Matt Kang
Whether at Exeter’s radio station, ESSO clubs or proctoring in Main Street Hall, senior Matt Kang is known for working above and beyond his roles in the community. With characteristic humility, Kang credits the multitude of Exeter experiences and people he met here for transforming him “little by little.”
From a young age, Kang’s father stressed the importance of community service to him and his brother. Kang described his experiences in New York City—where his father would take them to pick up baskets of canned food for delivery to homeless shelters—as formative. “And we didn’t just drop off the food and leave,” says Kang. “We talked with families or with individual people face to face.” Kang continued his service in Manhattan for the past three summers with Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, a non-profit that collects leftover food for delivery to shelters and relief organizations, where he manages their website and coordinates volunteer events.
Kang’s passion for volunteering carried over into his time at Exeter. He is on the ESSO board as a co-director of communications with Senior Jaime Romero, and he enjoys working with fellow students as co-head of the ESSO Beach Cleanup club, an environmental club that clears debris from the nearby Seabrook Beach. Kang is known for his Hawaiian shirts and goggles, which he uses to foster enthusiasm for the cleanup club and attract new members. As a director of ESSO communications, Kang works with social media and marketing for the board. Senior Grace Gray, fellow board member of ESSO, said, “Matt is an awesome component of ESSO. Without his dedication, energy, and talent for designing awesome posters and other marketing tools, ESSO certainly wouldn’t be the same.”
His love of service extends to his class and dorm-mates as well. “His willingness and ability to provide a voice of reason in times of need, whether it be as a proctor or student leader for official decisions or for a friend who may have personal issues, has shaped him into the universally loved and appreciated person that he is,” said friend and fellow senior Jimmy Liu. Euwie Park, who participates in several activities with Kang, also spoke to Kang’s selflessness towards his friends. “Since he is not a high-strung person, I can just ask him to do random things like go to Hannafords or watch SNL in Grill,” she said, and added that “he almost always says yes.”
Park also mentioned that Kang’s love for learning is a forefront aspect of his personality. “He is one of the few people on campus that genuinely loves learning. I’ll call him at two in the morning and he’ll be reading an article online to learn more about something he read about for history.” Instructor in History Kent McConnell said that Kang “is wonderful to have in class.”
“Matt is someone I genuinely enjoy conversing with as he regularly asks interesting questions about a topic,” said McConnell. He pointed specifically to Kang’s inquisitive nature as a quality that has contributed greatly to his classes. “It is a genuine curiosity which makes all the difference in the world as an instructor.”
It is this curiosity that led Kang to become involved with the Academy’s radio station WPEA, and he is now a board member and production manager of the station. After joining the board his lower year, Kang continues to work as the Production Director, recording promotionals for each show and regularly attending board meetings. He has also worked to coordinate faculty radio shows by providing them with the resources necessary. In describing Kang’s amazing work ethic, senior Maddie Moon said that “he always volunteers to do things no other board member will do and does so much behind-the-scenes work we aren’t always aware he’s doing.” She added that Kang “always knows what to say in hard situations, acts as a mediator and voice of reason and is an extremely good listener.”
Kang sits on the Student Alumni Relations (STARS) council. The students serve as a liaison between the student body, the advancement office and the Exeter alumni body. “I love talking to the alums,” Kang says about his time on the STARS council. “To me Exeter has changed, but when the alums talk about Exeter, what it means to people, I don’t think it’s changed a lot.” He noted that for all Exonians, past and present, “[Exeter] is the place where you’ve formed yourself, and I feel like that’s really something that I’ve found to be really true in my experience.”
As a student representative on the Discipline Committee, Kang helps review and discuss major discipline cases. Senior Gillian Quinto, a fellow DC member, appreciates Kang’s work on the cases. “Matt is very thoughtful when he speaks and spends a lot of time listening to the student and subsequent discussion before chiming in with his own views,” Quinto said.
Kang also enjoys golf, although he chose not to join the Exeter team. “I was going to come to Exeter to play golf, but I feel like the people you meet here can have a lasting impact on you,” he said. He never would have considered himself a fitness person, but Will Ettinger ‘16, then a senior and a proctor in his dorm, introduced him to the Workout Club of which he is now co-head. Kang also manages girls’ varsity field hockey, which has been a great experience for both the players and him. “We love having him there, and he’s at every game,” lower Julia Norsworthy said. “He’s funny and great to talk to when we’re not playing. He’s positive and a great person to be around.”
Kang credits Ettinger with getting him to “take that first step” in becoming involved in Exeter’s student life. Ettinger encouraged him to attend Club Night the first few weeks of school, and his persistence in encouraging Kang to accompany him to the gym led Kang to an interest in fitness. Appreciating that Ettinger, a senior at the time, took such an interest in him as a prep, inspired Kang to become a proctor in Main Street. “Knowing that if I can do that for at least one person [what Ettinger did for me] is an amazing opportunity.” Ettinger commented that Kang “has been a big part of the small group of friends I’ve kept since leaving [Exeter],” and he singles out Kang’s humility and maturity as attributes that helped Kang get along with older students. “In a high pressure environment such as Exeter, it can be tough to find humble people; Matt always broke that mold,” Ettinger said.
As for his future, Kang says that he will take things “step by step,” much in the same way that he did not have a formal, set plan when he first came to Exeter. “I feel like that has allowed me to find certain things that I wouldn’t have done otherwise,” he said. Friends see a bright future for Kang. As Ettinger half-jokingly noted, “I can say with relative certainty that we’ll all be working for [Matt] one day.”