Four students' worth
Super senior Jeff Myers 'a very special student'
Betsy Woodruff
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: News
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"Every time my parents would bring up schools, I would get a sinking feeling," he said. "I didn't have a path to go and all my friends had a path; I was Mr. Indecision. Little did I know that that would let me fit in at Hillsdale [College]; none of us know what we're doing."
Five years and a few more indecisive moments later, Myers will soon graduate with majors in business and music and a minor in Spanish.
He has stayed extremely busy for the last five years, singing in choir and Chamber Choir, playing in the orchestra, Big Band, a jazz combo, a brass quintet, and teaching music lessons. He is also the student director of the Pep Band and studies voice and trombone privately.
Additionally, he works at WCSR, has performed lead roles in operas, is a choir soloist, has won two concerto competitions and leads a small worship group of students that meets in the Knorr Room.
"I don't want to idolize him or anything, but he's a really cool guy," said sophomore Nick Nestorak, one of Jeff's friends. "I think he's a mentor to almost everybody he runs into."
Music department chairman James Holleman described him as a "superstar."
When Myers' high school music teacher wrote a letter of recommendation for him to Holleman, he capitalized all the pronouns referring to Jeff -- a convention most writers reserve only for talking about Jesus, Holleman said.
Holleman said he joked with the choir that they had a "very special student" coming to the college.
"He doesn't walk on water, but he's a very special student," he said. "We're really going to miss him. He plays a huge role in the music department. I feel we need to recruit four students to replace Jeff."
Myers also impressed other music majors.
"We were rejoicing when he took a fifth year," junior Catherine Karner said. "Plus, he plays the bass trombone! How cool is that?"
Junior Ben Newman agreed.
"I've been told that every girl on campus, at one point or other, has had a crush on him," he said.
"I did!" Karner said.
They both agreed that his physical appearance adds to his importance on campus.
"He's a glorious human being, glorious," Karner said. "His hair is a beacon of hope in a dark, dark world."
"His beard is a beacon of hope," Newman added.
Myers, however, expresses humility about his noteworthy red hair.
"I don't feel like I'm encouraging the contingent much since mine is falling out," he said.
After graduation, Myers plans to work as a youth minister this summer and begin graduate school for music in the fall, he said. Several schools have accepted him, and he is still deciding which to attend.
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