Matt Benson

Taking on Challenges

Matt Benson chose Luther because he wanted to practice medicine. “I knew that Luther had a strong biology program, and I knew that I would be well prepared if I decided to apply to medical school,” he says.

He also wanted to swim competitively. During his time at Luther, Matt was a two-year captain of the men’s swimming and diving team, earning two relay victories at the American Rivers Conference championships and claiming two individual conference titles.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, he joined the track and field team as well. During his junior year, he took on the decathlon despite the fact that he had never even tried five of the individual events that compose it. “I had always wanted to try the decathlon,” Benson says with a grin. “I ended up having a great time and even won one of the events.”

Giving Back to Community

He was also on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, the Alpha Phi Omega co-ed service fraternity, and the PALS youth mentorship program. The biology major and chemistry minor even earned induction into the Phi Beta Kappa national honor society.  “Believe it or not, I didn’t pull a single all-nighter,” he says. “Being so involved on campus really helped me manage my time.”

Matt is now a medical student—and scholarship recipient—at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. Building on healthcare experience gained working as a CNA during his summer breaks, he envisions a future as either a general surgeon or a family practice physician—he has job-shadowed doctors in both specialties—and hopes eventually to set up practice in a small rural community.

“The paramount thing for me is to form one-on-one connections in my profession,” he says. “My time at Luther—forging such tight connections with my teammates, my classmates, and my professors—drove home how important that is to me.”