Hi, my name is Matthew Alter and I am from Indianapolis, Indiana. I am an only child, but have a really big family, that I am extremely close with. I am a freshman here at Piedmont, and also play baseball. While my family has gone to several different places and gone through their own situations and scenarios to begin writing their futures, it is now time for me to start writing my own story, which begins in Demorest, Georgia.

Our family has had a lot of success in athletics and has produced a number college athletes. My dad, played baseball at Stetson University, my uncle played football at Butler University, my grandpa played football at Purdue University, my cousin played baseball at the University of Dayton, and lastly my other cousin runs track and cross country at Butler University.

Since the day I arrived on campus and to this day, one of the most common questions that I have been asked when meeting new people, teammates and even teachers, is “Indiana? Why are you here?” Or occasionally the sarcastic, “Indiana? Who is that?” every once in awhile. At the start of the fall semester I was nice about it and gave the subtle “Haha,” to avoid an awkward situation, but now when a new person asks me a question about Indiana, I try to get a laugh by saying, “Yeah, believe it or not it doesn’t snow all 12 months of the year,” or “Yes I am from the Hoosier State, and yes we do actually have WIFI.” I know sometimes I get annoyed, but then I have to remember that some aspects of life are completely different down here.

The transition from leaving my home in Indiana and moving 8 hours away to North Georgia has definitely been difficult, and for sure made me grow up and mature very quickly. I initially chose Piedmont, because I have always dreamed of playing baseball in the south where you can be outside pretty much all year long, and where competition is top notch. Another reason for choosing Piedmont, was that my cousin was and assistant baseball coach here, but my plans were quickly devastated when he told me the news on how he will be leaving Demorest to move and coach baseball at Clemson University. Even with how big of a disappointment that was, with the combination of feeling sorry for myself for being by myself in the middle of nowhere pretty much, I look back and realize that if those things didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be where I am as a person now.

Now that I have been resident in Georgia for 5 months now, I have found out a number of different things, but the ones that in a way proved me wrong, is that not everyone talks like a hillbilly, or has a redneck, and especially that not every meal is fried chicken with collard greens.