Walking down school hallways with a purposeful stride and a hand in his green sports hoodie pocket, Matthew “Matt” Kennedy (12) is simultaneously extroverted and introspective.

“I’m in my head a lot,” he said. “Sometimes I’ll get worried about what people think, but then I remember that I might not see a lot of these people, so why worry? I do care about what people think sometimes, and I don’t really need to.”

As people grow up, everything becomes more complex, but Matt values the simplicity and blunt candor of childhood — no white lies and no hiding the truth.

“If you don’t like someone, straight up tell them that you don’t like them. It’s better than having them feel like you care about them and being disappointed, in my opinion,” he said. “Would you rather have someone say that they like you and not care about you at all, or would you rather have them say they don’t like you and not like you?”

Yet, even with such down-to-earth philosophy, Matt keeps a energetic air and sense of humor that make him well-liked among both peers and instructors.

“He is just always light-hearted. There’s always a near smile on his face. He is not casual, but he has swag that works for him,” upper school theater teacher and director Jeffrey Draper said. “He can do anything because he has the personality to work well with others and to inspire them to be their best.”

For Matt, being true to oneself is an immutable, invaluable personal moral in a world where change is ubiquitous.

“I think you should better yourself, but in doing so, you shouldn’t lose friends in the process. I feel like people who change and blow off old friends, it’s not cool,” he said. “If there’s something you need to fix, then go ahead, but if it doesn’t bother you and it doesn’t bother anyone else, then don’t bother.”

As an aspiring actor, Matt bares his soul to the audience in portraying his characters on stage, whether in tragic dramas such as “Rabbit Hole” or lighthearted plays like “The Comedy of Errors.” Following his own advice on bettering himself, Matt makes the most of his hard-working and personable nature in his pursuits, earning him a reputation of being reliable and caring.

“Acting is his passion, so you can really see that when you’re working with him,” friend and fellow actor Karan Gupta (11) said. “Whenever Mr. Draper got the chance during Fall Play, he would always use Matt as an example of what a good work ethic is and what to do.”

While Matt already excels on his own, he continues to inspire others with his teamwork and awareness of others around him, traits that have allowed him to succeed in both sports and theater.

“He was doing football before he moved into the arts, and he brought this skill of being an amazing team player to everything we did here with the players and in theater class. He is a great scene partner,” Draper said.

Regardless of his surroundings, Matt maintains his dedication and work ethic.

“I had Matt act in one of my films, and it was super informal, but he still showed up to the shoot with his lines memorized, even though we wrote the script and we didn’t have our lines memorized,” Karan said. “Some of the jokes were 100 percent on the spot. Matt would just try something and then we would like it so much.”

A part of what makes Matt such a charismatic character is that he invests so much of his energy into other people, and in turn draws support and energy from them.

“When he was working in ‘Comedy of Errors’, he had this epic monologue at the end, and he had to have the whole cast be his scene partner and he just always made moments work,” Draper said. “It wasn’t about him. Even though he was alone for this long monologue, he was really throwing energy to other people and feeling that they matter, and that made his work better.”

For Matt, being true to oneself is an immutable personal moral in a world where change is ubiquitous.

“I think you should better yourself, but in doing so, you shouldn’t lose friends in the process. I feel like people who change and blow off old friends, it’s not cool,” he said. “If there’s something you need to fix, then go ahead, but if it doesn’t bother you and it doesn’t bother anyone else, then don’t bother.”