{"id":4378,"date":"2025-08-27T08:53:49","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T12:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/?p=4378"},"modified":"2025-12-15T11:50:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T16:50:25","slug":"alumni-spotlight-matthew-howard-ackerman-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/08\/27\/alumni-spotlight-matthew-howard-ackerman-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Spotlight: Matthew Howard Ackerman '19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Business Administration | Wealth Management Professional at Goldman Sachs<\/em><\/p>\n

For Matthew Ackerman, attending Greenfield Community College was a transformational experience that helped shape both his personal and professional path. A 2019 graduate of the business administration program, Ackerman reflects on his time at GCC with deep gratitude and admiration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still say attending GCC was one of the best choices I\u2019ve made,\u201d Ackerman said. \u201cI always recommend it whenever I get the chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Affordability initially drew Ackerman to GCC, but it was the flexibility and supportive environment that truly won him over. \u201cGCC allowed me to explore my interests and easily switch concentrations when I wanted something new,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Though he once doubted his abilities as a student, Ackerman found encouragement and support from the faculty, who helped him realize his potential. \u201cNo matter your background, GCC will take you in and push you to strive to be a better you,\u201d he said. \u201cThe faculty genuinely care about their students. They saw something in me I didn\u2019t even realize I had. With their consistent encouragement and patience, I began to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalls learning not just how to be a good student, but how to be a lifelong learner. \u201cGCC taught me to be a student of life as well as academia,\u201d he said. \u201cThe lessons of patience, curiosity and dedication have continued to shape me long after graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ackerman is now a wealth management professional at Goldman Sachs\u2014an accomplishment he holds in high regard. \u201cEarning a position at Goldman Sachs, a company with an acceptance rate lower than Harvard\u2019s, is something I\u2019m very proud of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also counts his personal life among his greatest accomplishments. \u201cI\u2019m happily married and a father to three wonderful furbabies.\u201d<\/p>\n

For current students, Ackerman offers heartfelt advice rooted in his own experience:<\/p>\n

\u201cBe unapologetically honest. Be honest with yourself, with your professors, and dig deep to move in a direction you truly want,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were times I told professors, \u2018I didn\u2019t do the assignment because it was boring.\u2019 They weren\u2019t impressed\u2014but that honesty opened up conversations. I got the help I needed, whether it was more tutoring or switching to a better-suited class. Professors aren\u2019t just teachers; they\u2019re professionals who are there to help. Take them up on it\u2014you might find the spark you were missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business Administration | Wealth Management Professional at Goldman Sachs For Matthew Ackerman, attending Greenfield Community College was a transformational experience that helped shape both his personal and professional path. A 2019 graduate of the business administration program, Ackerman reflects on his time at GCC with deep gratitude and admiration. \u201cI still say attending GCC was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4307,"featured_media":4381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[48,49,10],"class_list":["post-4378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alum","tag-bag","tag-bat","tag-foundation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4307"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4378"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4380,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4378\/revisions\/4380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}