Music, Med, Tar-Heel Born, Tar-Heel Bred.

What makes a person a person? Do you think that where you grew up and your experiences there determined your personality and beliefs? Or do you think that your personality is independent of your upbringing? Think about these questions when you read about Matthew Kilby from the prospective of a historian or anthropologist and learn what he thinks has defined his personality.
-Indy

Matthew’s and his parents’ schooling gave them similar experiences and interests. Chapel Hill instilled ideas in Matthew’s parents that Matthew now demonstrates, and even influenced Matthew’s life before he enrolled at the university there. Matthew’s fascination with music can be traced back to Chapel Hill’s influence on his parents musical tastes. Also, Chapel Hill’s medical program affected his parents’ decisions to become physicians. While Matthew hasn’t ever been particularly drawn to Math or Science based courses, he is still interested in possibly pursuing a career involved with public health. Chapel Hill’s culture has influenced Matthew’s life’s choices by influencing the way that his parents raised him.
       
Chapel Hill has a relatively famous musical scene, especially because Chapel Hill is the neighbor of Carrboro, a town placed on the map by its variety of musical acts. While Matthew’s father was in school, he spent his weekends watching musical acts around the Chapel Hill area. One of his best friends was a regular at Franklin Street clubs and Matthew’s dad would occasionally play along; He was inspired by the Chapel Hill legend James Taylor to learn to play the guitar. This interest in music naturally transferred to Matthew from growing up around his father’s guitar playing. The Ben Folds 5, another famous group that got their start in Chapel Hill, also influenced Matthew and his father’s musical tastes. When Matthew got older, he lost interest in taking classical piano lessons after taking years of lessons in grade school. But the Ben Folds 5 introduced Matthew to piano as a contemporary outlet and inspired Matthew to take up the piano again. With his interested renewed, Matthew started playing piano in a rock band of his own, even playing tour dates in multiple states the summer before college. Furthermore, Matthew’s new found love for the piano helped him to more universally understand music through one instrument and started his interest in studying music theory, which is one of Matthew’s primary focuses as a music major at UNC.
       
The medical programs at UNC and in the research triangle area also played a crucial role in inspiring Matthew’s parents to be doctors. Both of his parents were attracted by the famous medical schools at Duke and UNC after growing up near them, but never attended until graduate school. Both of Matthew’s parents admit that before college they didn’t feel very strong in either math or science, but they knew they were interested in helping people. Matthew’s parents share a similar background with him regarding the relationship between their pre-med studies and their liberal arts education. Although they were heavily involved in the humanities, both his parents made time for pre-med programs. Matthew’s mother played the piano at the level of a music major, although she wasn’t,  and Matthew’s father was an English major, but made time for pre-med classes. Matthew plans on following a similar path in college. Although he loves music and is a music major, Matthew is uneasy about the risk involved in solely pursuing his passion, and fears that if he does he may not be able to fully support a future family. Being involved in the humanities and doing pre-health classes has given him and his parents the opportunity to satisfy their artistic curiosities while still intensifying their math and science education.
       
The similarities in Matthew and his parents’ college experiences are unexpected, because Matthew never intended to follow his parents’ lead on any of their career moves. In fact, he originally was afraid of his parents’ reactions when he decided to declare a music major, but was surprised when his parents were accepting. If anything, a quarter-life crisis pushed him to do everything he could to guarantee that he wasn’t just following in his parents’ footsteps, but actually making decisions for himself. Because Matthew’s parents both were involved in activities around Chapel Hill, the town indirectly molded Matthew into what he is today through his parents.

White, Timothy. James Taylor: Long Ago and Far Away ; His Life and Music. London: Omnibus, 2005. Print.
Vickers, James. Chapel Hill. Dover, NH: Arcadia, 1996. Print.