Failing Forward: How Trial & Error Built an Unstoppable Future
Host Nathan James sits down with Air Force veteran and UMGC alumnus Matthew Ruchie to trace his remarkable path from academic probation to becoming a logistics supervisor for UMGC in Europe. As a first-generation college student, Matthew initially struggled at a private university, dropping out to enlist in the Air Force where he served as a mental health specialist. He shares how transitioning out of the military triggered a deep depression, leading to a 1.8 GPA and failing a foundational writing class multiple times.
Through the vital support of his wife, a life-changing meeting with a dedicated academic advisor, and leveraging AI for structured planning, Matthew completely reversed his trajectory. Today, he oversees educational operations and complex logistics across forward operating stations in Germany and Poland. Matthew shares powerful insights into removing self-imposed barriers, treating mental health like proactive car maintenance, and why a fifth attempt can change your entire life.
Episode Information
Matthew Ruchie
Sometimes we're the ones ourselves. We're very good at putting up barriers and telling ourselves why we can't do something. It's really up to us, and there's no reason why any one of our students, no matter which position that they're in, can't remove any of those barriers. There's just so many different resources that the university has to help support our students. And then there's so many internal strengths that each student has personally that can help themselves get out whatever situation that they find themselves in as challenging.
Narrator
Welcome to the UMGC podcast Unstoppable Stories with your host Nathan James.
Nathan James
All right, everybody, it's good to see you. Yep, it's Nathan here. I'm here with Matthew Ruchie. Matthew, thanks for being on today. Love his story. He's a first generation college student and has a story of overcoming depression, overcoming a 1.8 GPA to earn his degree. He is a UMGC alumni with us and actually works with UMGC in Europe as a logistics supervisor. He has does amazing work over there. And actually, Matthew, I'd like to start with that. Tell us about what you do and the core of what your mission is.
Matthew Ruchie
Thanks. I really enjoy being here on today's program, and I couldn't be more excited about the invite. But I'll talk a little bit about my role in what I do. So I'm the logistics supervisor for our young GC in Europe division, and there's that many logistics supervisors that we have within the university, and there's really shouldn't be too much. Right? The core of what I do is to get the right people to the right location and the right supplies at the right time. So a lot of rights, and really we have such a focus in the division on having or providing that onsite class experience for our military affiliated students. And it could be working with my regional director and thinking about how can we get the limited amount of collegiate faculty that we have assigned to us to teach or be in the best position to teach the most amount of students? And sometimes that is also thinking about strategically what type of technology and equipment we have at different locations. How can we broadcast one faculty member to another location? It could be working with our part time adjunct faculty and then thinking about like, how could we get them from point A to point B? Does this require any country clearances? Does this require transportation? And just being the expert on that, and then also thinking about the supplies and different costs associated with that in order to really help maximize really bringing the onsite education experience to several different locations?
Nathan James
Absolutely. Yeah, folks. I mean, it's easy to forget that classrooms, when you're expanding across Europe in particular, have to be set up, right? Technology has to be set up computers, internet has to be provided. Those things literally have to be put in place. And, and and that's Matthew Ruchie, folks coordinating those efforts. And and that's amazing. That's amazing. Well, let's let's go back to this, this this fact that you are a first generation college student for your family. I want to start there. What inspired you? Right, to pave the way there? Right. I'd love to hear it.
Matthew Ruchie
Yeah, well, I suppose it really did go to a couple of different mentors that I had growing up, right? Like, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to be or what I wanted to do after high school. Like, I did think that I really wanted to change, like kind of my future outcome, like I didn't. And I thought the best way to that was, you know, school in education. And I thought particularly because my, my parents didn't have that type of background, that that was a way for me to move on and maybe better myself for just my own family and maybe future generations and give myself like the best ability to really do what I wanted to do. Which is funny when I think about it, because then I went to a private university right after high school, because I thought that was going to be the best thing for me. And then I absolutely didn't like it and I hated it. So I still had the idea that I wanted to either study really business or psychology. And there was a couple different factors I didn't like about it. I didn't like the I felt like it was I was just a number on campus, and it was very hard to make connections with people, and I felt like I could be doing something more. And then I also got my first bill. Like after the like my first two semesters, I was like, oh my gosh, this is like super expensive. And just being a first generation student, you don't really think about that. And like, you could kind of this narrative like go after you graduate high school, the next logical thing is to go to college, right? And that wasn't great for me because it didn't really have an end goal in mind. But after I got the bill, I was like, well, I need to get this paid for. So then I was like, well, let's join the military branch, you know? And that's how I first ended up in Germany. Like, I talked to one of my friends, still a good friend today, but he joined the Army Reserve and he was I had nobody in my family that ever did the military, so I just didn't know anything. But I at least I had the sensibility to ask him, like, hey, what are you? I'm thinking about joining the army or the military. What do you think? He's like, yeah, that's great. And he's like, you absolutely should not join the Army. I was like, okay. Which looking back, I think the branches, like they all have their pluses and minuses. And there's no bad thing about the Army that I couldn't have done, but I was more interested in the Air Force because I had this desire to, like, I'm from Minnesota. I wanted to see the world. And that's part, I think, education and travel or some of the primary reasons a lot of folks end up joining the military. So I was like, well, if I'm going to do the military, I want to be stationed overseas in a place that I've never thought I'd ever get to, which is Germany. So I joined thinking like, oh, I'm going to join the Air Force because, you know, they have Ramstein Air Base there. That's the largest overseas base. I knew that, and I didn't think that that would absolutely happen that way. But I looked down and it did. And I think those different desires. And plus, after I joined the military, you know, the I found the sense of belonging or the higher purpose that I wanted to do, I wanted to be able to contribute to society something more. And I thought the whole college thing would be over, you know, because I left college again in the military. And then I found out, like from a good mentor like, oh, no, you really do need to do college to promote and get anywhere in the military. And the military really values in education. So that's how I actually found my way back to or at first. But you and I had a NCO and then commissioned officer pretty much take me by the ear and walked me over to the education center and said, like, you were going to sign up now. So and that was it.
Nathan James
And the rest.
Matthew Ruchie
Is history. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. The rest is history. It all went swimmingly from there.
Nathan James
That's fantastic. I know while you were in the Air Force, you were mental health specialist, right?
Matthew Ruchie
Correct. Yes. Like that was part of what? The little that I did know about the military at a high school teacher that I really connected with, and he was a psychology instructor. And I thought like, oh, every time we talk about psychology or Freud, like, I think I'm very interested in that. So when I joined, went to join the Air Force, I had two goals in mind. I wanted to be stationed overseas, ideally in Germany, and I wanted to work in mental health. And luckily I did well enough on the military entrance exam, like to score and really have some options available. I told a recruiter I was going to sign a contract without that job guaranteed, so I knew I was coming in working in a health because I think that's like a core part of my identity. I'm always trying to figure out how to help people or help others. And yeah, so I had that experience, and I'm so glad that I did like in the Air Force. And they taught me a lot of different skills. I wanted that the opportunity at all to think about and really neat different mental health providers, like there's psychologists, there's psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists, social workers that I all worked with. And that got me exposed to just a lot of different professions at first generation like me, who just wouldn't have had, you know, and I think that was a blessing in disguise.
Nathan James
Mental health is such a critical topic. I want to get your feedback on this. I mean, in the military as well, and in a unique way. You often compared mental health treatment to getting an oil change before the. Matthew Ruchie
Yes. Yes.
Nathan James
Right. And breaks down. So why is it so difficult for service members to take that approach to mental health for their own well-being, right, where they're being proactive before something, you know, before spiraling? Right.
Matthew Ruchie
Well, I think there's a number of factors, like I think the largest one is like the stigma attached with seeking mental health treatment, like people in military members in particular. I think that there's going to be some career actions, negative career actions, like for seeking mental health, like some people are in positions where they hold a top secret clearance, or they might be working on particular programs that requires a higher threshold to remove them from duty. And people want to feel like they belong. Right? So like if you think of a military police or in the Air Force, the security forces member, right, like they are armed up like during the day, like or during their shift. So if they come into the mental health clinic and say like, hey, I'm struggling, like I'm having these thoughts of depression or thoughts of harming myself or other people, it's incumbent I'm out of health to say like, hey, yeah, like we might want to take them off of duty status and remove their weapon, right? It's not a great mix to have somebody to have access to a weapon and be depressed and short term, like, that's like a great thing for them. But then the member might feel like, oh, now I'm being punished because the military is, you know, all about conformity. So like other members of that unit might see, that person is like, oh, this is something that can't do their job. So then they might start picking on that person. Or like when it comes to annual performance reviews, it's like, well, you were on non duty status and you weren't able to help with the flight or we weren't able to deploy you because like, which makes sense. We can't deploy you if you're not able to arm up. Right. So so some people are like oh I went to mental health and I had this negative action. And and if it's successful, right. Like you are depressed and you learn a little bit about yourself and you learn different coping skills for your particular situation, you might be we'll give you the weapon back. Well, we would recommend that right to your and that mental health. But like to the security forces commander the garrison commander and such like but then some people don't be like yeah, there's that short term thing in order to get you long term better. So I that's always the car example. I always try to break that up because I feel like it's very non-threatening. If I say like, hey, if you are driving a car around and it's you hear some knocks and some noises that shouldn't be there, like you would take it to the mechanic, right? And it can be like, oh, like you should consider an oil change and maybe you want you hear the different options of oil that you can have. And a lot short term it costs more money to constantly get all changes. But long term the car is going to run better, more efficiently and more effectively, right? The more often that you take care of it and maintenance. So and if you think for me personally, I really resonate with that idea, like, yeah, let's not take the stigma or to think about a different way to approach mental health. Like if I if it's preventive maintenance, it's often easier to get things done right. Like I'd rather have the oil change than I throw a rod in my engine. And now I need a whole engine rebuild. That's going to take a lot more time and money, and at that point you'd be like, oh, I need a new car. But with mental health, if we think about like, oh, things get worse and worse before we come in, it's harder to get better, right? Like so. And we you can't really replace an engine. There's only one brain we have like or only one body. So like that. So the preventative stuff that we have to do, like maybe taking a walk in the sunlight or like taking advantage of daylight or playing like me, I like to play tennis, like with some friends or I'll play ice hockey or something like that's the kind of the preventative maintenance of the stuff I enjoy doing, and that's what I need to do in order to feel good, to be, you know, tip top shape for not only for my job, but like for, like just personally like how I interact with my wife or, you know, I don't have kids but my dog. So yeah, that prevented it. I just think preventative maintenance is always so much easier. And I see that too with students. Like when I was a student, right, I we mentioned, I think that I had a pretty bad GPA at one point with the university, and that kind of prevented me. I might not have been able to graduate. Right. So it's like, well, if I would have spoke up and saw some sort of advice or counseling earlier, it would have been way easier than me continuing to fail classes or not show up to class. So like, I wouldn't have taken me a really serious intervention for me and effort to like, repair the damage that I did to my own grades in order to, you know, graduate, which was kind of the goal initially when I was thinking about joining the military, is like, I want to better myself, and I want this education and I want to travel, right. So that's why I keep going back to the idea of preventative maintenance is always better and easier and being proactive.
Nathan James
Yeah, absolutely. And this did get personal for you. During this transition out of the military. Right? I mean, Scribd is falling into a deep depression. Right. And and that being connected to not doing well academically. Right? I think there's a writing class that you feel multiple times, right?
Matthew Ruchie
Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Nathan James
Dropped to the 1.8 that I mentioned before. And you know, there was a spiral happening there. Right. And you've already kind of alluded to it for you. What was the way out. Right. I mean, take me to that point. You're at the bottom. You know, you've spiraled. How did you even begin to see what the way out was to get to the point where you are today?
Matthew Ruchie
Well, I really had to lean on first my like, personal support network, which like for me was my wife. Right. And then there were other people that were in a similar position to me. Like I was kind of as I got out the military, what I ended up doing was I was working full time and at a hotel, like to maintain an ID card in order to take classes, right. And that was important to me. And there was other people, some learned to me that were vets, that were students with UMGC that were doing the same thing. And I've told them and I think often like, you know, how do you gain insight? You know, sometimes you don't see what's going on within yourself, right? But others can see things more easily than you sometimes. Right? So like I was pretty upfront with the my coworkers at the time like, oh, I'm going to I want to do this. I want to go to school full time. And they were the first ones to notice, like, hey, I didn't see you like at the center in class the other night, like, what's going on? Like, and I was filled with a lot of shame. I didn't want to tell anybody what was going on. Like, I'm having a hard time getting out of bed after work. Like, I'm pretty depressed, like I. This is not what I mentioned my life to be, you know? So, like. And then I leaned on my wife and I finally, like, had an open conversation with her. What's going on? And she's like, well. And she was quite helpful. She saw a different way to approach it than I did. She's like, well, I see that the university has academic advisors, like, you might want to just talk over this because like, I thought I was in a really deep spiral with like, oh my gosh, I failed this writing class and support class. I think writing 112 like, and I think almost every student with a bachelor's degree needs writing 112 and I also found out, like I couldn't register for the class by myself anymore. Like I needed like to get a an exceptional policy and a waiver approval to do that. So like I was like once I found out like, oh, I literally cannot proceed with my academic career without seeking support from an academic advisor. Like, I like all that kind of coalesced into like, well, let me go to this meeting and see if it's helpful. And to be honest, when I first made a meeting, I didn't think that I was going to be helpful at all, you know? And the advisor was so positive that I worked with, like, I remember she asked me like, oh, well, what do you want to do? And similar to what I talked about at the beginning of this interview, like, oh, I wanted a mom, want to be the first person to graduate in my family, right? And like, I want I was like, what I really want to do is like, I worked with the psychologists and social workers, like, I want to help people like, and I don't think that there's a way to do that. And all that negative talk that I had said, you can absolutely do that right. And talked about there's just tons of different things I didn't know that you could do. I didn't know that you could retake classes and really delete and repeat that for to raise your GPA. Right. And then I was like, well, I can't. So she's like, well like like, let's take this at one thing at a time, like, well, redo this writing class. Like here's some other supports that you can have. And then we'll start coming up with a plan and game plan to go over all the other failing classes that you have, like, and maybe like, let's focus on completing the bachelor's degree because like, you know, I've at the heart of it, I'm a very motivated person. I was like, well, I can't even get into school, so what's the point? And she said, like, look, don't even focus on that. Like, as we raise your GPA, I'll connect you with somebody that can talk about graduate school and there might be some possibilities for you. Right. And absolutely. What was like that was the stuff where I started to build momentum and started believing in myself more and more as I retook the class, like with writing and like that actually helped me feel better and not as depressed, like, oh, I can go to class and I can do this. I'm building confidence. So like, I think that was I always talk about failing four times because the important thing was I tried a fifth time and got it right, and it not even got that right. Like, you know, completed that degree, went on a couple other like another degree. And now I'm in another degree program now. So now I can't stop writing. Right. And it's something that like, oh, it's a skill. Any of these things that we learn in university like or it's a skill that we can develop and grow, you know, to be the best at writing like, well, I think the most important thing is like getting the help, having others recognize and encourage you, like, hey, man, like what's going on? Like being open with people and just really committing to kind of what the my value, my goals were. Right. And that's what helped me through that.
Nathan James
Wonderful. Yeah. And it does sound like that, that that appointment, that first appointment that you had with the UMGC advisor in Europe, right?
Matthew Ruchie
Yes.
Nathan James
Yeah. Was was was pivotal. Right?
Matthew Ruchie
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. That person still works with us in the year of division, just no longer as an advisor. And I think I embarrass them all the time. It's right now it's Miss Julie Nova, like she actually works in our headquarters. And sometimes I just messenger every 6 or 7 months. Like you were the best advisor I ever had. Just like to remind her, like the impact that that she had, right? Like she might regret that now that I'm working with us, like, she didn't think that was a possibility.
Nathan James
No. That's great Julie. Amazing job, great job. And and Matthew, I'm just thinking how. The perseverance it takes, right? I'm not being able to pass a class after 3 or 4 times. That's intimidating. Right. And especially first, you know, your first in your family to to to to be a college student, it can be like, well, maybe I'll try something else. It can be easy to say, that's my that's my queue. I'll see myself out. Right. But that wasn't the path you took, Matthew.
Matthew Ruchie
And no. Nathan James
You got to the other side of it. And like you said, like how you said it can't stop writing now. Matthew Ruchie
Yeah, exactly.
Nathan James
Momentum that you had even now is currently I think you're going for your doctorates. So we'll get to that in a moment. I want to say real quick, once again, everybody listening. You're listening to Matthew Ruchie on on Unstoppable Stories. So just want to remind you don't forget to like or subscribe and subscribe to Unstoppable Stories. We've got episodes for you that actually go back even to season one. We're in season two now, but make sure that you don't miss out. Okay, so Matthew, let's let's keep it going. So, look, you went from basically sweeping floors, you know, to eventually becoming a logistics supervisor, as you are now, right, for, for the Europe division. So you had this military background that you brought with you. How did that military background do you think prepare you to manage educational sites across Germany? And even talking a little bit earlier before the recording about Poland and the expansion efforts there, but did the military background help you do what you're doing now?
Matthew Ruchie
I think absolutely. I think there's just a couple of different, like skills that I learned and things that experiences that I had that really helped prepare me for, you know, being in the position I am today. Like, I think the perseverance that you talked about earlier, I think that's something that I learned in a military context. Right. Like I remember, you know, any military members went through basic training and he kind of get drilled into you like, hey, I can do anything for like two minutes, or I could do anything for five minutes, right? Whether it's like this pain like this push ups or like this run or like ruck march, like, and then it's taking that into like, oh, why can't I apply that to what I'm doing now? There's no limit to why I could not. Right. So and I think it was kind of that experience with that I mentioned before with the that I have with our advising team that really made me think about like, oh, how could I take some of these strengths that I have and apply it now? And the other thing, two other things, I guess I know one of our core values at UMD is really to like is to optimize agility. And I think about that all the time, like, and to me, like that's your ability to pivot quickly. Right. And then also the military experience, when I worked with or subsidize counseling, I learned that there's no such any there's very limited things on what's a real emergency. Right. Like and sometimes you get very stressed out or in the moment like, oh, things are going to go wrong here or there. And to take a step back and add perspective like this isn't really an emergency. And we can get around this, right. Like, you know, so I think some of my experience has been like, it's been wonderful. I've been asked to help get some new education centers off the ground in Poland, and that's just been running into different barriers, just some comical ones like that you wouldn't have thought of at all. Right. But being able to go back to like, all right, you know, what's the objective or the mission? My mission is like it's to get to the right people and right supplies, the right materials at the right location, right time. Like so how can I do that? Like, there's been times where I thought I could get. I'm taking all this equipment. I'm throwing it in a multi van. I'm going to bring all these computers and internet and, and I'm bringing the faculty member and like I'm going to set up this class. And then I remember I went out to this forward operating station in Poland and they're like hey, we're not allowing any vehicles on the post at this time. It's like, oh my gosh. Like, how am I going to like, what is there to do now? So like just taking a step back, like, all right, well, I can't drive the equipment on, but I could walk it on, you know. So it's like, all right, well, how many trips to just turn into an easy job to like, it's just going to take, you know, 10 or 12 trips to get all the equipment out and to the location. And we can do that one at a time. Right. So it's that ability to pivot. You know, it's like, all right. Well, and also asking for help to like, you know, this nice thing after like the first 2 or 3 times all the soldiers on the forward operating station, they're like, hey, man, you need help? Well, yes. In fact, I do like now that you guys are going to offer help that you see me, like, kind of committed to doing this, like, yeah, like, can we open up a car and get all this equipment out? So it's like, not just kind of just thinking about like, oh, how can we get this done? And, you know, and that turned into, you know, getting a lot of goodwill with the soldiers. They're like, oh, what are you doing? And I'm here and I'm just trying to I'm bringing the faculty member here. We have this class this weekend, so we got other people interested because I think it's sort of like, yeah, I've been in the military, like I use this guy, you know, in civilians clothing walking out once he doing, you know, so and then just sparking that interest. So I think all those things and like the military experience really enabled me to be like, oh, I should have the confidence to ask for help, like, and realize this is an emergency. Like, I can't get the car in all my Quitman on. So there's just another way to do it, right? So and approaching things from that manner has been, I think, incredibly helpful. Right.
Nathan James
All right. So amazing. And it's storytime. Now there's a couple stories I want you to get into really quickly. You were you were telling me earlier the story about the bon Polish soldier. I think he was a little bit or that he ran into. Yeah. Go for it. Go for it.
Matthew Ruchie
Yeah. So we would like to as we were expanding to our different locations in Poland like it would be, it would have been ideal to always take, you know, 5 or 6 people with us, but you know, like at the end of the day, you know, you have your operating budget and that can allow for one person or two people. So sometimes there's a little bit of gap or turnover. And so like I remember the first time I went out there, I was to one of our locations. It was the first time I been and I didn't know that there was just different procedures, like in, like the US military. We've been in Germany for a very long time, since the end of World War two. We haven't left. Right. And stuff's very established in our military installation. So I have an access card. I know I can present it to the gate and then I'll get on and just there was no way of really knowing that, like, okay, I can't really just walk on even with the access card to this is a run by the Polish military and we're a guest here now. So and there was some stuff lost, definitely in translation. But the thing that was not lost was when I started walking towards an area that I wasn't supposed to. Then all of a sudden the US comes out. It is pointing at me. It's like, well, I just I'm here with the university, right? Like I was please, like, point me where I need to go, you know. So and it's just like it's just comical stuff like that, like, all right. At least I didn't get shot today, you know? Like, I didn't think I'd go down like this and things ended up working out, and that was just a fun story. And then as I get other like now, like now, I'm in the position where I get and other people out to Poland to help support our mission and our expansion there. And I just remind them, like, make sure that you're listening to instructions and go to the window first and where a guest like, don't get into those he pulled on you and stuff like that.
Nathan James
Don't get more on the story that will definitely pull.
Matthew Ruchie
Yeah, yeah.
Nathan James
Hold on. You okay? What about the story where you drove for nine hours at one point with mobile internet, and we're camping out at a post office, right. Just to secure chapel for your students to be able to study and learn it.
Matthew Ruchie
Yeah. So that was a that was another thing. So after that time or the time that occurred with the US, I think it was like on the same trip, the primary objective there was to get enough students to enroll in a class. Right. And we were aiming for 14 or 15 students that like, not only to sign up and enroll, but get registered in in need of class. So we've identified a class that we could run. And it's our foundational one of our foundational courses, Introduction of Library Studies libs 150. And I love talking about that class. And and I think everybody, even if they sometimes have transfer credits and they could use that class, just the skills and the stuff that you learn from that. But anyway, I worked at a deal like, oh, okay, we're going to get conference room space because we didn't have an education center at that time. And then the next time I roll up there with the Clinton, I go to pick up the key for the conference room. And I saw the military had other plans for the conference room. They're like, oh, we need it for this time. I was like, oh my gosh. Like, now we don't have any place to instruct for this weekend. We have all these like, soldiers signed up. This is going to be horrible as their first class that we were running. So, I use that skill to like the pivoting and optimize agility. I just, I was like, well, let me go walk around like, the Foss isn't that large. Maybe I can find something else like. And I just saw a captain and I saw that he had a little Chaplain Corps badge on. His uniform was like, okay, well, I know this is chaplain, and you know that everybody loves the chaplains. And he could probably he knows everything and about about this installation. So let me just ask the chaplain, like, hey, here's Chaplain Matthew. I'm trying to get this class, and I just lost class from space. But you know who I could? I started with small ask, but you know who I could talk to, like, or anything that could help us out. And chaplain was so nice. It's like, well, when's the class? I'm like, oh, it's Saturday. He's like, well, that's great. Like he can use our base chapel. Like, I think we have all the audio visual equipment there. I was like, oh man, now I don't even have to call a bunch of stuff out of you. This is going to turn out way better. So yeah, like so that ended up working out like it was a hard structure, which not everything was. And then I was just like we ran in a different problem with the internet. But like I was able to solve that a different story. That's much longer. But like I, I tested the internet capabilities out in the chapel. Like I think this can work. So and that's absolutely what we did. We just pivoted to reserving that space. And that class was the first class that we ever ran out in Poland. And that's just because a lot of it I just I mean, I was there with some other help, but just leaning on my experience, I'm like, all right, I know running into a problem. Let me go find the chaplain or let me go talk to an officer like, and we'll figure this out. Yeah, because people are more supportive of education. Anything. Right. So, like, when I think we have a lot of cachet, like, hey, we're a university and we want to help educate people like. And I think when you approach things that way, it's easier to get things done.
Nathan James
Yeah, I love seeing that agility and that resilience, you know, at play. Right. Okay. So all right. You end up turning, you know, you turned your academics around obviously, and went on to graduate with your bachelor's degree in psychology, which fits the bill. Right, just with.
Matthew Ruchie
The.
Nathan James
Health background that you had. Yeah. Compassion that you have, which which is really neat. And I know you went on to get your master's too, but in the process you had to learn to navigate complex VA. Right. Veteran affairs policy. Right?
Matthew Ruchie
Yes.
Nathan James
Like for example retroactive induction or whatnot. But you know, without getting too much in the weeds on that, I know they were complicated the A policy, but how do you figure out to leverage those benefits though to actually fully fund the doctoral program that you're in right now, which is great.
Matthew Ruchie
I think it's like a personal, like almost a personal superpower, like when people tell me no and I think they're wrong. Like it's a good and bad thing. Like, I, I will do everything in my power to prove that people are wrong. Like, so like I would talk to other vets and they would say, I love the veteran community. And sometimes I think the veteran community is its own worst enemy. Sometimes, like, people are like, oh, this won't work, and don't even ask it like I'm like, now I really think that this could work, you know? So like, I'm very passionate about like, well, what? And it's just a skill that I think any of us can learn, you know, and I talked about libs 150 it talks about the really the core, the core of the class is talking about like where to find reliable sources and such. So like and to me like it was all right. Well what's governing this VA education program. And it's like 38 CFR right. Like well all right here's the source document. And then let me read through this for the relevant things. And then I can get really good at, you know, control F on the keyboard and find what I need to, you know, like I heard this. So it's coming out with different search terms. So really applying the skills that I learned through the university and thinking like, all right, well, let me actually read what's going on. And then like, how can I use that for my situation? And then it's just a, another. Another thing too is not being afraid to ask. It's sometimes, I think, a very challenging thing that I learned in the military. Like you get kind of or I got afraid in my military career to ask for things. Right. Because you want to be seen as a competent leader or like you don't want to ask the wrong question sometimes because then you'll get smoked out or something. So and that's definitely something that you I needed to learn and develop was the ability to not be afraid to ask people that I think are in a position authority here could help me. So like just asking like a veterans readiness and employment counselor, like, hey, I think I qualify for this based off of this. And then, you know, I learn make other people's jobs as easy as possible. Right. Like I said, the exact portion in the 38 CFR that was relevant to me, and then that person came back, my theory counselor, like, hey, yeah, you're absolutely right. I'll support this. Like, so like just being able to do that and connect with those right people and asking and all those skills like, enabled me to like, yeah, I got my bachelor's degree paid for with veteran benefits. I got my master's degree paid for of a veteran benefits, and I'll have the doctorate paid for with veteran benefits. So like I, I think it goes back to that's my other skill is like the ability to persevere. Like I want to find and be able to maximize and what I can to. Yeah, I really do believe that education is a way to give yourself all the options, right? Like if I don't think the university will end tomorrow, but if it did, like, I'm certainly educated and I could pivot in a lot of different roles or jobs if I wanted to like. And that's now my choice rather than the military used to tell me what I'm doing and where I'm going and for how long.
Nathan James
Oh, boy. Yeah. I mean, I'm seeing multiple super powers at work here, right? Yeah, that's that's really neat. And I love how the I appreciate how your optimism and open mindedness, even if folks are saying I don't think it's going to work out, really helped pave the path. Right. Understanding how these VA benefits were open the door to taking your education to the next level. Beyond the bachelors, beyond the masters. Now doctorates, right? The guy's the limit, you know. And okay, you know, I love seeing it. I love seeing it. So let me ask you this. So you've been open about having discovered he had ADHD, right? Severe ADHD right. And started you started using AI actually to to map out your study blocks. Right. And prevent burnout. And that's a big topic, right? Burnout with folks, you know, balancing a thousand things at the same time, like everybody's doing. So just curious how has that offload offloading that mental load right to to AI planning change your ability to balance work and personal time? I really think a lot of people could benefit from this.
Matthew Ruchie
Yeah. I mean, I really have embraced AI and how I can use that, right? I there's just a lot of different things that I do like. I like to I mean, when I talk about this idea of preventive maintenance, right, like having blocking off schedules of my time to make sure that I'm engaging in self-care is pretty important. And other side effect or like a primary way ADHD always exhibits itself, is I like to keep and be busy, right? So I'm always doing something. I'm working on a project or a test. I'm studying. I like to be really engaged with like tennis matches or ice hockey games and such, or I'm traveling for my work, so and I enjoy all that that actually plays into, you know, the little bit of my ADHD. Like I have this hyperactivity. So sometimes or not sometimes, quite often what I'll do, especially now as it comes to studies like I definitely leverage it by I download. Well, first thing I download everything I can that's uploaded to the online classroom, the learning environment online, or your Leo. And primarily I download the syllabus and the syllabus is nice and that's a helpful like sound or a good document to prompt AI with. And it's not perfect but I come up with like oh, here's the gives you the class lengths and times and it gives you the projects, right. So I do that and I'm very meticulous about putting things in my personal and professional calendars. So I'll just download those as PDFs and then I'll upload all those to AI, and I'll give it a prompt and I'll say like, hey, I'm traveling from these dates to these dates, and I have this and this. Here's my course syllabus. Can you come up with ideas of where to block a study hours and then come up with a suggested a schedule for me to engage in discussion, post and submit my assignments like. And I will do that. It's not always perfect. And then sometimes, like my plans change too. But I found that super helpful because my mind I just know the way it works. It's fairly disorganized, you know, and sometimes I have to refer back to documents multiple times to understand what am I doing today? Or what do I need to do. And then just being having this document like, oh, it's kind of my roadmap to the next eight weeks, right? Like I used to really struggle during my undergraduate with deadlines and such. Like his AI really wasn't a thing now, but like now I use that like, oh yeah, I can do this here and there. And it like a, a few months ago I was traveling, I was went from Frankfurt, Germany on an airplane to Washington, DC so I could attend an in-person residency weekend. And part of that, there was still homework to turn in and stuff to do, and AI was giving me really good things, like, hey, at this particular airport, there's a lounge that you could check in and work on your homework there and use the Wi-Fi so you can use this opportunity when you're waiting for three hours, like for your flight. I was like, oh man. Like I wouldn't have even thought about that. So like so now sometimes that's I've learned, you know, as a study aide that's really helpful. Like it even broke up like on an airplane. Your flight is seven hours. I would download these chapters to read in your materials. In that way you can highlight and study that while you're in transit. I'm like, oh, this is this is genius, right? So it really helped alleviate a lot of anxiety that I've had about taking classes be like, oh, how could I manage this? Or where will I find the time to really find those pockets in my schedule? That really worked for me.
Nathan James
That's neat. That's like having that like a virtual assistant or virtual secretary that's with you wherever you go, right?
Matthew Ruchie
Yeah. I and I hope a lot of our current students listen to this podcast because I love telling sharing that story, because I just think it's a way that, you know, not all of our students are always tracking to or even our faculty members and such like. And I think that's a for me, it's been a great tool for a it's been a great study tool and it's really helped, even just with something that I can't change about myself. I can't change that. There won't ever be a time now where I don't have ADHD, right? But it does change. Like you know, now, this is a new tool for for me to cope with it and makes it so much easier. Yeah, yeah.
Nathan James
I'll talk about a game changer.
Matthew Ruchie
Yeah.
Nathan James
That's so good. All right. So for the student right. Speaking to students for the student that's listening right now. Right. That might be failing a class right. For the third or fourth time I don't care. Second, third, fourth time. And it feels like they don't belong in higher education as a result. Right. Like this isn't for me. I have to ask you and give you the chance to give folks in that situation advice based on what you've been through, what's your message to them about being unstoppable in that way?
Matthew Ruchie
And my message would be, sometimes we're the ones ourselves. We're very good at putting up barriers and telling ourselves why we can't do something right, and it's really up to us. And there's no reason why any one of our students, no matter which position that they're in, can't remove any of those barriers. There's just so many different resources that the university has to help support our students, and there's so many internal strengths that each student has personally that can help themselves get out of this situation or whatever situation that they find themselves in as challenging. Right. And I think the challenges that our students face, like, end up being, I think, the largest learning lessons in their academic career, and it's what really helps prepare them for whatever goal that they have. Like education's always a journey and often a journey to get to somewhere else. And like there's not. Unfortunately, there's not one thing in my undergrad in psychology for neon GC that I would say helps me at my job right now. Like, do I know principles of social psychology and how you know the Kitty Genevieve story or Pavlov's dogs? Certainly. But that's not the primary thing that I learned. What I've learned, or the best thing was, is, all right, I ran into these challenges, and how can I reach out to my professors and ask for assistance or accommodations? Or how can I lean on the academic advisors? Like, how could I use the librarian to find a piece of research? Or if I'm stuck? You know, these are all different things, and being first generation soon, unfortunately, you don't really even realize, like, oh, the university has all these things. Like it's like learning a different language, higher education. Right. So that's why stop being your own worst enemy and think like and enable yourself and empower yourself and think about what strengths do you personally have to remove that barrier, right. Like, I know I was depressed and I get depressed sometimes or I have ADHD like, but there's ways I can remove these barriers for myself, right? I could always ask for more assistance. I can meet with the faculty member, right? A I could lean on a military experience like and just like like, hey man, I can do anything for two minutes. I could do anything for eight weeks. Right. And I think you'll surprise yourself, like, by how resilient you are when you stop thinking about what's preventing me from doing this and start thinking and changing that mindset to, well, how could I overcome? Or how could I be unstoppable, right? And I think changing that and thinking about that as a strength, like, really helps you speak to a story like your own story, and that's like, and you can take that and, and think after, you know, I really do believe after people graduate, whether it's an associate's, a bachelor's and master's, each level, each new degree, you have more responsibility to impart a social and ethical moral responsibility and impart these lessons onto others and help your community right in a spinning open about that. Like a and also, I guess people really enjoy authenticity and people being genuine, right? So I've also learned not to shy away from here's all the mistakes that I made and such like and at the end of the day, I like to think that people want to be helpful. So if you reach out to somebody at the university, people find themselves in higher education because they want to help and they enjoy helping like nobody's making really top dollar around here. Like people have a passion to help. Right. So and I think that's very encouraging. So like once you reach out, if you ask for help, the worst that somebody is going to say is no, right. And I often don't find those an answer around here. Like oftentimes it's a like here's the right direction or here things to consider that could be with the tools to succeed, so that we got to remove our own barriers. That's really, I think the takeaway or what I would add to help people that are in a situation like that to become unstoppable.
Nathan James
Well said. Well said and I appreciate it. Matthew, thanks for taking time to, to to share your journey and your story with us. I've appreciated every moment, and I also appreciate just your commitment to learning, your commitment to leaning on others where needed, right? Whether it be faculty, whether it be, you know, your wife, you know, advisors, whatever that the support structure. Right as well to get to, you know, the next finish line. There's so much I know folks can take away with it from, from this. So I appreciate it. And I know we'll be in touch.
Matthew Ruchie
Yeah. Perfect. Thanks.
Nathan James
Yeah. Of course. And for everybody listening and watching, please remember to like and subscribe to see more unstoppable stories just like Matthew's. Remember we have previous episodes as well previous seasons. So make sure you go back and engage with those. And just remember we're here for you. Until next time. Okay. Thanks.