The Most Interesting Man at Aspen High

“I want to make a difference; I want to be innovative, and I want to inspire people”.

That’s the answer Aspen High senior Matthew Ferguson gave me when I asked what he wanted to do with his life. Ferguson is a well-known guy around the school; many people know him for his smile and unmistakable laugh, which can be seen and heard from about a mile away. While many people can point Ferguson out in a crowd not many of those people know who he really is. In his eyes, Ferguson doesn’t see himself as the interesting individual that he is.

“My life is pretty simple. I go to school, sit through boring classes. Then I head to practice, get home, procrastinate homework, and get little to no sleep,” Ferguson said.

From that statement he doesn’t seem any different most students at Aspen. Truth be told that statement doesn’t scratch the surface to who Matthew really is. You see those boring class, make up the IB Diploma program. Practice is never ending for Ferguson, who is a three-sport athlete participating in football, hockey, and rugby. That’s right, rugby.

“I haven’t played it long, but it’s a sick sport. It’s kinda like football except you play every position and it never stops, ” Ferguson said.

Before starting rugby, Ferguson had been a two-year varsity lacrosse player. He promptly quit lacrosse when he fell in love with rugby. Along with Ferguson’s newfound love for rugby came the reward of college athletics. He will be playing rugby sevens – a smaller version of rugby in which the team only fields seven players opposed to the regular fifteen – at Dartmouth College, his dream school.

“I began to grow interested in Dartmouth at a young age; we would go up to my uncles cabin near the school, and I fell in love with the area. As I’ve grown older I’ve also fallen in love with the school,” Ferguson said.

Not only is Matthew a smart kid, he’s also a musician. A good one at that, he is currently playing in two bands. One is an acoustic band whose sole members are Ferguson and fellow senior Ben Belinski. The other band is what Ferguson classified as a garage band. The name of the band is Alpha Centauri. The bands members include Ferguson, Belinski, senior Leilani Rosenthal, and junior Will Kahn.  AC has played in numerous local venues. They look to play more venues this summer.

With Ferguson’s athletic ability, musical talent, and intelligence a bright future seems to be in the cards for the most interesting man at Aspen High.