By HILLARY KELLEY
Features Editor
A charming foreign accent isn’t all Matthew Metzger has going for him.
Metzger, an international student hailing from New Zealand, is currently attending Piedmont as a sophomore engineering physics major. Metzger previously studied for a year at the University of Auckland, some 8,167 miles away from Demorest.
“I always wanted to be a doctor and go into medicine, but I was also always really good at math,” said Metzger.
“So, the engineering side of medicine is what I enjoyed.”
He is also a double threat in the athletic department as he plays tennis and soccer for the men’s teams.
Metzger sent a tape of himself playing sports to an agent in New Zealand known for connecting international athletes to colleges and universities. Metzger was then contacted by the soccer and tennis coaches at Piedmont and is preparing for the upcoming tennis season now.
Adjusting to the small class sizes of Piedmont was a major difference for him, but getting adjusted to his new teammates seemed easy enough.
“They’re all very welcoming, and I think I get along with all of them,” said Metzger.“Though I haven’t met all of the soccer team yet since its not soccer season yet.”
Metzger arrived to Demorest the night before classes started without having registered for classes or having gathered the college essentials like bedding. This rocky start didn’t deter him, even though he ended up spending his first night in a sleeping bag with a borrowed pillow.
As for his plans for school breaks and summer vacation, Metzger would like to get a job, but is under the restraints of his visa.
“If I can’t organize something over here, I’ll go back to New Zealand for the summer,” said Metzger.
“But it’s winter over there, so back to the winter [and] to more freezing cold.”
While here, Metzger aims to experience as much as he can. And after a few years at Piedmont, he plans to continue his education by pursuing biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech.