A Passion for Storytelling

"I’ve always had a passion for storytelling, and helping other people tell their stories, people who maybe don’t have a voice, or don’t know how to put themselves out there.”

Matt Cox wrote for his high school newspaper, and later trained as a journalist at the University of Southern California.

But when he found himself in Australia doing some campaign work for Nike, he became interested in content creation and marketing, learning about the way brands tell their stories. Eventually, this interest evolved into a desire to study the Master of International Business at Melbourne Business School.

“I think in a broad sense, they’re all interrelated, content, journalism, and marketing. I chose the Master of International Business because I’m an American, living in Australia, so I liked the international element. I’m learning things that are exciting, and will inspire me for the rest of my career, for example this semester I’m taking a class on cross-cultural management.

This degree also pushed me, so I took classes I might never have chosen on my own, things like Global Corporate Governance,” he says. “I think with my background, I may go into marketing after graduation. Now I’ve given myself some tools to feel confident about it.”

Matt’s interest in storytelling and marketing manifested itself in the creation of Peers of Unimelb, a blog profiling his fellow students, a project that sprang from one of his digital marketing classes.

“My project partner and I were both doing a class on digital business and marketing. We developed this idea over a couple of semesters, then launched it as a way of putting some of those skills we’d gained into practice. It’s something we’ll be able to hold up and show potential employers when we graduate. It’s a hard job market, but having the University of Melbourne on your resume, and some kind of portfolio, really helps.”

Peers of Unimelb itself is about connection, allowing students from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines to forge relationships with one another.

“When I came here, one of the things that was important to me was that I’d get to meet interesting people, who could give me a new perspective, but I also realise it’s not easy for everyone to just walk up to a stranger and start a conversation.

I think Peers of Unimelb helps to create that connection. Everyone has a cool story to tell, and hearing those stories makes it easier to meet people, maybe you’ve had a glimpse of their personality, or you know you share an interest.”

Matt’s own story is only just beginning. Now in his final semester, he’s thinking about what’s next for him.

“I’ve fallen in love with Melbourne. Coming from the States, you don’t hear a tonne about Australia’s cities, you hear about the beaches, and the wildlife, and the shrimp on the barbie, but it’s that multi-cultural aspect of the city that’s won me over. It’s an incredibly creative place, and a lot of good marketing content comes out of here. My partner and I have been here for two years, and now that we’ve put that time in, and I’m about to graduate, I think I’d like to stay on and make the most of the opportunities we have here.”