Rebound: Luke Hill (w/ Tim Miller)

Dr. Tim Miller hosts another episode of the Rebound podcast with Luke Hill, a Junior Transfer student who is passionate about wanting to spread joy to those around him, and having a positive impact on future generations.  Luke discusses his journey through different academic programs and ideas before deciding to major in Elementary Education after experiencing a few setbacks along the way. 

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Transcript

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Dr. Tim Miller

Welcome back to the Rebound podcast. We're really excited to be back sharing Rebound stories with you all. Today we have Luke Hill joining us. Luke can you tell us a little bit about yourself, what you've been involved with on campus, where you're from…whatever you want everyone to know about you?

Luke Hill

Hello everyone. So my name is Luke Hill and, um, I'm a junior Elementary Education major who transferred from Tidewater Community College, and I absolutely love it here at JMU. I am involved in Orientation now…was a Transfer Orientation Peer Advisor this past summer, which means I'm pretty much like what an Orientation Peer Advisor would be for First Years, but I was that for Transfer students, so I got to focus on that specific group, which I thought was really nice, and then also I am a young life leader at HRock Capernaum, which is um, Harrisonburg Rockingham County Capernaum, and basically what that is–it's um, a Ministry for high school students um, ages 15 to 22 with um, intellectual disabilities, and just kind of like any disability. We welcome everyone there and basically, we just want to do our best to just kind of share the good news, and really just give them a safe environment to allow them to just express themselves in any way possible. We do our best to emphasize Joy– it's really just–get a good message out there and to just let our students know that they are loved Unconditionally by not only the Savior but everyone around them. 

Dr. Tim Miller

And you play guitar…

Luke Hill

I do, yes. I've been playing for nine years

Dr. Tim Miller

Tell us about guitar a little bit.

Luke Hill

Okay, so I actually do remember the day I actually um, started playing guitar. So um, let's see– once upon a time on a dark and stormy night…no I'm just kidding, um, on January, um, 18, 2013, I remember um, my dad wanted to give me an electric guitar, and I actually, um, originally it was supposed to be something like, just for like, a decoration from my room–that's kind of what I intended it to be, because I wasn't really passionate about music at the time. I was like, “oh here's as a decoration for my room,  and it would be great,” but um, yeah my dad found some guy on Craigslist and we actually went to the guy's house. He actually had like, a really nice house, I'm not gonna lie. It had like, a balcony and a pool, and great stuff like that, and I remember um, when we went to the backyard, um, the porch in the backyard–that's where we um, plugged in the guitar and the amp for the first time, and I remember just trying to strum it, and I remember saying, “oh that's gonna need some work,” and I remember when I got home that night, I remember, I wanted to crank up the amp just as loud as I can, and my mom was just like, “Luke, turn that down, that's too loud,” and I remember like, I was just like, it was almost like love at first sight, so I remember, um, I remember just doing my best to just, kind of, search videos on YouTube, and um, just kind of, find some tutorials on how, like, to just get better at guitar, and like, what are some beginner skills I can learn, and like, what are some songs I can learn? And I remember a few weeks went by and I have already picked up a little bit of “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns and Roses, and “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple, which honestly, like, those are like, really good beginner songs, but to me like, this was, like, a big deal and just– since then, I've been doing my best to just get out there, um, with just playing as much music as I can–explore all genres. If you ask me what my favorite music is I would say anything except for death metal and trap rap–I love all genres, but those are just kind of some stuff that's like just a little bit extreme for me, in my opinion, and throughout the years I've had the fortunate opportunity to um, go to programs such as “School of Rock”, which was a program where we got to rehearse as a band, and I got to get guitar lessons, and we would actually play gigs at the um, “School of Rock” venue, and then sometimes we would even Branch out into our community, and play at many venues around the Hampton Roads area. For example, I played at the Norva back in 2015, which was a really big deal for me because originally, “21 Pilots” had taken that stage before, and just getting to like, walk in the pretty much like, the footsteps of like, just big groups like those, I thought that was really neat, and then recently, I've been doing my best to just get better at music theory, reading music, and I remember this past semester–actually, no the semester before January, so fall 2021, I had actually auditioned for the JMU School of Music before I transferred here, and I got wait listed, but I feel like it was kind of just, like, an Awakening saying like, you can still like, do music and like, just keeping your life through many things, so I've had the fortunate opportunity to just kind of…just jam out with friends, and I even got to lead um, worship at HRock Young Life Leadership meetings sometimes, and that's been really cool, and also it's just kind of a hobby for me right now, just because I've been super busy with school, and just do my best to just keep the balance, but every chance I get to play guitar, I've always picked it up, and it's just something that I feel like has always been a part of me, and I love it, and I recommend it to anyone who's looking for an instrument.

Dr. Tim Miller

All right. I love it as well, as you know as a fellow guitarist. I agree we should all play guitar. Let's go…so, uh, let's talk about your JMU origin story. Can you talk about how you got to JMU? Talk about, sort of, the beginnings of your JMU, sort of…experience? You already talked about music not being the thing, but how did you get here? You know– talk about the transfer process…however you want to share that.

Luke Hill

Of course. October 17, 2020, that was the first time I've ever stepped foot on James Madison University's beautiful campus, and yeah, just ever since I walked on that campus, obviously it was a hard time because um, I had just started Community College, and then COVID was just kind of like, a big thing not only in the United States, but all over the world, and I remember just um, my friend had actually showed me just, around the campus, and we got to explore downtown Harrisonburg a little bit and just kind of all over main campus and East Campus, and I remember just really just, feeling at home, and I remember like, that was like my goal: I want to transfer to JMU. So um, I did my best to just, stay grounded in community college, and something that I thought was really cool was that the first three semesters of my community college experience–so fall 2020, spring 2021, and then summer 2021 I had gotten Straight A's on throughout those semesters, and I thought that was just something um, that I thought was really cool. So I had a pretty good feeling. I was um, doing everything I can to work towards the goal, but then also it was like, really tricky to kind of go through that because all my classes were online, and that means I wasn't really able to meet like, a lot of people or anything, so I kind of had to make the best out of my own experience in a tough situation, and then fall 2021–that was a tricky semester too, but I feel like I kind of persevered a whole lot in that, because it was a 19 credit semester, and as you can imagine, that is kind of out of the ordinary for an average college student, because usually for that– that's 15 credits, which is like, the average, from what I've heard at least, but 19 credits um, I was fortunate enough to graduate with a 3.8 GPA to get my Associate's degree and then to answer your real question–I found out about JMU because um, obviously I had gotten that campus tour from my friend at the time, and I applied to four schools, which being, James Madison University, Virginia Tech, Appalachian State University, and East Carolina University, and all four which I got accepted, and I thought that was really neat to just, kind of, have those open options, but I feel like in my heart, I always wanted to go to JMU, just because I really love the community here–great school spirit, and great programs overall, and “Dukes Hold Doors”-- like, I can just see that's like, a really big way that kindness is just really here on campus, and I really do my best to just, kind of, live by that example, and you said you wanted to talk about, kind of, how like, I established like my major and everything too?

Dr. Tim Miller

Yeah I'm interested in knowing, sort of, the High School to Associates…also transition, and then sort of how you chose what you were going to study once you got here.

Luke Hill

Okay, definitely. Yeah, so…high school, um…I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't the brightest student academically. Um, I remember I would also have some classes um, that were pretty difficult, and then I remember I had some accommodations, so I get “read aloud” on certain tests and quizzes, and then also, I would be broken into small groups in case, like, we were doing like, rigorous activity class, just so someone could explain it to me easily, and that was because um, I do have high functioning autism, but I feel like I am not going to use that as an excuse to like, not be involved in anything, because let's be real–if we really see like, the potential in someone, we can really just watch them flourish, and like, everyone has a meaning in life, which means like, we can like, build something for the better, and I feel like for me, that was something that really stood out to me. Especially like, throughout my whole childhood, like, I always knew I had it in me, which is one of the big reasons why I'm here today. My teachers have always been really supportive, and my parents have always been really supportive, but I feel like high school was definitely, um, tricky for me academically because um, I feel like I've done pretty good for the most part, but then geometry–let's be real–math can be hard for everyone, but also it was tricky for me especially in Geometry, because like, I never really grafted it on the formulas that well. It kind of like just took me like, a long time to just process everything, and then my teacher, I thought. wasn't the most patient, but I'm not gonna really touch base on that because um, I had that same teacher when I retook geometry and she ended up being amazing for me. She really just wanted to help, and one of the reasons why she came off the way she did is because she was just stressed out for us because she genuinely just wanted us to do well, so just learning that she like, really wanted us to do well, most importantly, I thought that was just really something that was really sweet to me, and when I had to retake the class the second time, I really just took full advantage to just, really asked for help. and then I remember like, early in the morning I would go the tutoring, even like, on the hardest days. I remember I was dread going, and yeah just, really like, just asking questions, and like, really focusing on what was most important. I feel like that was something um, I really learned throughout that semester of high school, which was my second semester junior year, is that it's okay to ask for help, and if anything, like, you're just gonna be a stronger person if you do that, and then obviously, since I only had a 2.9 GPA during that time I figured um, going to University automatically wouldn't be the best step, and then also, it just kind of like, money and everything too, I know that can definitely be a big barrier for some people, so that's kind of the reason why I started at Community College, and then also, I just didn't really… know what I wanted to major in anyway. So yeah, I took my General Studies classes, and then it was my college composition class that I found out that I truly wanted to be an educator, because I remember our professor Francis, she made us write a essay on like, what potential career you could picture yourself doing, and I was like, how could I write something about a career if I don't even know what I'm doing? And no, just really, like, made me like, just research like, what I really wanted to do, and I remember like, one of the biggest things I've always wanted to do, no matter what I do, is make a positive impact, and I feel like that was just something I could really discover, because I'm an elementary education major, and just being an educator, and just knowing that I have the opportunity to just, kind of change our generation, and our next Generations for like, just time to come. I thought that was just like, a really big opportunity to just really–just be a mentor and an educator for those who do not have access to any of that.

Dr. Tim Miller

Sure. So now talk to me about the transition into JMU. How did that go? What were the, sort of, easy things? What were the challenging things–you know–you were new to the area, new to the school…how did that go? Give me the, maybe the good, the bad, the ugly, of that.

Luke Hill

Okay all right, I will do my best to do that. So um, I thought my transition to JMU–it was kind of like, on both sides. Like obviously, like, you had the good, but then also like you had like, kind of like, the difficult parts. I would say it was really exciting for me for the most part, just because like, I feel like, just going to college and like, just getting the full University experience was just kind of something I've really worked for during my 20 years of life. I'm 21 now, so obviously this was all the way back in January, but like I said earlier, I had previously auditioned for the JMU School of Music because I recently wanted to be a music education major, and I remember that audition um, that had sight reading skills, and then obviously I had to play and prepare some pieces um, that I had worked on, and I remember I had sacrificed so much, and it was a really cool experience to get, for the most part, but then when I found out I had gotten wait listed it was definitely hard for me because I remember like, I really just wanted to like, keep music in my life, and also like, just be an educator, and I figured like, if I didn't have any of those in life, I was like, “oh no! What should I do?” like, what can I I do now? And it was just kind of just, tricky to just kind of look at that, but then also I had–I kind of had a plan B, but also like, not really a plan B going into JMU, because going into JMU, I had applied to be a secondary education major in History. So, kind of like, a double major, and that, and then minor in um, interdisciplinary studies. I had taken classes in that, and I actually really enjoyed my um, education classes, and all of the classes I took–especially my education 310 class (shout out to Dr Christopher Wiley, “hello”), and um, no it was just really cool, but no I remember just like, especially with my history class–I love history, but also I found myself not being like really passionate about history, because like, it was an amazing class, but I found myself like, not really like, understanding the material as fast as some of the other students, and then also I kind of wanted a younger audience, and then I was talking to my mom–funny enough–I was actually in the history building on Wilson Hall–I was just doing some homework, and then just kind of calling my mom, just kind of checking with her, and she was giving me advice, and just asking like, “hey how's practice going?” because I originally had intentions to audition for The JMU School of Music again, but just like, practicing and like, just academics…that was a lot for me, and I was like, “I don't know like, what I want to do. Do I really want to do this?” and then after about like, 15 minutes of just like, having a conversation on just how like, I can still keep music in my life, and how I can still make a positive impact for the community, I had decided that I wanted to um, switch into Elementary Education, and then that was kind of, my goal–just kind of like, looking into the semester, which I luckily happened to do so with the good help of Miss Katie Shifflett (shout out to her as well!). She's been very supportive so far, but yeah, just kind of like, just going into JMU and just like, really getting a good feel for everything, I feel like that was a really exciting thing for me, and then just finding friends–that was also something that kind of came a little, um, tricky at first, but I feel like I was very fortunate to surround myself in a community really fast, and I feel like part of that was because I reached out to some organizations beforehand, but then also I found out some organizations weren't really for me. So I kind of did my best to just kind of like, branch out like, what is it–what do I really want? So I feel like just, coming to Orientation and then like, just being a Young Life leader, and then obviously like, seeing amazing leaders like you, and Xavier Williams, like, I feel like every time I talk to you all, you all give me like, a new perspective on how to love others in community, and just to lead other well, and that's just always been something I've always wanted to do at JMU. Not only at JMU, but like, just really in my life as well, so I feel like just like, going in with like, just the intentions to just do something well, I feel like that's kind of driven me to just really do my best, and just kind of be there, and really just embrace some challenges and everything I do.

Dr. Tim Miller

So let me let me go back on a couple different things you said. What allows you to overcome challenges when you face them? When you've–you think about math and geometry, and you think about transitioning to JMU, I mean–I have my own opinion about what it is about you, but I want you to answer, sort of, what…what allows you to overcome those challenges? What support systems do you have that help you, but also inherently in you–what helps you do that?

Luke Hill

Great question. I feel like I have a great support system, so obviously I have my family back in Virginia Beach, and then also I've just been very fortunate enough to just talk to some of my close friends back home, but then also a lot of my friends here. I feel like um, when I talk to my friends here I kind of have something to like, relate to, so like, I would be like, for example like, if I'm struggling with something I'd be like, “oh, are you struggling with this too?” Oh my gosh, good thing to know I'm not alone in that, so we just kind of like, laugh about it in that sense, but then also um, we do our best to just be really intentional listeners, and to give each other um, meaningful advice, and I really feel like just talking to people and just really like, introducing yourself to new people just really kind of helps me to just–kind of just–get out there a little bit, and to just kind of, build that support, and just really like, being there for that other person even when you just meet them. Like me–I have like no fear with like, introducing myself to new people. For example like, I'd be like, “hey what's your name?” and I'll be like, “Oh, I'm Luke.  Nice to meet you! How's your day going so far?” and like, even when I asked about like, your day like, I want to go like, deeper like, I want to like, know like, what are like, some amazing things you've done in your life like, what's a good, Bad, and the Ugly? Like, if I get to meet you as a friend like, I genuinely like, want to get to know you, and like, that's just kind of been something um, I've always done my best to do every time I meet some people, and then obviously um, when I face like, a challenging situation, obviously like, I talk to friends, and then also I just kind of call my family, and then sometimes I really just do my best to just kind of, just relax, and just like, recognize like, that relaxation like, is a part of the process, and I feel like, in our society we kind of get hung up on fact but like, you have to like, keep going like, go go go go!  and like, not give yourself time to rest, but I feel like in a way like, I feel like relaxation really is like, part of like, the preparation in the work process, and even though that's kind of hard for me to like, see sometimes, I feel like um, that's something that we have to do better to kind of recognize than–-yeah I just feel like if we really just kind of do our best to just really pace ourselves and like, just relax in a chaotic world, then I feel like we could all do our best to just kind of remain a consistent pace 

Dr. Tim Miller

Right. Right. So I want to say something to you that I think is important, and then I'm going to ask you to come up with your final–sort of–advice. Guidance that you want to give to people…One of the things, Luke, that I think stands out to me is that I've never seen you not in a very positive, uplifting mood for yourself, but also for others. I mean, I think about, you know, when you first got here like, you like, walked right up to me and introduce yourself, and then like, two days later you walked up and said, “if you don't remember, I'm Luke.” And I just think that there's an energy you have about you that I think lifts up other people around you, and I think that–I think anyone who knows you will probably agree with that. I mean I…I almost want to use the word “effervescent” Like, you just always seem to be that, sort of, person that wants to light up space, and light up others, and lift up other people, so I don't want you to sell yourself short on that, because you don't mention that about yourself, so I'll say that about you–that I just think that that’s– I would argue that that's your greatest gift–is that you when you enter a space, other people have no choice but to feel better, and to feel lifted up by your spirit, and what you bring to a room.  So you don't have to respond. I know it can be awkward to be, but I just think that–I think you need to hear that, and know that about what I think you do, um, so with that in mind, you get the last word here. All right, what do you want to tell people? What do you–what advice do you want to give? What advice would you give yourself back in January? Like, what…what's the last thing you want to leave with the…the world that's going to hear this advice about how to succeed–how to overcome challenges–however you want to share whatever that is for you?

Luke Hill

Thank you. thank you, Dr. Miller. I really appreciate that, but no, I'm all about just making a positive impact in anything I do, and I really genuinely believe that no matter what my friends, or just anyone pursues, I really have a feeling that they are going to be successful in it, and I absolutely love giving back to others and one of the things I do–I've been doing this since August 2019, but I don't think it really became very persistent until March 2020–is um, I actually do this thing every Monday morning, where I reach out to just friends, family, and just other people I look up to, and I really do my best to just, kind of give them like, an uplifting message that kind of set off the weeks. Like for example, I'll be like, “good morning, Luke” or like, “good morning.  Like, you're gonna do amazing today! I believe that you're gonna do amazing things! Please know that I'm rooting for you,” and like just little things like that. I send these messages um, every Monday morning um, to about 200 plus people, and I think that's a really cool thing for me to do, because it allows me to do a good deed at the very start of the week before anyone gets out of bed, because like, my mission and kind of like, my intention is to have people kind of like, wake up and see that message on the phone and just kind of like, just have like, a good start to the week and just kind of have like, the feeling like, that, “hey, someone's rooting for me,”  and like, “someone's thinking of me in like, a positive way”, and my thing is that um, once again I just love–absolutely, uplifting people and I have a feeling that if we are more real with other people, that's one thing I've really started to do my best to do, as well if we are just really real with our emotions, and just really just do our best to just, really recognize where we are, we have such a gift in this world, and um, I really just want to say that you can do this, you got this, I believe in you, and please know that you are so loved by the people around you, and no matter where you are, whether you're in this world or at JMU please know that you are changing this place for the better, and just know that you have a place in this world, and that's really what I do my best to just, remind people um, every now and again.

Dr. Tim Miller

Well as a recipient of one of those messages on Monday mornings, I can say that it definitely starts my day off on the right foot…whether I'm already worked out, or about to work out, I believe that whatever I'm doing next, what's going to be done well…so I want to thank everyone for listening to the Rebound podcast! Luke, thanks for sharing your story. Thank you, and for all of our listeners, “what's your rebound story?” Talk to you soon.