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STUDENTS
LOCAL
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Graduation Special
| Summer 2006
Nontraditionally Ahead of the Game
A student uses his early degree to combine his interests into a career
The Shorthorn staff
The Shorthorn: Mark Roberts
Matt Phillips, not even old enough to buy alcohol, has already earned
his master’s degree. The 20-year-old plans to return to law
school after
graduation.
Traditional in the fact that he attends classes and works diligently
for his grades and accomplishments.
Nontraditional because he already had a degree at the age his peers
were starting theirs.
Phillips obtained his bachelor’s in computer science engineering
at 18 years old, having started his studies three years prior. In fall
2004, he began working on his master’s at UTA, but took two semesters
off, fall 2005 and spring 2006, to attend his first year of law school.
He returned this summer to finish his master’s.
Phillips said home schooling allowed him to learn at his own pace, a
task which he applied in college.
“I was motivated to study on my own. I was motivated to go to
class,” he said.
Phillips’ father said his son took an early interest in politics
by reading newspaper articles about lawsuits and other events. On trips
to the bookstore, Mr. Phillips said he encouraged both his sons to read
their interests.
“If they have fun doing it, they’d do it on their own,”
he said.
Thomas Rethard, computer science and engineering lecturer, said Phillips
was a quiet, serious and attentive student.
“I actually thought he was quite a bit older than he turned out
to be,” he said. “He was much more mature than a lot of
the other students.”
Phillips said he plans on specializing in intellectual property law,
and that the combination of science and law is in high demand because
few can do it. Initially, he wanted to be a video-game programmer.
“Law was just interesting in general, and I liked working with
computers,” he said.
Rethard said Phillips discussed going to law school with him, and he
encouraged him to take the Law School Admission Test, or LSAT.
“Here he is with an engineering degree. It’s a perfect match
in my book,” Rethard said.
From 2003 to 2004, Phillips served on the university’s programming
team, which competes in the International Collegiate Programming Contest.
The team’s coach, Gil Carrick, also a department lecturer, said
teams compete with other schools to write computer programs.
Phillips’ shyness correlates to his age, Carrick said, but he
got along well with other students.
“He’s a very good student,” he said. “You don’t
have to answer a lot of questions for him.”
Carrick said Phillips was a pleasure to have in class — a student
who paid attention, did well and wanted to learn.
“He’s always got a smile on his face. I remember that about
him,” Carrick said.
Phillips said he has learned to visualize concepts, especially in law
school. Additionally, his GPA is better as a law student than a computer
science and engineering student.
Rethard said Phillips was an all-around good kid, but did have an attitude.
“But his attitude was ‘Give me, I want to learn,’
” Rethard said.
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