Matthew Milotakis - Signing Off of Voices

Hello all! My name is Matthew J. Milotakis, and I am the current Head FITZ Intern and Event Coordinator for the English Literary Department. I’m excited to carry out this tradition started by Sophia Thomas ’25!

I was first introduced to FITZ in 2021, my freshman year. I was on a Zoom call with now-retired Dr. Margaret Case, who was helping me pick out classes for my first semester of college. She was excited that I was an English major and kept asking me lots of questions about my plans for the future and what I wanted to do. When I told her that I wanted to own a publishing company one day, she got extremely excited and immediately told me I’d be someone who would work well with the FITZ team. I was the first person to start in this position as a freshman, and it was treated like a trial run that I could choose whether or not to continue in the following years, but within the first week, I knew I wanted to be on the team until I graduated.

The positions I’ve been in while on the FITZ team include Event Head, Technology Head, and Head FITZ Intern. I have always loved coming up with new events, especially when catering to the English majors and minors, so being an Event Head taught me so much about event planning, coordination, and communication as I talked back and forth with a lot of professors, alumni, and local businesses to create a strong literature community. I loved designing posters, creating planned-out Google Docs for each event, and seeing an event come together in the end. With being a Technology Head, I helped create a new system that allowed our events to reach wider audiences as well as include alumni who may not have been able to make it to events otherwise. My proudest accomplishment with technology is the setup I helped to create to run a smooth Senior English Colloquium, and allow a chance for parent to be able to see their students present even if they’re in another state. Then, as a Head FITZ, I was able to help delegate tasks, run a team of amazing Interns, and help train Interns to move to the next position in the coming year. I also helped to create a new interview process for students who started in their freshman year, allowing us to see more passion from potential FITZ Interns and see what they reflect on.

When I first joined FITZ, I met people who are still in my life today, and I hope they continue to stay in my life forever. FITZ has provided me with a community that is loving, nurturing, and extremely supportive, all while being smart, attentive, and organized. One of my favorite memories is one time when the team debriefed about an event that we helped out with, Bristol Bookfest, and by the end we all were laughing and just talking about ways to improve the event and it was a moment that made me realize how passionate we all were and how much we cared, no matter what happened. It was such a great moment for me and helped me realize how much I loved event planning and the people around me.

Being on this team has developed my confidence a lot. I have learned how to lead, how to work with suggestions of different types of professors, how to stay professional in a myriad of challenging settings, and so much more. I have learned to make sure I always follow through, no matter how small the task, to stay calm in any situation, and to always check in on other Interns and try to alleviate their stress. Being on this team has shown me the impact of a small team and how passion can lead to big projects and big impacts.

Thank you for allowing me to be on a team of such brilliant and caring minds for the past four years. And thank you for being a huge part of why I felt like I could do anything during my college career. 
I hope that the team always provides as much love and support as it did for me, and I know it will.

Sincerely, 
Matthew J. Milotakis