Luke Weber

Luke Weber is in his senior year at NCHS, and will be off to college soon enough. Weber wants to go into physical therapy which is something that called to him early on when he needed help: “I guess the first thing that sparked interest for me was receiving the treatment for the first time. I thought it was very interesting, and I wanted to know more about it. And after shadowing my aunt, who’s a physical therapist, I could see how much she helped people, and that also aided in my interest.” Weber wants to help people (just like his aunt), and he’s been on the side of needing help himself. It was a soccer injury that required his own visit to the physical therapist, and while it’s hard to consider an injury lucky, in the end, it’s good that Weber got the care he needed and saw the empathy and skill that help him and others to heal.

He’s not just a good soccer player either. Luke does cross country and track, while juggling the schedules of these three sports. That might sound like enough activity for most, but for Luke, that’s just the beginning. Not only does he excel at sports, but he’s also working hard at mental toughness and academic excellence. Luke Weber is an Illinois State Scholar. To achieve this highest honor, he’s kept a 4.0 GPA from freshman to senior year: “I’m honored to receive the reward. I think it does a good job just recognizing the hard work of the students that receive the award.”

And he’s at a place, at such a young age, of being “complete.” Luke is the embodiment of the ancient Greek idea of body and mind working perfectly together. Without both, a person (so the ancients felt), is incomplete. For Weber, he doesn’t boast or tout his completeness; rather, he lives it: field to field, practice to practice, book to book. Luke Weber, simply put, is going places. When asked about the details of college and exactly where he’ll study, he says, “Wherever I go to college, I’ll have to get my hours in shadowing there, so I hope I can get a taste of what it’s like somewhere else, in a bigger city or something like that.” That doesn’t mean he’s done with Jasper County, though.

One of seven siblings that are either here or off at college and working the levers of life, Luke knows there’s something magical about where he is now. When asked about what makes his time, place, and community special, he notes, “I think the faculty to student ratio definitely helps the teachers, and helps the kids. The teachers recognize the problems students are having and work with them to solve them.” That’s nothing to disregard either. A well-functioning community looks out for its own and others. This everyday magic certainly isn’t lost on Luke.

But he’s not under any illusions about what the community also has in mind when it works to help him and his peers. In a smaller town or community, there’s often more attention to detail: “I don’t think that’s the experience you can get at a bigger school. And I think the teachers here have done a good job preparing us, recognizing real world problems and preparing us for them.” Luke should know. He’s the recipient of an incredible academic award, excels at STEM subjects, but also loves reading and writing. Again, his mind functions in tandem with his body.

As for reading, Luke gets right at the heart of why we do it: “I like to read and write. I would say I like reading more. Some of the true stories you hear about people I find very admirable, their strength, and I try to take some of that with me through life.” It’s testing our durability that occurs when we’re reading and hearing tales of other people’s strife and struggles. It’s an old story but a true one. C.S. Lewis said, “We read to know we’re not alone.” With seven siblings and the community celebrating him, Luke Weber isn’t alone and is going to make more magic wherever he finds himself – helping others, working, striving, learning more and more about belonging.