Matthew T. Bernard

I have been passionate about working with my hands and building things since I was a little kid. From blocks to Lincoln logs to complicated Lego sets, I would spend hours constructing houses, cities, space ships and anything else I could imagine. My parents bought me my first tool belt, hard hat and Little Tykes workbench when I was 5 years old and I took off from there. Soon after, as my Dad refinished our basement, I was his official assistant fetching tools and gathering nails. I loved climbing up ladders and had no fear of heights. Throughout my childhood and teenage years I helped build our deck, laid tiles, set pavers and even helped replace our swimming pool walls. In high school I had a paid job with one of my teachers assisting him with the remodel of his basement as well as repairing storm damage to his home. I enjoy both creating something new from scratch and transforming something old and damaged into a brand new state.

I learned from a young age that if you try your best, work hard and take the time to do the best quality of work, anything is possible. Over the summer I had the opportunity to put everything I’ve learned to the test working for my first construction job. While some parts of the job were challenging, it proved to me that hard work and taking the time to do the job right the first time around truly pays off. I also learned that mistakes happen and make you a better builder as you learn from those mistakes. Now I’m a junior at UMass and looking to further my passion for building with a major in Building and Construction Technology. Taking the many things I have learned from construction and translating them to school has taught me to work hard, do my best and work well with others. An additional facet that also interests me about my major and career choice is learning how to work in an environmentally safe and sustainable manner. Once I graduate I hope to find a good job in the building industry where I can put to the test all the things I learned from school.