Meet the intern: Jordan Matthiass

Time to say hello to another intern! Current Wex intern Malu Marzarotto coordinated with others now working here to share a behind-the-scenes view of the Wex and its programming. In addition to a Q&A, each contributed an image that speaks to their interests or experiences. If you'd like to be considered for an internship for 2018-19, complete the application by March 5.
Malu is a third-year undergraduate student at The Ohio State University studying Arts Management in the Department of Arts Administration, Education, and Policy. She's also the Marketing Chair for Ohio State’s Student Radio Club, A.R.O.U.S.E (the Amateur Radio Organization for Undergraduate Student Entertainment). 

Jordan Matthiass
Fourth-year student in Philosophy at Ohio State
GenWex Program Intern

Why did you choose this image?
It’s definitely not a "good" photo (as an amateur photographer, I’m a little annoyed with myself for choosing it) but it’s one that I think reflects a lot of my personality. I shot it while standing behind the bar of a place I briefly worked while in Sweden, Kalmar nation. This place was kind of the hip students’ union, where the cool kids would drink Sweden’s equivalent to PBR, Åbro, and listen to Makthaverskan and The Smiths over vegan burgers. I was really involved with the nation and spent a lot of my second semester in Uppsala helping out there. The photo in question comes from a particularly tranquil evening in April when we had almost no customers. I propped my Mac on the bar, read some philosophy papers for class, sipped hot cocoa, and played slow folk jams over the P.A. It was amazingly cozy and stands out as one of the nicest evenings of my time abroad, if not my entire life, purely for its simplicity and mundanity. If you can’t tell I’m all about the cozy life.

What projects or events are looking forward to in your work as a GenWex intern?
It may be kind of cliché for the GenWex intern to be so hyped about his department's signature event (note: GenWex is 99% interdepartmental), but Off The Grid 2018 is shaping up to be ridiculously fun. If you're not aware of OTG, it's basically a blowout art, music, and dance party for young Wex fans and patrons. This year, we're getting Reggie freakin' Watts as headliner, in tandem with a theme centered on Todd Oldham's intense, maximalist fashions. Most of my work during the year is aimed at making OTG a smash hit, and I think GenWex is really going to knock it out of the park in 2018. (See what six months working with GenWex will do? All I think about anymore is OTG! OTG! OTG!)

What are the more surprising things you do in your role as GenWex's intern?
I may or may not get to eat snacks at GenWex meetings, and I may or may not get to tour rooftop gardens and hang out with cast members of experimental dance performances at word-of-mouth after-show hangouts. OK, I totally get to do all of those things, and each new experience that takes place away from my desk at the Wex is just as unexpected and just as cool as the one that came before. And they're all (kinda) official!

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see cast as you?
So, I also work at the Gateway Film Center, and this question was part of their whole interview/onboarding process. I said that I would pick Jack Nance, because he's chipper, madcap, and warmhearted 99 percent of the time (see: Twin Peaks), but he can kill a role where he's asked to be serious and brooding (see: Eraserhead). That he's also mildly obscure and my picking him evoked a "Wait, who?" from my GFC pals probably proves that I'm well-suited for working at an institution like the Wex.

What children’s fiction character do you relate to most?
If you know The Moomins (or, Mumin, in Swedish), you'll know the green-robed little wanderer Snufkin (or, Snusmumriken). During my time spent studying in Sweden, I started reading the original Mumin books and watching the '90s I Mumindalen cartoon to help in learning Swedish. In doing so, I was instantly enamored by Snusmumriken. He's the only humanoid in the entire series, and he flits in and out of the narrative at the drop of a hat. His love of adventures and faraway places, as well as very fine taste and old-soul worldview, are things with which I really identify. I even had plans to be Snuf for Halloween until I learned that people in Sweden don't really dress up for the holiday. :(