An open letter/debut speech to everybody I know: (AKA My Inaugural Address for my year heading into the University of Iowa):

The date is now August 11th, 2017. Which means there are only a couple more days separating me from finally starting to live my dream of attending a Big Ten University. This is a tremendous step and leap forward in my life I have longed to do for many years. Yet, I never imagined my one thought and dream of going to a Big Ten School becoming a reality. I myself am still in disbelief that this is actually a thing that is legit happening. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe I would end up becoming an Iowa Hawkeye. All the way, I really wanted to go to a school, particularly in the Big Ten, that would challenge me academically AND give me a fun and enjoyable campus atmosphere. I never actually believed there was a school like that for me, until I saw Iowa City. Now, I truly believe I found that school that gives me both of those things I am looking for. Heading into what could be a very special and unforgettable year ahead, I want to take some time for everyone to read about my backstory and learn about what events had led me up to the point where I am right now, and my ambitions ahead.

For starters, this was a dream I should have and could have given up on years ago. In fact, I should not even be here today. Eighth grade was when it hit me when I had feelings that I should go to a Big Ten School. Throughout middle school, I was a very solid academic performer. Winding up with at least a 3.0 GPA in 7 of 9 trimesters during my middle school tenure. While all of my courses were at the standard, regular level like most students in my grade were taking, my overall skills in core subjects, mostly English more then anything else were subpar. I totally refused to believe any of my academic progress reports stating any of these things. It was all simple for me, turn in my homework, study, hope the teacher makes an easy study guide, and then excel! Early on in my eighth grade year, I totally believed I was absolutely thriving. And I was only in middle school for God's Sake. And here I was believing I was the absolute big-shot of it all. That was until I had to experience that one fateful Saturday in November of 2011, the eighth grade Practice ACT Exam. Which is something my high school requires all incoming freshmen to take well before they begin their freshmen year for the sake of understanding what courses students should register for to set themselves up for a successful freshmen year of high school and beyond. I entered that classroom at my future high school that Saturday morning feeling very ready to ace this whole practice ACT. I sat down with the energetic attitude my old sixth grade PE teacher would bring to our gym class every day, "We feel good! Ooooooh we feel so good! Woooooooooooooooo!" Certainly, I was not feeling so good after that test was over. The whole thing was a million times harder than I had ever envisioned it would be. I walked out of my future high school feeling absolutely stunned. More feelings of disappointment only came a few weeks later when I found out that my score would have been only around a 15-18 if this was an actual ACT. While I didn't necesilary want any of it, I was forced into receiving extra help from a private tutor. If that was not dreadful enough for me, it got worse. In an effort to assist me and improve my overall skills, my 8th grade English teacher even forced into doing a little extra work than the rest of the class. I was questioning why the hell this lady is making me do all of this extra work. I don't want it, I just want to be on pace with the rest of the class. I believed none of this extra work would be useful so I never completed all of it.

However, my 8th grade slacking in English only hurt me a year later in my Freshmen English class. My instructor had us all read complex novels such as Farenheit 451, Romeo and Juliet, and Of Mice And Men all alone in the first semester of high school. In all honesty, I never thought I would never pass that class with all of the work I was given. But the point where all of my slacking in 8th grade came to haunt me happened alone in that first semester. As my teacher had similar comprehension activities that my 8th grade class did. Except the only twist this time was that all of these worksheets were REQUIRED and it would count FOR A GRADE. I learned quickly that first semester that if I just rushed and wrote down a bunch of random things that I know aren't true just because I did not want to read it all. I seriously could have ended that first semester of Freshmen English with a B- despite all of my struggles. That didn't happen and I had nobody to blame but myself. The biggest reasons why I got a C instead of a B in my Freshmen English class (along with two other classes where I could've gotten a B instead of a C in my first semester of high school) was all because I didn't do my work correctly. After that seemingly forever-lasting absolutely brutal first semester of high school ended in January 2013, I was determined to NEVER let that happen again. So the next semester of high school, I spent more time than ever pushing myself to be the absolute best in my studies. I actually for the first time really studied and actually paid attention and legit read stuff in my English class. I still ended up with a C in English that semester, but it was a huge confidence booster. While I didn't know it at the time, this would be a huge contributing factor in my success heading forward.

Junior year is typically not the year many high schoolers look forward to. Besides my upcoming football season where I would finally get to play for the varsity team after rigoursly training since November of my sophomore year, I wasn't overly enthuastic about the year for obvious reasons. However, there was in fact something to look forward to. US History. Not only was I passionate about the subject, but 8th grade, that class was an easy A for me. Plus, I also was coming off of a sophomore year where I ended up receiving A's in both semseters of my Geography course. The confidence for me to succeed in that class was sky high. First week of class, I get my textbook. I was noted to keep that around a lot as I'd be using it every week for my homework. That shocked me. I truly believed that it was all just going to be a bunch of worksheets for homework. WRONG! Instead, it was take notes, read, and then we would have an open note quiz at least once a week. This time, I knew it was very important to get my reading done correctly and take great notes since these quizzes would account for a large chunk of my grade. My improved reading skills and notetaking from Freshmen English in that second semester really paid off in that class. More often then not, I knew most of the answers to everything on those quizzes. And since the tests did include things not mentioned in class but mentioned in the textbook in our assigned readings, I also succeeded in that because I did the reading very well. But where I can attribute my improved work ethic to truly start paying off came on a snowy March morning. With snow just pouring down all around the town, it was the perfect day to be just locked into the building to take a test lasting hours long. Despite all of the fatigue that came after the test, I knew that was where all of the efforts from my English classes were paying off. I was able to raise my ACT score by AT LEAST 4-5 points then what I had taken in 8th grade. When I received that scorebook in the mail informing me that my ACT Composite Score ending up at 23, I couldn't have been more proud of myself. That was something I did not believe was possible just three, and even two years ago. I knew I was going to be set up for something very beneficial. It just took a long time to prove it.

Even though I knew I wanted a Big Ten School heading into my senior year of high school, I did not even bother to look at finding the right fit for me. As I mentioned in another article, I was smart and was performing very well in the classroom as high school went along. However, my chances were slim of getting accepted into a Big Ten School out of high school due to numerous other students having better academic credentials then I had. As for me, I never had a true dream school like some students have. My dream school was whatever Big Ten (Maybe even SEC, if the right one came to me) would prove to be the best fit for me. I wasn't a huge fan of one particular college team. However, I did have a little bit of a strong allegiance to Notre Dame because my mom grew up a fan watching stars such as Jerome Bettis and Tim Brown plow their way past defenses on Saturdays. Whichever Big Ten School I would pick would be the one I would have a strong allegiance and loyalty to for the rest of my life from there on out.

Due to my slim chances of entering a Big Ten Instution right out of high school, as well as a lacking of a true fit for me amongst the Big Ten schools, I settled for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. A small school consisting of only 12,000 students in Southeastern Wisconsin between Madison and Milwaukee, I knew that school wasn't going to be the perfect fit for me. I still had my dream of one day finding a Big Ten School to attend. But at the same time, I truly did believe that despite Whitewater not matching my criteria for the type of school I dreamed of, I could make ends meet and make things work out. Also, I will admit I was intrugied by UWW with the fact that the school is a Division III Powerhouse. Consistently sending multiple school athletic teams to NCAA Division III National Tournaments/Championships on a yearly basis. That even included capturing 6 of the last 9 Divison III Football National Titles. Yes, I did have some fun at the school going to football games for the powerhouse and went to a few weekend college parties. But a month into it, I knew something was just missing. It turned out that my initial gut feelings of wanting to go to a bigger school were in fact, right. But I believed that it was too late for me to change my circumstances and that I was locked into this place for life (Well the next four years is a better way of putting it). Meetings with my academic advisor came up shortly afterwards upon realizing that things will never work if I stayed here all four years. However, my advisor had a question on the sheet I was required to fill it asking if I was at all thinking of transferring schools. I marked yes and my advisor was in total understanding of my desire to want to get out of Whitewater and pursue a bigger school.

A few weeks later after that meeting, the US Presidential Election finally concluded. It was only a few days later for me when I felt I was entering another very large Republican Primary. I remember it was just a few days after Donald Trump won the Presidency when I started to apply to other schools and even put my name on transfer alerts lists for many other schools. In total, I began looking at around 12-14 different schools of where I may transfer to. Just as the Republican Primary did in the Spring, the obvious canditates that would have no shot of receiving my services dropped out. Leaving just six schools with applications sent in. It was shortly announced on social media that I would look into transferring after this school year was complete (or if I became lucky enough, the next semester) The final six canditates in the running in the Transfer School Primary Election boiled down to Michigan State University, Miami of Ohio, Mizzou, Indiana University, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and The University of Iowa. Generating much buzz around my high school friends definitely came with this. I was hearing different things from many people about what they thought about my thoughts to transfer and their personal opinion on where I should go to. I was told that Miami, Michigan State, and Iowa were my only sure locks. So I would have to just be patient over the next couple of months and see where I could get into and work it all out from there.

After First Semester I thought for sure I would go to Illinois or Indiana should I get into those respective schools. They both seemed like appealing options because I know a lot of people from high school that go there and even have some close friends who are a year younger than me who were going to both of those schools. Mizzou also seemed appealing because of the warmer weather. After putting in applications for those three schools plus Miami, I just chose to put an application in for Iowa. My thought was just do it. I was told Iowa has an easy application from a lady who works in my high school that I had to stop by and see over my winter break because I had to turn in paperwork to my high school regarding my approval of release of my final high school transcript. Never did I think I was going to pick Iowa. The state is a farmland out in the middle of nowhere. I was thinking it would only serve as a backup just in case I didn't get into Indiana or Illinois with my friends, which was very uncertain. Of course, I posted a photo on my snapstory with a completed application verification saying something like, "could I be the next Hawkeye?". After that, even more buzz from my friends generated over the next week. A bunch of my peers started telling me I need to go to Iowa. They were trying to sell Iowa as the place for me. I also told them my other options I desired but still, countless friends told me that I will just thrive at Iowa as they all believed it was the best fit for me of all of my schools. That did give me more thoughts about becoming a Hawkeye, but still didn't exactly expect to go there.

That changed very quickly two weeks into the new semester at Whitewater. The first school to send me an acceptance letter was none other than Iowa. Of course, I posted my emotional, thrilling reaction seeing that black and gold website telling me I can be a Hawkeye. With my next class 20-30 minutes later, I just put my phone away for a few hours so I could focus on the class ahead. When I took my phone out after class was completed, I had so many notifications from Snapchat on my phone. It was even more people then a few weeks before responding to my Snapchat story congrautaling me and of course, I landed with even more people telling me I should go to Iowa. I told them I will schedule a visit and think about it. But I still have other schools I'm pursuing. But it didn't matter. I got calls and snaps from teammates and classmates that I haven't seen since either the summer or in May when school was ending continuing to tell me "Rolldaddy, you will absolutely thrive at Iowa". As for me that day, I was just in relief that I was going to go to a Big Ten School in August no matter what. Later that week, I got accepted to Mizzou, and then IU (Indiana) said yes to me. All three sounded appealing, but at the time Iowa had a small lead as the frontrunner.

A week following all of that, my parents came up to Whitewater and took me out to lunch asking me what I thought about it all and where I would want to go next year of the schools I've been accepted into. I said Iowa had the lead with the wonderful things I have heard from my friends about the campus. However, I still really want to look at Mizzou because the weather is pretty nice down there, and Indiana might be too good to pass up because I've got a lot of great friends who go there. But of course I still wanted to wait it out to see if the folks in the Orange and Blue would take me. After I expressed my thoughts about my transfer situation, my parents told me some very shocking news. They already booked a hotel out in Iowa City in October for parents weekend. They just said, "I don't think you're going anywhere else". In all reality I pretty much knew at that point that Iowa seemed like the best fit for me. If all of my friends think it's a fit and my parents for once seem to be on the same page as my friends, then I knew I would just have to become a Hawkeye to make the absolute most of my college experience. Emotions were basically the only reason why I would go to Mizzou or Indiana. The folks at the University of Illinois still did not come back to me about my application status. Assuming I was not going to get accepted, in part because of a rigouros application process which required me to present an amount of documentation, which I felt was a ridicoulous amount of paperwork to present to the University in the first place, I assumed there was no chance I would get in. One day later, I verbally committed to Iowa on my Facebook page. Now keep in mind I use the word verbally here. I only scheduled my visit to occur in the next month along with Mizzou and Indiana coming afterwards just in case Iowa was not as good as everybody was telling me it was. No acceptance of admission documents or anything like that was signed yet. I chose not to sign any of those things until I saw the campus and could determine for myself if the campus would be a good fit based upon my visit and if it was meant to be. Of course, my friends from my hometown got a little crazy after my verbal commitment to Iowa. Without signing any kind of documentation of accepting their admission offer, I started getting visitor requests from about 20 different people I know from high school. Someone even told me one of my PE teachers himself said he thinks I should just go to Iowa. With all of the good things everyone was saying, I started to think that there was no way I would even for a second want to go anywhere else. However, I was still using the philosophy of refusing to formally accept my offer of admission. Which turned into a very tempting decision ten days before my scheduled visit to Iowa City.

It was the second Friday of March, and I was home for the weekend so I could reunite with some of my old high school friends the next day as I would be going up to Chicago with them to go to the St. Patrick's Day Parade. I was just relaxing watching TV in my parents bed trying to get well rested for the long day of walking and frigid temperatures I would have to bear through for about five-six hours the next day. While I was just resting catching up my sports program in her bed, my mom hands me this orange envelope that says "We've got good news!" on it. I knew what this meant before I even opened it. Despite not sending in ANY of the extra paperwork they requested me to provide them with, I was somehow accepted into the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Devil must have been playing with me there. At that point, I was grateful I refused to formally accept Iowa's admission offer. I had a golden chance to go to college with many of the people I graduated with who I dearly missed, go to all of the volleyball games that one of my close friends would be playing in starting the next year, inevitably become friends with entire Fighting Illini Women's Volleyball Team (as I mentioned in my signs you're friends with a Division I athlete article, I ended up becoming friends with all of the girls on her club volleyball team), oh and continue on my father's legacy. My dad himself is an alumni of the University of Illinois. Man I thought I can make my old man proud if I go to his school. Of course, I posted my acceptance letter to the orange and blue on my Snapchat story. I said this ended up happening today, and since I still have not formally commited to the University of Iowa, I might back out of it all and join my friends in Champaign. This bombarded many of my friends, as many believed I was truly committed to being an Iowa Hawkeye. My gateway to high school, version 2.0 was already sitting there if I changed from Black and Gold to Orange and Blue. I just wanted to go to UIUC just to spend a few more years with many of my friends from high school. Buzz was in the air, again. Except this time, it wasn't the same feedback as I heard about Iowa. Even more odd was the fact that I had people from my graduating class who are current Illini students tell me that it would be a bad idea for me to go there. Knowing me, they advised me that Iowa is still the greatest fit for me and that I should just go there. I truly thought everything over again. But at the same time, I obviously didn't have the greatest of feelings about that school. Academically, I knew how many people at that school told me I may be too challeneged at UIUC. My gut feeling of "maybe this school doesn't really want me" from December and January also spooked my UIUC thoughts because they were asking me to provide a ridicoulous amount of paperwork, that I never even bothered to turn in. I told myself, "What the hell are you thinking. You obviously are transferring schools in hopes of finding a better, more fun social life. But you also are trying to receive the best education possible. You know you will thrive more in the classroom at Iowa. Two of your most honest friends who go there are even telling you I won't be the best at this school academically." My signal about UIUC was telling me if I went there, I know I will not be the best fit academically with the Orange and Blue. Honestly, I am not 100% sold on my major in communications and journalism. But I sure am not a science or engineering major like many students at that school are. Whenever I need help with my classes and undergrad work, I would probably have less support for that at Illinois since they maintain more faculty in the areas of science and engineering. In turn, I may truly struggle finding more help from professors and other experienced students in my major since the campus might not equipped with many of those students in my major. Causing a greater struggle to receive better instruction. I would be going there more because of my desire of wanting to reconnect with my beloved friends and to continue my dads legacy more than anything else. Later that night, I announced on my Snapchat that while I was shocked that I was accepted into U of I, Iowa would still be the plan heading forward. And if by any chance my upcoming visit to Iowa City in ten days went bad enough where I would still refuse to sign on any enrollment contracts or any other official documentation that would officially reserve my spot in the school, then I would pursue seriously looking at becoming a member of the Fighting Illini.

On the afternoon of March 19th, 2017, I departed for the four-hour drive to Iowa City where I would spend the night at the Iowa House Hotel located directly in the Iowa Memorial Union to give myself more time to explore the campus and college town. I spent at least two hours of that drive in rural Illinois on I-80 thinking to myself, "Is this place seriously as good as I have heard? It seems to be out in the middle of nowhere." While I really did enjoy the restauarants and views of the campus I received that night, nerves about how my meetings with advisors and tour guides would go really frightened me. What if these people won't treat me with enough respect because they think I am just purely a washed up college student who just flamed out of his first school? Will they hold anything against me for my struggles in early high school and throughout middle school? Will they be friendly and approachable? Will they prove that they are willing to work to make me succeed if it truly goes well tommorow? I thought falling in love with your school was something that was only true in fairytales. Meant for somebody else but not for me. But the use of trying came evident the next day.

March 20th 2017 happened to be the day when I believed love at first sight is actually a real thing. It was a bright sunny day, not warm but not cold day for me to get a grand tour of the campus, learn about the possible programs offered to me in my field of study, and see if being a Hawkeye was truly the best fit as me, my parents, and countless times, my high school friends have said it will be. My nerves were still present at breakfast in the hotel prior to my first meeting with my advisor. I had no idea if this guy would just be a jerk to me because I started somewhere else, if this guy would have any idea what he is talking about given my complex and unusual transfer situation, and if it would affect me negatively. Five minutes into that meeting, I felt more relaxed then ever. My advisor from that first meeting was a very friendly gentlemen who truly wanted to see me succeed. Upon the conclusion of that meeting, I told myself "It's all going to be alright. These people are defintely very friendly and welcoming to everyone who wants to be a Hawkeye. I've got nothing to be scared about. Nobody is going to treat me every different just because I have a different road to becoming a Hawkeye then others".

After all of the meetings and everything was completed, I started to feel that maybe these people who told me Iowa is the right decision for me are going to be right after all. Time will only tell on that. But the bright sun gave me an unprecendted look at the campus. A much better look then from what I have seen online or from brochures. You've got the Old Iowa Capitol Building right on the middle of campus, the vibrant view of the Iowa River from many spots of the campus (even better, my dorm has a view of the river). Adding on to why they say Iowa City is consistently one of the best college towns in America proved itself. Many restaurants, bars, bookstores, an upscale Sheraton hotel, all which pride themselves with Hawkeye school spirit are right within walking distance from many classes and dorms. Then you've also got the Pentacrest, another large field in front of the IMU (Iowa Memorial Union) with gorgeous flowers and wide open grass all surrounding it. On second thought, it is my goal and one of my dreams to at one point (obviously this will never happen in the fall semester), to study abroad. However, knowing the reality of the situation, I probably will end up never getting a chance to study abroad. But maybe I won't feel too sad about never getting my chance to study abroad when it's all done. You've got an old, unique building right on campus, a river running through much of the campus, fields with colorful flowers, and an amazing tight-knit town to see every day. Who the hell needs to study abroad in Europe when you have such an elegant, historic structure to be touristy around every day on campus? I can post Instagram pictures of me frolicking in all of the flowers pretending I'm in one of those tulip fields in The Netherlands. Eventually, I can find some good beer at some of the bars around campus and just pretend it's the same thing as drinking on the streets in Germany.

As for this year and beyond, I have a ton of ambitions. For starters, I plan on attending every single Iowa home football game at Kinnick Stadium. Yes, I do hope I can have a chance to join a fraternity this upcoming year. I also hope I can make a difference for some in this community. Hopefully that involves one day visiting children fighting cancer and other life-threating illnesses at the Iowa Children's Hospital located right on campus. Maybe I can even win an Intramural Championship on campus. On one last side note, I do want to attend at least one college party with a girl in my grade who attends the school named Sugar (It's not her real name but we all call her that). Time will tell what happens and if I in fact will thrive.

While I have a lot to look forward to in the coming year, I am also aware of the responsibility that comes with being a Hawkeye just so I can remain a Hawkeye and eventually graduate, or as I will call it, become immortalized as a Hawkeye. My goal is to get at least a 3.0 GPA every semester I am at the University. The academics and journalism program I hear are very good at this respective school. I do want to get a job one day when I am out of college and graduate. I know things won't come easy in the classroom at this school. Even though I only am taking three "real" classes, one of which is Spanish and the other two are writing, I will be very screwed if I come in thinking everything will be so easy. If I come into the classroom with the mindset that it will all be easy, I'll end up as an average, unspectacular, 2.5-2.8 GPA. Which would disappoint me as I am used to and I expect myself to succeed to the best of my ability in the classroom. This will be a challenge that I have wanted to accomplish since eighth grade. But I am very much up for this challenge.

I, Matthew Ryan Roleck solemnly swear, that I promise everyone of you that I will do my very best to perform to the best of my ability in the classroom. To grow as a person and as a friend, and do whatever it takes to succeed as an Iowa Hawkeye.

Just remember...

Don't be fooled by any rocks that I've got. I'm still Rolldaddy from the block. I used to have a little now I have a lot. But I always know where I came from.

Thank you all very much for your endless and amazing support throughout this unlikely journey!

Here is cheers to the great years ahead in Iowa City!