Bojana Hill – English Instructor

When Matt joined Laguna in the fall of 2016, he immediately sought to create a robust, professional College Counseling Program, eagerly implementing new strategies to guide both students and families toward success in college admissions. Over the next six years, many Laguna graduates were admitted to some of the nation’s most prestigious and competitive colleges—and even abroad—as Matt introduced a desirable destination of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (still a popular option for our current students). More importantly, Matt demystified the application process. One of his initiatives was to invite college representatives from a variety of schools—from UCs to U of Chicago—to join the Fall Senior Retreat at the bucolic El Capitan—an invitation all reps eagerly accepted.

All the teachers chaperoning witnessed the incredible value of the reps’ wisdom bestowed upon the students. As they pored over the seniors’ college essays, the reps provided individualized feedback, only to speak later to the families over a picnic on the green.

Matt’s newly revitalized counseling process led to a shared experience, uniting the teachers, students, families, and the abstract world of academia.

Andreas McClintock ‘24

Of course, his passing was heartbreaking and I have been looking back at all of the great memories that I have had with him on the Los Padres Trips. One of my best memories of him was when we were on one of our trips and George, Harrison, Struck and I went up a mountain. I remember that we left as a big group, and the number of people slowly started to dwindle down until it was just the four of us. I remember talking to him about his experience out in the wilderness and his connection to it and feeling a very similar connection to what he was referring to. I loved Struck for going out with us, as we hiked up this giant mountain and keeping up with us teenagers who were very fast hikers. He was always happy to go do something fun like go on a hike or a late-night stroll, and he also seemed to have time to connect to the people who didn’t want to do all of that. I think that Struck really opened many eyes to the beauty of the outdoors, and by showing us his passion, he gave us a little bit of it. His attitude towards doing work to make these places more beautiful and easy to hike was inspiring and I will miss him for it.

George Nicks  ‘22

I had the opportunity to work closely with Mr. Struckmeyer in running the Los Padres club, as a senior. The Los Padres club would run backpacking trips to the Los Padres National forest, where we would work with the Los Padres forest association to do trail maintenance deep in the backcountry. They were the high point of my time in high school, and were the same for many of the other club members. And the towering shadow they cast over my time at Laguna was due in large part to the dedication and the work  Mr. Struckmeyer. It is also worth mentioning that the planning of these trips was not trivial. Coordinating with the school, the LPFA, and parents, and then handling the logistics of supporting 20 kids in the woods for a week, took immense time and effort. I can say that personally, I owe a lot to Mr Struckmeyer, both for introducing me to the college I now attend, and for being a pivotal part of one the most meaningful experiences I had during high school. I’ll be eternally grateful for what he did for me.