SPENCERVILLE, OH (WLIO) - Our OhioMeansJobs Student Employee of the Month is Spencerville's Mathew Miller, who has known that he wanted to work in a funeral home from a very young age.
Mathew Miller stands out among his peers for his uncommon work ethic. He's been the FFA president two times, and right now he works not one but two jobs. Outside of school, much of his time is spent at Strayer Sow Farm and the Thomas E. Bayliff Funeral Home. He will sometimes work shifts at both of his jobs right after school. The other uncommon thing about Mathew is that he figured out his career goal very early in life and has stuck with it.
"When I was younger, I was kind of a naggy little kid that went to the funeral home with my parents and was very actually interested in it at a young age and talked to the funeral director here in town. He told me to once I got a little older to come back and talk to him so I turned about 14 years old and went back and talked to him, and he told me to go ahead and come out, start getting the ropes, and learning how it's actually going to go down," said Mathew Miller, Spencerville High School.
The "Cool Cars" are what first grabbed Mathew's attention, but once he began interning at the funeral home, he realized how much he enjoyed being able to help people who are grieving. His colleagues say he's well on his way to becoming a talented funeral director.
"He's eager to listen, get hands-on when we ask him to, and shows a lot of interest not only in the upfront with the people work but also in the prep room, where our work all starts back there," said Cole Frank, a funeral director and embalmer at the funeral home.
"You don't have to tell him what to do; he's been around long enough that he knows what to do, and you just can't say anything bad about him. Just a very good kid," added Thomas Bayliff, the owner of the funeral home.
Mathew already had his career planned out, but his job coach has helped him figure out the rest of his future. They've worked together on the lifestyle budget that can be found on ohiomeansjobs.com to prepare him for financial stability after graduation.
"The student loan debt is something that's factored into it, so students are able to see depending the degree or the public or private education they're choosing, what kind of debt. The transportation is also one that's surprising. How much it costs to own a car every month, how much car payments cost. And then also the amount of savings, so we also go over how to save best so that you can retire," explained Catherine Neal, high school job coach at OhioMeansJobs.
Our OhioMeansJobs Allen County Student Employee of the Month, Mathew Miller.
