One of my first memories of Luke happened during the first semester of my sophomore year at CUA in Sweet Charity. I had only transferred from Vocal Performance to Musical Theater one semester prior. And looking back, besides some faculty, not many of my peers and new classmates saw me as anything but the awkward kid who tried too hard. I remember one night after a rehearsal for Sweet Charity, somehow I ended up at the trailers on campus where the seniors lived, and Luke was there also. It made sense for Luke to be there because he always knew how to make the right connections and to be the light of any friend circle he chose. But for me? For me it made no sense. I was like a baby deer in headlights. On top of that I was nervous as all get out. I tried to make some jokes that were a mediocre 6/10 and just awkwardly tap dance out of the room. But that’s not what happened. That night Luke said something that will always stay in my heart. It’s frankly insane how one short conversation can change your life. So, we were talking about something for a few minutes and then he said,
“You know, Bobby, even though you’re kind of weird, you’re pretty great. If people here took a little time to see past the awkward exterior they would see that you’re pretty awesome!”
And that stuck with me.
He was one of the first classmates to see me as more than an awkward kid. And from then on, he introduced me to all the seniors and juniors and they became my friends, and over the next several weeks I had felt like I had a whole new family of my classmates. He took a minute to see who I was and that changed me. And over the course of the year I was included in so many things that I know never would have happened before, and it was amazing.
So, each year all the students are entered in a student lottery to get numbers to select housing. I was frankly struggling to find a group of people who wanted me to be a part of their rooming plan and didn’t know what I would do. I got my lottery number and it was close to 200, which means I wouldn’t have any leverage in getting a good housing assignment to include people with. And I was really upset about that and started to think “What did I do wrong to not have anyone who likes me enough to think of me as someone who is a real friend? Why can’t I find a group of people who wanted to live with me?”
But one day, Luke and his other two roommates James, and Connor, decided to talk to me about housing. They asked me to be a part of their group and live with them. That blew me away. Throughout the year I became friends with Luke and his group, but I never thought I would be remotely thought about for anything like this. To me Luke was the coolest kid in school and practically had the entire Music School wrapped around his finger (both statements are absolutely true) and it would be crazy if I was actually, truly, friends with someone that cool and on his game. But he thought otherwise. He asked me to live with him and the guys. I couldn’t have been happier. And then we decided to research the apartments off campus and ended up having one of the most amazing apartments I’ve ever lived in for two years. Full of memories, growth, and love. I will always remember the day he asked me to be a part of his group. Because no matter what number anyone else got, I won the student lottery!