Matthew Hooper
Name: Matthew Hooper
Position: Associate Dean of Students.
Education: Biola, B.A., Communications; Talbot, M.A., Christian Ministry & Leadership.
At Biola since: 1991 (minus 1 year 1997-98).
Your StrengthsFinder top five? Empathy, achiever, activator, strategic, maximizer.
1. What do you do in your job? As the Associate Dean of Students, in partnership with the staff of Student Development, I help provide our students with resources to become all that God desires for them while at Biola. More specifically, I offer a strategic voice, supportive presence and intentional advocacy for the departments of Commuter Life, International Students, and Student Transitions. Day by day, I look for opportunities to have developmental conversations with our students. To have such conversations is one of my great privileges as a member of this dynamic Kingdom-centered educational community.
2. The five (or so) most influential books you've read:
In Christ - AJ Gordon;
Iron John - Robert Bly;
Changes that Heal - Henry Cloud;
The Way of the Heart - Henri Nouwen;
The Lord of the Rings - JR Tolkien.
3. An influential person in your life/hero/best example of love? Henri Nouwen
4. Why are you at Biola? To influence the next generation of Christian Leaders toward a deep knowledge and experience of the life of God and the reality of His kingdom on earth.
5. A guilty pleasure: Dark Chocolate; Sheela's (my wife) desserts.
6. If God put you completely in charge of creating Heaven, what would it be like? Rivendell.
7. What movie/TV/book have you seen in the last year that you wish all your friends could see? Pride & Prejudice.
8. If you could relive any part of your life, what part would it be? My wedding & first year of marriage.
9. What is the most difficult choice you’ve ever had to make? Confronting dysfunction in a professional setting. What made it difficult? This choice required me to act courageously even in the midst of great fear of failure and ridicule. What factors helped you make that choice? Clinging to what I knew was right and best helped me make the choice.
10. What is the most risky thing you want to try doing? I don't like doing risky things... = )
11. What are five things you are most thankful for in your life right now?
Sheela, my wife;
Annie, my daughter;
My Family--Mom, Dad, Brothers & Sisters;
My Church;
My sense of deep connectedness to the Lord.
12. In difficult times, who would you most want praying for you? Sheela, my closest friends, my church, my family.
13. What was the greatest peer pressure you felt as a teen/college student? To party. I gave in...a little.
14. Do you think it is possible to live with no regrets? Yes, if we are living life with no reserves--pouring ourselves out into whatever we have committed ourselves to.
15. What is your definition of success? Doing whatever I do in the Lord and with a commitment to constant improvement.
16. How much is your self-worth and identity determined by your job and your success at it? In my life apart from God, much of my identity is connected to what I do. As a result, part of the reason why I work so hard is to feel good about myself.
17. What are the most important things you look for when choosing a church? Biblical Groundedness; Multi-ethnicity; Multi-generational; Authentic leadership; Relationship focus.
18. What are the 3 questions you most want to ask God?
What will we do in Heaven?
When did Jesus laugh the hardest on earth?
What questions are most important to God?
19. In what areas of your life is it most difficult to trust God? Deeply releasing life on my terms.
20. What does contentment mean to you? Living each day with a radical openness to God and others. How close are you to that, now? Still in process, but growing...
