Matthew Richer

Student

Matthew Richer is already familiar with Bay College – a few years ago, he was a student and an athlete at Bay. Now, Matthew is preparing to return to the College during its upcoming fall 2022 semester.

A Bark River native, Matthew graduated from high school in 2018. He signed up for classes at Bay that fall and said he decided to apply for a few different reasons.

“It was close to home, and I was able to play baseball for the Bay College Norse,” he said.

According to Matthew, he greatly enjoyed studying at Bay – due in large part to the College’s attentive instructors.

“I think Bay has really good teachers. They go in-depth and care about their students,” he said.

Along with his classes, he was glad to have a chance to be on Bay’s baseball team.

“It was fun – I met a lot of new people and getting to play baseball on the college level was a great experience,” Matthew said.

However, Matthew did not graduate from Bay at this time. Around the start of the winter 2020 semester, he decided to take a break from his education and focus on other matters.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I went out and worked and tried to figure out what I wanted,” he said.

In early 2022, Matthew decided to give Bay a shot once again. Driven by his desire to enter a career path that would be suitable for him, he plans to resume his college education during the fall 2022 semester.

“I’d rather do a job that I like instead of doing random jobs,” he said.

While he first attended Bay, Matthew majored in criminal justice. As he gets ready to come back to Bay, he has switched gears and plans to focus on physical therapy instead.

“I like working out, and that’s a program where you can help people build their strength back up after sustaining injuries,” he said.

Although he had not previously spent much time studying physical therapy, he did have some connections to this practice.

“I know a few people who went into that field. It’s something I’ve been interested in for a long time,” Matthew said.

While he has thought about transferring to another university to pursue a full degree in physical therapy, Matthew said he is weighing his options after Bay. Still, he appreciates having a place near his hometown where he can take time to consider his next move.

“I’m going to try to do a full year here, and then figure out where to go from there,” he said.