The Physics of Leadership

Physics wasn’t always easy for Matt Bacho, but that’s exactly what made him fall in love with it.

Bacho liked that it could answer questions he never thought he’d understand. Concepts like quantum mechanics and special relativity, which once felt out of reach, started to click – especially when he saw how they applied to the world around him.

But Bacho’s time at Anne Arundel Community College wasn’t just about equations and experiments. It was also about personal growth, trying new things and finding community.

As a senator in the Student Government Association and later as the vice president of Finance, he learned how to collaborate, problem solve and make an impact on campus. “It was nice to be recognized,” he said. “People knew my name and thought that I could do more than what I was doing at that point.”

He also jumped into the Leadership Challenge, a program designed to push students outside their comfort zones. For Bacho, that meant teaming up with others to tackle big problems. “The biggest takeaway was just being thrown into a group of people who have a problem to solve and having to figure it out,” he said. While he focused on data and numbers, his teammates brought creativity and big-picture thinking, which made the experience both challenging and rewarding.

And he didn’t stop there. Even with his leadership roles and tutoring jobs, both in AACC’s math lab and at Mathnasium, Bacho carried a full 18-credit term. Still, he found joy in helping others, especially when it came to breaking down tough math and physics problems for students of all ages.

Now, with graduation behind him, Bacho’s setting his sights on the stars. Literally. He’s preparing for an astrophysics research internship at Texas A&M and has earned an ROTC scholarship that will help launch his next chapter: becoming a Naval officer.