FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Contact: Robert Preston, Jr.,
912.260.4276
robert.preston@sgc.edu
Diversity From an Unlikely Source
By
Sally Anderson
Matt Glowacki, a man of many accomplishments, enlightened a
group of South Georgia College students with his wisdom and insight during a
recent presentation at the Clower Center. His life experiences, along with
his open point of view, provide perception into the modern world and its
fallacies. What the people of today expect and what is true are completely
opposite, and Matt does an exceptional job of explaining diversity in a way
that teens can easily understand.
Matt
was mysteriously born without legs, but his physical limitation has not held
him back in any way. In addition to his renowned show, “Diversity According
to South Park,” Matt is the founder of two other successful businesses. When
he was younger, Matt went to a school dance with a young lady by the name of
Heather, who was his girlfriend at the time. However, when she refused to be
seen with him and requested that he leave, young Matt noticed, for the first
time, the DJ who was providing music for the young dancers. Matt immediately
thought, “Hey, I can do this!” The young teen left Heather at the dance and
rushed home to inform his father of the events of the evening. He requested
that his father buy DJ equipment for all the Christmases and birthdays from
then on, and his father agreed. By the time he was a senior in high school,
Matt possessed everything necessary to be a DJ. He soon had appointments and
contracts with local schools. Matt now employs two DJs and handles the
business aspects of his small music company.
Matt also has his own wheelchair company. When Matt began involving himself
in athletics, he quickly noticed severe limitations involving his
wheelchair. In order to solve this problem, Matt re-adjusted his wheelchair
to fit his specific needs. His talents, along with his insight into a
handicapped person’s needs, made him a perfect candidate for a wheelchair
designer. His company is now very well known and manufactures wheelchairs
for many elite wheelchair-bound athletes. Matt’s athletic capabilities were
developed enough to ensure him a spot on the USA Para-Olympic sit-volleyball
team, where he played for eight years. This accomplished gentleman uses his
athletic capabilities to teach veterans with newfound disabilities how to
play sports in order to boost their confidence. Matt Glowacki is an
extremely talented and gifted gentleman who pursues his dreams no matter
what the cost.
Matt’s words of wisdom were cleverly broken down into the three –isms
associated with diversity, and he supports these ideas with statistics and
current events. The most common form of physical discrimination is the
judgment of an individual based on appearance. Lookism is detrimental to
every average person in America; therefore, it is detrimental to everyone.
The only benefiting factor of lookism is the economy. Marketing strategies
target the fear, uncertainty, and doubt concerning physical appearance and
act on an individual’s insecurities. Matt’s solution to this common problem
is to be confident in who you are. When you wake up, look in the mirror and
give yourself an honest compliment, and your day will be better for it. Even
though Matt has physical limitations, he still follows his own advice and
gives himself compliments on a daily basis. He notices the looks he
sometimes receives from the people around him and blames their negative
attention on ableism, which is the discrimination of handicapped people.
Matt expects to be treated equal both socially and knowledgably. He also
deserves the same expectations as any walking person would possess. Matt
views an angry person as disabled more so than he views himself as
handicapped because an angry person’s demeanor affects both themselves and
everyone around them. Your words do not necessarily reflect your mood, but
the way you say your words can be very reflective of attitude. For instance,
the use of the “N” word was once thought to be politically correct and was
very common in literature. However, once it was used in a negative fashion,
the “N” word became illegal in New York and was thought of as being racist.
Racism is very widespread and comes in many forms such as, religion, sex,
and ethnicity. Racism is completely unfair and is seen as a form of
terrorism. In order to fight terrorism, Matt instructs us to stand up for
what is right and to share specific knowledge with others around us.
Matt Glowacki is truly an influential person, and uses his influence to
impact teens in a positive way. His references to popular television shows
and his knowledge of truth capture the attention of his audience. His humor
also aids in grabbing the attention of his audience. He is very successful
and is a true inspiration to the people of today, no matter how old they
are.
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About South Georgia College
South Georgia College (www.sgc.edu)
was founded in 1906 and is a two-year institution in the University System
of Georgia. Located in Douglas, Ga., the college's environment gives
students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close
collaboration with faculty.
