Miami Was a Real Gift: Video Transcript

Jeanne Matson (Miami, 1973) [President and CEO of StarNet Commercial Flooring Cooperative]: I feel very fortunate that I chose Miami, and, it's funny, because I didn't go through an exhaustive process. I knew it was a good school. I knew I wanted to go to a state school. I knew it had a beautiful campus, but I never saw the campus until I arrived here as a freshman. And I felt that it was a real gift for me. My years here, my four years at Miami, were truly some of the best years of my life. And the friends I made and the experiences I had were very, very special, and my friends are still my friends today, which is a great thing to be able to say so many years later.

And, I felt that, as with every student, those four years were that time that I grew up, that I became an independent person, that I learned to stand on my own without my parents' support. But, yet, it was a very happy, relaxed, good time. And I cherish those memories. And when I come back here, it's just like returning home and it's a great feeling.

I think it's a shame if people who graduated from Miami forget about Miami or move on in their lives and don't either financially support the school or in some way engage with the school. We all were very fortunate to have the experience we've had, and I think that it keeps it alive to come back here and be part of Miami again. And, when you do this type of video, you don't know who is going to see it and who is going to watch it, but hopefully people that I haven't seen in a very long time might see it and might say, "Gee, maybe I'd like to have that experience, too."

[September 2011]