Learning to help others
While Mattera's high school may not have provided him with the most extensive knowledge of undergraduate education, it did instill in him many of the values that define who he is today. "I think that [high school] was pretty formative in the way I see things," Mattera said. "It was a high school that stressed service a lot because it was a Jesuit high school. The motto was 'men for others,' and community service was an official part of the curriculum."
Because of this instruction, Mattera resolved to seek a profession where he could assist others. "It influenced my outlook on life," he said. "It gave me the sense that whatever I do I want to do something outward reaching, help people."
And with this desire to effect change, Mattera embarked on his college journey.
Experiencing diversity
Coming to Amherst was an adjustment. "My high school was really homogenous, and it was really close-minded on certain levels," Mattera described. "Here, I was just blown away. It wasn't just students from all over the U.S. but from other countries as well." This diversity truly delighted Mattera. "One of the greatest things I've taken away ... is the people themselves," he explained. "Your fellow students are such a great resource. They have different scales and different specialties. Everybody here has something, is so talented, you can't really keep track of them."
At Amherst, Mattera was excited to enroll in political science and economics classes, to be "able to take classes in disciplines I couldn't take in high school." A focus on political science, however, wasn't his original intent. "I came [to Amherst] planning on majoring in English, but then when I got here I took the message of service [I received from] my high school into account," he said. Mattera decided that he could benefit society more by majoring in economics and political science. "I started reading more newspapers and taking more poli. sci. and econ. classes, and I wanted to do something with more social impact," he explained. "I felt those [majors] were more pressing to things happening in society than English." The combination of political science and economics seemed the perfect fit for Mattera.
One of Mattera's principle goals upon entering Amherst was to learn a new language. Growing up in a bilingual family and making frequent trips to Argentina as a young child, he had a background in Spanish. He also had four years of high-school French. When making the transition to Amherst, he opted to pursue a slightly different course. "Coming to Amherst I wanted to learn a non-romance language," he said. He decided upon Japanese, which he has continued to study throughout his time here.
Asian Language and Civilizations Professor Wako Tawa said, "Gabe is one of those rare people who have learned Japanese, known to be one of the most difficult languages for English speakers, to a very high proficiency level without ever going to Japan."
Amazing opportunities
Though he admits he would have liked to do more service work during the academic year, Mattera has sought ways to be involved in the community outside of Amherst. During his freshman year, he found an Interterm internship to suit his desires by serving an underprivileged community. He participated in the Urban Education Program in New York City, working in a junior high school in Harlem with a social studies and English teacher. Mattera learned many valuable personal lessons from this experience. "I gained perspective," he said. "I found that teaching is probably the hardest profession in the world. Even though I was only an assistant and only there part-time, I came back exhausted everyday."
Nevertheless, Mattera is still toying with idea of teaching as a possible second career. "I like the idea of teaching and influencing kids and helping them find out more about themselves and what they want out of life," he explained. "Through the Urban Education Program I learned how hard the life of a teacher is and how much influence they really have on the lives of children."
The Urban Education Internship afforded Mattera with an opportunity to directly impact the lives of others; however, he also engaged in indirect assistance. The summer after his freshman year, he returned to the lab he had worked in the previous two summers. Though not a science major at the College, Mattera received intensive science training. His research pertained to malaria and geographic medicine. He explained that malaria kills over one million people annually, many of whom are children. An effective, cheap drug had been developed to combat the disease; however the parasite quickly developed a resistance to it. Mattera spent the summer running experiments, doing bench work in order to attempt to isolate the mutations that allowed the parasite to develop resistance.
Though Mattera found the work highly satisfying, he also admitted to feeling a little frustration at times. "This kind of research is very small-scale," he explained. "The goal is, of course, to improve understanding of malaria and one day hopefully develop a better means to combat it. As one researcher, however, you're formulating a small piece of the puzzle, and I found it hard to see the bigger picture." Despite this, however, Mattera expresses a profound respect for the work of scientific research.
By the end of the summer, Mattera was looking forward to returning to Amherst and all the opportunities at the College. Freshman year he had a jazz radio show and he began tae kwon do. Sophomore year, Mattera dabbled in the literary arts, as co-editor-in-chief of The Indicator with Phil Maciak '05. "Phil and I were a great team," Mattera reminisced. "He handled the humor and much of the editing, and I worked a lot more on the layout of the magazine, getting the formatting down, making sure the magazine looks nice." Nonetheless, there were challenges in the role. "Criticizing people's writing is really hard," he said. "You have to learn to make changes that keep the original voice of the piece intact but also correct any confusing parts, all without offending the person whose writing you are editing." Overall, Mattera found the experience to be extremely rewarding.
Then, during Interterm, Mattera was able to expand his horizons further, as he participated in the Five College Tibetan Studies Program. The program sends Five-College students on an intensive on-site cultural study in northeastern India. The most compelling experience of the trip occurred during a visit to Bodh Gaya, the most holy site in Buddhism. "We were there during pilgrimage season," Mattera described. "Crowds of Buddhists from all over the region were crowding around the site to witness a tantric initiation (initiation into a certain manner of praying or meditating) presided over by the Dalai Lama."
One exciting school break was followed by another. After his sophomore year, Mattera traveled to Germany as a participant in the Humanity in Action program. "We studied the history of human rights issues in Western Europe," he said. "The end of the Second World War was the genesis of human rights organizations." He studied the Holocaust, the Cold War and divided Germany and present-day Germany. The program concluded with an American student being paired with a German student to write a research paper.
During the first semester of his junior year, Mattera served his class as a senator in the Association of Amherst Students (AAS). "The first semester I was there was an era of heavy-hitters ... Mihailis [Diamantis '04], Luke [Swarthout '04] and Lincoln [Mayor '04]," Mattera recalled. "I learned a lot about 'Robert's Rules of Order' and how to put opinions forward effectively."
Mattera decided to spend second semester at Oxford University. He recalled the comical faux pas resulting from various British expressions. The night before meeting a friend of his for breakfast, when arranging for a wake-up call, the female friend told him, "I'll just come over and knock you up in the morning." After a moment's shock at the response, Mattera figured out what she had meant. While Mattera adjusted to many cultural differences, one adjustment he failed to make was that of cars driving on the wrong side of the road.
After an exciting semester in England, Mattera returned to the States for a busy summer. Students for Educational Opportunity (SEO) placed him with a position as a summer financial analyst at Goldman Sachs in San Francisco. "I'd always been curious about business and finance," Mattera said. "I learned a ton about the market and what office professional life is like." Mattera's duties entailed compiling prospect books for clients and looking for new potential clients for the firm. As is traditional with such positions, Mattera worked long hours, waking up at 4:30 every morning because the market opens at 9 a.m. in New York City, which is 6 a.m. in California. Getting up early did not mean going home early, however, and the typical conclusion of the day occurred at 7 p.m. As a result, Mattera said, "I gained a lot of respect for the financial world and how it operates."
After working such ridiculous hours, Mattera was ready to return to the college schedule. Senior year entailed writing an economics thesis about the effect of business associations on economic growth. "More specifically, asking how is it that businesses influence government policy," he said, synthesizing his two major interests at the College.
In addition to satisfying his academic rigors, he served as a Peer Career Advisor in the Career Center. This position really enabled him to fulfill the motto of his high school. "I really enjoyed this position," he said. "I can help not only other people but also my friends. ... You feel like you're helping people out in a really concrete way."
Looking forward
As Mattera looks to the future, he sees himself working directly with others. His overarching interest lies in development economics, the area of economics that works with developing countries to deal with issues such as improving living standards, boosting economic growth and dealing with poverty. While Mattera is interested in the theoretical perspective, he believes that a foundation must be laid in a hands-on approach to fully understanding the issues in their context. To achieve this goal, Mattera sees himself working for an NGO in Argentina, his parents' homeland, Brazil or India.
Next year, however, Mattera will return abroad, this time as a fellowship scholar. Winner of both a Fulbright and a Keasbey, Mattera recently chose to accept the Keasbey. He will return to England, where he will spend two years studying economics and economic development.
Directing his ambitions is the following sagacious notion: "You have to prepare yourself and know yourself well before you can help other people," he said. During his time at Amherst, Mattera has learned a lot about himself and the world around him. He hopes to continue this process next year in England. The ambition and motivation he displays made me think to myself, watch out world.