About Me
Greetings....I am Dr. Matt Gilchrist. I hope that this website will both serve as a means of you learning a little bit more about me, as well as serving as a portfolio for what I've done. For my students and student athletes, I hope this also to serve as a means of reference for topics of study.
I was born in New York City, and although I have been in Northern Virginia since I was 8, as they say..."once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker." We are a special breed, I assure you. That being said, I love Northern Virginia, and all it has to offer. I grew up here, and my family is here. The only thing that could make me leave would be....traffic. And even then, you would find me moving south, to the simplicity (maybe) of North Carolina.
Currently, I live in Centreville, Virginia, having lived for the majority of my life in Vienna, where my mother, Jane Bradford, still lives, with my stepfather, Arn. I have one older brother, Andrew, who lives in Chappaqua, NY, with his wife, Angela, and one younger sister, Sarah Corwin, who lives in Herndon, VA with her husband, Sean. I attended George C. Marshall HS, in Falls Church, VA, graduating in 1991.
I have become, some say, a career student. I have been in higher education, almost continuously, since graduating. I earned my B.A. from Gettysburg College, in 1995, in Criminal Justice. At that point, I thought a legal career was in the works. Upon graduation, though, I found that working in a law firm bored me, whereas I was turned on to coaching track, thanks to my best friend and former coach, Barry Mensh. I started coaching track in 1995, and have not looked back since. As a result, I found myself inspired by the experience of giving back to teenagers, athletically and intellectually. I loved the experience of helping someone to see past their limits, learn something new, setting goals, and helping them reach them, surpassing their limits. I decided to follow my friend into a career in education.
I have since earned three Master's degrees in Education. I earned my inital degree in Secondary Education, with a specialization in Social Studies. This helped me get my first teaching job, at Chantilly High School. I was hired to teach special education, something at that time (2000) I had never thought about. I went back to school, and earned a 2nd M. Ed degree in Special Education. I learned alot about my field, and how I could employ different tools to improve my teaching.
Thinking that I was through with the Graduate School of Education, I embarked upon my doctorate in Sports Management, in the fall of 2003. I was excited about learning about sports, a field of which I have alot of passion. I felt like it was one of the first times I was undertaking a degree program simply for the love of learning, and not necessarily motivated by career potential. While I have since considered possible applications for my career, that is not what sparked me. I was intrigued by the challenge, and relished the studies, which I completed this past spring, 2007.
In conjunction with my doctoral program, I undertook a number of courses in the Graduate School of Education, Ed. Leadership program. In my studies of human resources, I wanted to learn more about how to apply my learning in an academic environment, which I did. I decided that I would complete the entire degree program, which I am doing with this course. I feel like I have learned about education, now, from the standpoint of the teacher, the adminstrator, and indeed, the researcher.
I am intrigued by a number of things, but my passion, besides teaching and coaching, is writing, and it is my next goal to write a book. I am intrigued by the scandals of drug abuse in sport, especially in terms of cycling, for which I have had a passion since I was young. I hope to research the affect of Americans in cycling, over the past quarter-century, as well as the affects of drugs in the pro ranks, and hopefully produce a piece of work worth publishing. Who knows what's next...this is just where I have been.
My Favorites
I have a number of interests. I am a sports junkie, but I also love to read. I like movies; my quirk is that I check the box office reports every week, to see where current films rank on the all-time box office charts. I grew up involved in music, and my preferences range from country, to rock, to classical to 1980's pop/rock/Top 40. My interest in statistics also has led me to follow the Billboard charts on a weekly basis, since I was in junior high school (we all have our guilty pleasures, right?)
Favorite Music
- Anything by Bruce Springsteen...the past, present & future of rock n' roll!!!!
- Country- Mainly contemporary...current favorites include Sara Evans, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson,Faith Hill...among others.
- 1980's Top 40- Someone told me recently that songs I grew up listening to is now..."classic rock"...I thought that was reserved to the music from the 1960's & 70s
- Old favorites include Billy Joel, John Cougar Mellencamp & Bon Jovi..still great after all these years.
Favorite Sports
- I have been a cycling fanatic since 1986...my all-time favorites are Andy Hampsten, and I followed Lance Armstrong since he was a rookie. While I have been intrigued by the growth of Americans over the last quarter century, I am troubled by the drug scandals which rock my sport.
- A huge NY Knicks fan...Patrick Ewing is one of the least appreciated (future) Hall of Famers in NBA history. Current management may be suspect, but I am still a fan.
- Like the Knicks, I am a Washington Redskins fan (they are mismanaged too). I have appreciated their tradition since I was young....Joe Gibbs is as close to God as an NFL coach could be....what happened to great players like Darrel Green, Art Monk, Charles Mann, Gary Clark, etc...superstars committed only to winning.
- I can't watch baseball everynight, but I generally follow the standings and the stats. I am both a NY Mets fan (NL) and a Baltimore Orioles fan (AL)..both have been terrible over the years, with intermingled greatness. I root for the Yankees only when Mike Mussina pitches...I am a huge Cal Ripken fan....one of the true gentlemen in all of sport...and example of how to be a sportsman...the right way.
- I have recently started to follow NASCAR...not a bad sport, if you can pick a driver to follow. My favorite is Mark Martin....the greatest underdog in NASCAR history...4 times runner up w/out ever winning the title.
- Go Georgetown Hoyas....kings of the BIG MAN tradition...Ewing, Mourning, Mutombo, Harrington, Sweetney...ROY HIBBERT!!!!
OTHER INTERESTS
I genuinely have alot of interests, and I love to read non-fiction. My lists are fairly thematic...I will read several books on a subject of current interest. Those themes recently have included:
- Drugs in cycling and baseball
- Criminology- especially reflections on prison life
- Assassinations of Abraham Lincoln & JFK
- Tales of Cycling History
- NBA History
- Various Running Books..."Once a Runner" may be my favorite book of all time.
I hope this gives you a little view into what interests occupy my mind on a regular basis. This is by no means all-encompassing....but maybe it gives you a basic idea of who I am.