Matthew Okoro came to UCI and the School of Social Sciences from Buena Park High School to play basketball on scholarship. And since starting his Economics degree in 1999, play basketball he did. But along the way to his graduation, Matthew, or Matt as he prefers, is getting an education he hadn’t anticipated.

Not only does the six-foot seven-inch forward play on a basketball team that tied its conference two years in a row during Matt’s sophomore and junior years, but traveling with the team gave Matt his first airplane ride as well as his first chance to see other parts of the US and Canada. Matt enjoyed a team trip to Vancouver and Victoria Island, Canada in the summer, but his visits to Green Bay, Wisconsin and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during winter weather taught Matt he was a true Southern Californian. “It was really cold,” he says. “I couldn’t live there.” His informal education was also enhanced by his close quarters with his teammates, a few of whom were from outside the area and country—one from the Czech Republic, another from Australia.

Anticipating his BA in Economics from the School of Social Sciences in June 2004, Matt says that his major is challenging. But being quantitative, or, as he puts it, a “math person,” he enjoyed his classes. Frequent team travel, usually from Wednesday to Sunday, meant missing classes and traveling with assignments and books, but Matt successfully juggled academic requirements from the road. “It took a lot of communication with my professors,” he says, “but it all worked out.”

During summer breaks Okoro taught on campus in the four basketball camps offered to boys and girls from the community, aged 6 to 16. “It was great fun teaching little kids,” Matt says. He particularly enjoyed the tournaments they put on that helped the children learn basic basketball skills.

In his senior year, Matt completed an internship at a financial services company that specializes in insurance, mortgages, and investments. “It taught me so much about handling money,” he says. “It was an incredible experience.” He also says that it was a perfect way to top off his studies in economics at the School of Social Sciences.

Although Matt has not decided on his specific career path, he is excited about graduating with the solid foundation provided by the School of Social Sciences and perusing new opportunities. Whatever those prospects may be, Matt is sure they’ll be in California—hopefully in the warmth of Southern California, but he is open to San Francisco as well.

“UCI has been great, but it’s gone by so fast,” Matt laments. In thinking back from 1999 to the present he says, “UCI has grown a lot while I was here. Each year the school improved academically. My classes got better and better, and my fellow students were really bright. Also, there’s been constant construction on campus—from housing to recreation centers to parking facilities to classrooms.”

The internal and external transformations of the University clearly impress him. “I’ll be proud to be an alumnus of the School of Social Sciences and of UCI,” he says. And it’s our bet that Matt’s own transformations will be making impressions throughout his career.

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