PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (August 11, 2021) – “Work hard. Be kind. Stay humble.” Mya Matthews heeded her own advice during her time at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU). She now gives that same advice to students who will follow her and graduate from PVAMU.
Mya Matthews
“I can say I’ve enjoyed living here,” said Matthews. “I’ve definitely lived the full college experience. I got to do pretty much everything.” She pledged Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority, took an internship in the Alumni Affairs Office and had fun while excelling. Matthews is not the first, nor will she be the last graduate to say that “Prairie View Produces Productive People” is more than a slogan.
“Our student body is unmatched,” she said. “The energy and love for the school that our students have is beautiful. On my first day on campus, freshman move-in day, I fell in love with Prairie View. I love the fact that our students handle their business. You can see someone at a field party having fun one night, and the next day you will see them in a three-piece suit with a portfolio in hand.”
It’s something Matthews is taking with her as she begins her next step. “I feel more than prepared for the workforce,” Matthews said. “It honestly wasn’t even the classwork that prepared me; it was the student body. Just being around other people who wanted better inspired me to do better.”
The next step, for Matthews, is teaching math and science to fourth graders at Pat Neff Elementary School in Houston. She won the position (three hours after her interview, no less) after learning about the Teach for America program from her line sister, Shaylin. Teach for America has trained her and helped her gain her certification over the past six months, and she’s excited about her first classroom experience.
“I personally haven’t sat in a classroom and received instruction face to face since January of 2020, so I look forward to being in an actual classroom with my students,” Matthews said. “I miss it so much because I love being a student!”
From Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Matthews is getting a B.A. in music with a concentration in piano, after starting as a percussionist who played with the concert band and some wind ensembles. She also leaves PVAMU with a minor in mass communications, but her first love remains music.
“In the long term, I would like to be a music teacher, more specifically, a band director. I have always been in some type of ensemble, and I love everything about the band lifestyle,” Matthews said. “I’m open to teaching anything: band, choir, lessons, whatever. I think the biggest thing was just getting into a school. Now that I’ve been hired, I can maneuver my way through the music program. I told them I would do it for free because I just enjoy music that much.”
Matthews said there’s no shortage of people to whom she owes leaving college with a clear idea of what she wants to do, including her line sisters and Associate Professor and Collaborative Pianist Vicki Seldon, who she said “definitely” took her under her wing. But especially as a first-generation college student, she said no one deserves credit for inspiring and helping her more than her parents, Levi and Charlotte Matthews.
“This would not at all have been possible without them,” she said. “Being a first-generation college graduate means the world to me, and nothing at the same time. It means the world to me because of the sacrifices I had to make to get here. However, it still means nothing to me because I am no different from the rest of my family. This doesn’t make me better than them; I am here because they fought to give me this opportunity.”
By Andrew Cohen
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