Matthew Singleton: Broken family didn't deter education major

For Matthew Singleton, getting through college was more difficult than it is for most. But he will be the first person in his family to graduate from college.

Singleton spent most of his life living in Roswell with his grandparents, and rose out of hardship to receive his degree in secondary education this semester.

While Singleton’s father was not around, his mother was in and out of his life.

“Everybody loves Mom and Dad,” Singleton said. “As I grew older, I realized that my mom wasn’t the parent that I needed.”

Singleton’s grandmother, Katherine Summerville, said Singleton’s parents had not attended college and had had rough lives. She said she knew Singleton would be different.

“He has such a good brain that I knew he would turn out to be the opposite,” she said.

Singleton said he lived with his grandparents, uncle and two younger siblings. The family of six lived on Singleton’s grandfather’s military retirement income. Things were good, but financially difficult.

“We struggled sometimes, but we got by,” Singleton said. “We always had food and got to places that we needed to be.”

Singleton said he learned all about how to work around the house because his family could never afford to hire someone to fix things, which has improved his home-maintenance skills tremendously.

After working and saving his money, Singleton drove to Albuquerque from Roswell to attend UNM.

“I am very proud of Matthew,” Summerville said. “He has worked so hard for everything.”

Singleton said he was lucky to have a few teachers who showed him it was possible to achieve anything if he would just work hard for it. He said he would like to replicate what his teachers did for him and encourage students to keep pushing.

“I really wanted to help the kids with a similar situation to mine,” Singleton said. “Even growing up with a rough background, if you get that degree, you can change your lives for the better.”

Although Singleton’s grandfather, Robert Summerville, passed away roughly two weeks ago, Singleton said it means a lot to him that he is able to do what he knows his grandfather would have wanted.

“It’s been a dream come true,” Singleton said. “All throughout elementary school and high school, the goal was to go to college.”

Liam Cary-Eaves is the assistant sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at assistantsports@dailylobo.com or on twitter @Liam_CE.