Hello and welcome.
Thanks for visiting my website. My name is Matthew Turk, and I’m a college student with interests in entrepreneurship, software engineering, and perhaps anything else that presents a worthwhile challenge. Originally from Chicago, I enjoy cosmology, investing, baseball, rowing crew, aerospace, philosophy, music, cars, and photography.
A place where “the wind of freedom blows”
Stanford University is a private research university in Stanford, California, where I am a junior. Admitting its first students in 1891 as a coeducational and nondenominational institution, Stanford started as a memorial to Leland Stanford Jr. on an 8,180-acre Palo Alto stock farm. It is a place that inspires me to best myself and pursue excellence, not for the sake of excellence itself, but for the benefit of humanity. Founding President David Starr Jordan aimed for the university to be affordable, to produce cultured and useful graduates, and to teach both the traditional liberal arts and technology and engineering. Moreover, it is a place where kindness, friendliness, and overall respect for every person on campus are all key components to how we exchange ideas with one another. Throughout the terms, I hope to get more acclimated to the community and acquire the tools of critical inquiry through my classes. In this way, I will have the opportunity to engage with diverse topics and fundamental questions with real-world problem-solving skills.
Experienced in nine programming languages
Frequently asked questions
Which discontinued podcasts do you miss the most?
Gosh, I’m thinking back to November 2018. A classmate of mine had recommended a mysterious show called Dreamboy. One weekend, I had a regatta in Skokie, Illinois, and in the freezing temperatures, I really just had my rowing uniform, a windbreaker, and a blanket my mom had brought me from Walmart. I put my headphones on and transported myself to another world. The ethereal score is enough of a reason to listen to it—and do expect its intrigue, pacing, and style to draw you in—but the storytelling style made me feel like I was five again. In a good way, that is. There’s something about that all-consuming, otherworldly curiosity when you know there’s an answer out there but you don’t yet have it. When so many questions can be answered—or appeased—by the Internet, I have to wonder what more podcasts like this would do for us as a culture. Some other notable mentions (off the top of my head) include Preach, Becoming Wise, The Black Tapes, S-Town, and The Edge of Sleep.
What is your musical taste?
As a consequence of learning violin in first grade, on any day I would love to listen to a majestic culmination of the masterful symphonies, sonatas, and string quartets by the three great composers of the First Viennese School. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has some terrific renditions that I always love to listen to. However, in terms of more recent music, I am a fan of alternative, rock, and metal. My favorite band is LINKIN PARK.
What book are you reading right now?
The View from Somewhere by Lewis Raven Wallace.
What’s your favorite programming language?
Swift has to take the cake here—at least ever since it came out in 2014. Designed to work with Apple’s Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks, as well as a large body of existing Objective-C code, this multi-paradigm, intuitive programming language is a powerful tool and as elegant as it is accessible.
If you could book a flight tomorrow for anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Without hesitation, I would book a flight to Monaco. The Principality has existed only in my imagination thus far, even though in sixth grade I remember watching Shmee150 videos in Monaco and would salivate over how elegant life seemed to be over there. It seemed that at every corner there was a car worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. Given that cars have been an integral part of my life and personality, I would like to travel there to see if the place lives up to the hype.
At this moment, what do you think is the best use of your time?
A lifetime is but the blink of an eye. For this reason, I think it is the best use of my time to create new value that will outlive me. That can include an invention, a book, an apprentice, an inspiration, an idea. The list goes on. However, this is how I see things right now. What is the best use of my time may be subject to change in the future.
How do you like your coffee?
Normally black will do; however, sometimes I do like to add a bit of cream. It can help the jitters subside. Don’t get me wrong, though. Black coffee is not the only type of coffee I like to drink. There’s never a day when I wouldn’t be up for a blended beverage from Starbucks or a chai latte. Delicious. In fact, my list of favorite Starbucks drinks is quite extensive, and we’ve only covered the tip of the iceberg.
What’s your favorite type of food?
The filet mignon is my favorite cut of meat. However, I am always on the lookout for new types of foods from different cultures. There are so many great dishes out there, especially as food engineers and companies like Beyond Meat and Soylent start experimenting with sustainable options and the like.