Matthew Mugo Fields
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
San Diego, CA USA
"Learn how to learn—part of that is learning to learn things you’re not that interested in. Being disciplined and focused enough to learn stuff that doesn’t seem interesting at first is really important."
Career Roadmap
Matthew's work combines: Education, Technology, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
In Barbados, I was always a really good student, but coming into the U.S. school system, I struggled. When I was in elementary/middle school, I was held back and put into classes that were basically for students who were never going to go to college. I was underestimated and teachers felt like I wasn't capable. It made me doubt myself, but I had the support of family and other teachers that believed in me and helped me succeed.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Morehouse College
Graduate Degree
Business Administration and Management, General
Harvard University
Graduate Degree
Education, General
Harvard University
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
Immigrated to the U.S. from Barbados when I was a child.
2.
Transitioning into the U.S. school system was hard for me—I was always underestimated, but I had a teacher who supported me and got me back on track.
3.
Growing up, my family was very poor and I couldn’t afford to go to college.
4.
My teacher and people in my community rallied together to raise money to send me to college—this generosity sparked my passion in education and my desire to give back.
5.
Received my bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College, then attended Harvard University, where I received a dual master’s degree in business administration and education.
6.
While at Harvard, I co-founded a tutoring company which later became the Rocket Group, a company that uses technology to improve education and advance the field of online learning.
7.
Worked at McGraw-Hill Education helping to develop adaptive learning programs for students.
8.
I now work for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as an executive vice president and general manager in charge of the company’s supplemental curriculum portfolio and intervention solutions.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
You aren't smart enough to go to college.
How I responded:
In Barbados, I was always a really good student, but coming into the U.S. school system, I struggled. When I was in elementary/middle school, I was held back and put into classes that were basically for students who were never going to go to college. I was underestimated and teachers felt like I wasn't capable. It made me doubt myself, but I had the support of family and other teachers that believed in me and helped me succeed.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I immigrated to the U.S. from the Caribbean when I was young.
My family was really poor and I couldn't afford to pay for college. I had a teacher who raised money with the help of the community to send me to college.
Transitioning into the U.S. school system was challenging. I was held back and underestimated. It took some amazing teachers to help me and guide me back on track.