Matthew is a freshman studying Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is from Palatine, Illinois and has lived in Wisconsin and Illinois for most of his life. Matthew competed in Congressional Debate his freshman and sophomore years of high school and he public forum debate his junior and senior year of high school, placing at many tournaments on the Illinois local circuit. During his senior year, he coached for William Fremd High School helping two novice teams become public forum co-champions.