{"id":7900,"date":"2024-10-03T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/?p=7900"},"modified":"2025-08-18T11:56:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T18:56:31","slug":"student-spotlight-matthew-wethington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/2024\/10\/03\/student-spotlight-matthew-wethington\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Spotlight: Matthew Wethington"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"breadcrumbs\" typeof=\"BreadcrumbList\" vocab=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/\">\r\n\t<!-- Breadcrumb NavXT 7.2.0 -->\n<span property=\"itemListElement\" typeof=\"ListItem\"><a property=\"item\" typeof=\"WebPage\" title=\"Go to Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture.\" href=\"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/\" class=\"main-home\" ><span property=\"name\">Voiland College<\/span><\/a><meta property=\"position\" content=\"1\"><\/span><span property=\"itemListElement\" typeof=\"ListItem\"><a property=\"item\" typeof=\"WebPage\" title=\"Go to Voiland College Student Success.\" href=\"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\" class=\"home\" aria-current=\"page\"><span property=\"name\">Voiland College Student Success<\/span><\/a><meta property=\"position\" content=\"2\"><\/span><\/div><header class=\"wsu-article-header \">\r\n\t<h1 class=\"wsu-article-header__title\">\r\n\t\tStudent Spotlight: <br>Matthew Wethington\t<\/h1>\r\n\t\t<\/header>\r\n\n\n\n<p>What makes Washington State University&#8217;s Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture stand out from the crowd for those looking to get a degree?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We ask civil engineering major Matthew Wethington for his thoughts on what makes WSU such a special place.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\" wsu-overlap wsu-spacing-after--xxmedium\">\r\n\t<div class=\"wsu-overlap__container\">\r\n\t\t\n<div class=\" wsu-overlap__column\">\r\n    <div class=\"wsu-overlap__column-inner\">\r\n        \n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized wsu-image--style-framed\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vcea\/uploads\/sites\/3466\/2024\/09\/matthew-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Matthew Wethington.\" class=\"wp-image-7888\" width=\"559\" height=\"399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vcea\/uploads\/sites\/3466\/2024\/09\/matthew-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vcea\/uploads\/sites\/3466\/2024\/09\/matthew-396x283.jpg 396w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vcea\/uploads\/sites\/3466\/2024\/09\/matthew-792x566.jpg 792w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vcea\/uploads\/sites\/3466\/2024\/09\/matthew-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vcea\/uploads\/sites\/3466\/2024\/09\/matthew-1536x1097.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vcea\/uploads\/sites\/3466\/2024\/09\/matthew-2048x1463.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-vcea\/uploads\/sites\/3466\/2024\/09\/matthew-198x141.jpg 198w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 559px) 100vw, 559px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n    <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n<div class=\" wsu-overlap__column  wsu-overlap--surface-column wsu-overlap--overlap-xxmedium\">\r\n    <div class=\"wsu-overlap__column-inner\">\r\n        \n\n<div style=\"height:70px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer wsu-hide--tablet\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-container wsu-dropshadow--medium wsu-color-background--white wsu-spacing-top--xmedium wsu-spacing-padding-right--xmedium wsu-spacing-padding-left--xmedium wsu-spacing-bottom--sxxsmall\" >\r\n    \n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Major:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/degrees.wsu.edu\/degree\/civil-engineering\/\">Civil Engineering<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Expected Date of Graduation:<\/strong> December 2024<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>High School:<\/strong> Palisade High School<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hometown:<\/strong> Palisade, CO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\n\t<\/div> \r\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading wsu-font-size--large\">What made you decide to attend WSU? Why did you choose your major?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I decided to attend Washington State University because I felt right at home the minute I arrived in Pullman. I had previously visited other schools but as soon as I visited WSU the choice was clear. I loved the town of Pullman and knew that I would make many tight knit friendships at WSU. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I chose my major because I had a passion for math and science when I was in high school and chose civil engineering in particular because it provides so many opportunities and so many different sub disciplines to pursue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading wsu-font-size--large\">What scholarships do you have? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I was awarded the Distinguished Cougar Award, the Bhagat Endowed Scholarship, the Ralph and Gladys Waller Lowry Scholarship, and the Keith Lamb Endowed Scholarship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading wsu-font-size--large\">Please share how scholarships or financial aid has impacted you as a student<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As a first generation college student, scholarships and financial aid have made my dreams a reality. Without the scholarships that I have received from the WSU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering I am unsure if I would have made it this far and be as close to obtaining my degree as I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading wsu-font-size--large\">What have you learned during your time at WSU, that will help you most in your future?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The most important skill that I am walking away from WSU with is problem solving. Through my years at WSU I have come to realize that my classes have equipped me with the problem solving skills that I need to tackle any problem rather than just learning the material. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After graduation, it is unlikely that I will be seeing many of the topics that I learned in school again but the problem solving skills that I developed along the way are extremely valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading wsu-font-size--large\">What advice do you have for fellow or prospective students?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My advice for prospective students it to get involved and put yourself out there as much as you can. I am usually very introverted but putting myself out there and getting involved has helped immensely with finding internships and is one of the biggest reasons why I was able to find a job for after graduation so easily. Getting involved in activities on campus such as clubs, student jobs, intramural sports, etc. is so important and I urge everyone to do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matthew Wethington is a civil engineering student graduating in December 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44070,"featured_media":7888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[570],"tags":[594],"wsuwp_university_location":[332],"wsuwp_university_org":[499,443],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7900"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44070"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7900"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9111,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7900\/revisions\/9111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7900"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=7900"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vcea.wsu.edu\/student-success\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=7900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}