Matthew Cunningham is the City of Grinnell’s golden boy according to the Des Moines Register. For Matthew, however, being a member of the 2019 Academic All-State list is just another day in the life. With decision day falling this past Wednesday, Cunningham announced that he will be attending the University of Iowa this coming fall to major in biomedical engineering. He is also tossing around the idea of a pre-med track.
With an ACT of 36 and a GPA of 4.096, Cunningham was already an impressive applicant. He is, unsurprisingly, the top of his class while managing to be a four-year state qualifier and varsity athlete for Grinnell-Newburg High School’s cross-country team as well as the Vice President of student council. It’s safe to say that Cunningham would have a fair shot at any school, but even at the beginning of the selection process, he knew what he wanted.
“I narrowed my decision down to Iowa and Michigan rather early on in the process,” said Cunningham, “but in the end, Iowa was just the better fit for me. I spent my entire childhood living only an hour away from Iowa City, and my older brother went there, so I know the campus rather well. The University of Iowa also has a first-class hospital at its disposal, and since I want to be a biomedical engineer, it seemed like a perfect fit.”
He is aware that no matter how qualified you are, the transition from high school to college is still difficult. Instead of being able to roll out of bed and into class, Cunningham admitted that he might have to get up a little earlier in Iowa city.
Cunningham, however, should not be solely defined by his academic and athletic achievements. He is, under all the pretense, a typical high school senior. He likes Star Wars and Marvel movies and he loves music. Apparently before every track and cross-country meet, Cunningham listens to “Coloring Book” by Chance the Rapper. He, like many other current high school and college students, also tried his hand at hosting a podcast. Unfortunately, none of his friends involved had the “stage presence” to make it a smash-hit.
Cunningham also admitted that, lately, he’s gotten very into movie theories and often falls into a YouTube black hole after track or golf practice. But with just a couple weeks left of the school year, his senioritis is valid.
When asked about his local favorites, the Grinnell native recommended Dari Barn’s peanut butter shake and gave a special shout out to Pagliai’s. As is typical, he will miss his hometown next year. Luckily for Cunningham though, he’ll only be about an hour away.
As he leaves Grinnell High School, Cunningham has just one last thing to say to his peers and his community: “Don’t let your memes be dreams.”
However, if your meme content primarily consists of graduating top of your class with a 36 on your ACT, he could probably make an exception.
