Way to Go!: Frank Mattimoe, Stony Brook
Frank Mattimoe was accepted to a four-year program at New York University Shanghai. Credit: Chaminade High School
A Chaminade High School senior’s passion for Chinese culture and language has earned him a prestigious opportunity to study in Shanghai.
Frank Mattimoe, 18, of Stony Brook, was accepted to a four-year program at New York University Shanghai, a program jointly established by NYU and East China Normal University. He was surprised with an acceptance letter during a recent visit by representatives from NYU Shanghai to his Chinese IV class.
“This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Mattimoe said. “It’s what I’ve been working toward since I started taking Chinese. I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else.”
Mattimoe, who is in his fourth year of studying Mandarin at Chaminade, is president of the school’s 40-member Chinese Club.
He completed a six-week scholarship in Shanghai last summer through the National Security Language Initiative for Youth, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. In 2016, he spent four weeks at Middlebury Interactive Languages’ immersive Summer Language Academy at Middlebury College in Vermont.
At Chaminade, he is a member of the National Honor Society and Social Studies Club. He also is part of the religious leadership program called CROSS, as well as a sacristan, helping set up for Mass.
Mattimoe is a Boy Scout and volunteers at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Setauket.
— Michael R. Ebert
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
