled to her hometown near Pensacola, Florida, when she died, to speak at her memorial service & scatter her ashes in the Gulf. Her family & friends there became such close friends of mine that I’ve vacationed there more than 30 times & think of it as a second home. Not a month goes by that I don’t remember her occasional struggles with bipolar disorder, which she openly discussed with me & it gave me real empathy for many of the behavioral health patients who come to the clinics that I oversee now. Tracy had begun her own academic journey at a community college after working as a welder in her 20s. She had faith that I’d succeed in college & go far in life & that helped convince me that I could.

There were several other important people, too. As people say, there’s nothing I could do to repay any of them. At that time, I’m not sure any of us realized that the most valuable thing they gave me was the perspective I have twenty-five years later: When I recognize people today who need the kind of support & encouragement that I needed then, I want to help in some way. It’s not an ordinary charitable transaction. It’s like I’m passing on a tradition. It’s a way to honor someone’s memory. It’s like I’m keeping a small legacy alive — one that I think of as being rooted in Trenton, at NCMC, in 1998. I went there to earn a degree, but in the end, my experience of being nurtured & growing there added a whole layer of meaning to my life that’s made it richer than it ever could have been with a degree, alone.