You Are Here
English major to database whiz
As an undergraduate, Matt Garofalo '07 wanted "to leave the ordinary and encounter new challenges and adventures." So the English major spent a semester abroad studying literature in Wellington, New Zealand. In addition to enjoying his classroom experiences there, Garofalo found the time to join a local soccer club and to explore New Zealand's breathtaking natural beauty. "To this day, some of my experiences there rank among the most important of my life," he says, adding, "I would strongly encourage all students considering a study abroad to take advantage of the opportunity."
Back in Ashland, Garofalo completed an internship at the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper. "I was able to find the internship by networking with a former Randolph-Macon student who helped get my foot in the door," says Garofalo. "It was a great chance to apply some of the writing skills I learned at Randolph-Macon. My experience was very successful and one of my stories ended up on the front page of the Business section!"
So where is this man of letters now? "After graduating with an English degree, I hardly expected I would be planning, developing, and implementing databases," he says. But that's just what he does as a strategy and organization senior consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton.
"Liberal arts graduates are capable of the challenges of learning new and unfamiliar things, particularly those that lie outside one's area of expertise," says Garofalo. "It was thanks to the richness and depth of my Randolph-Macon experience that I was quickly able to learn diverse skills that enabled me to pursue and excel in this unexpected career turn."