Teammate Spotlight: Luke D. Rivera

Resides In: Diamond Bar, California

Before NET: Graduated from Bishop Amat High School in California. Funny enough it is the same high school my NET teammate from last year, Jakob, graduated from the year before Luke did.

First Encounter: I was on my phone surfing through Instagram, when Jakob posted something about Luke on his story. I looked up, and there was Luke right in front of me having a separate conversation. It was kinda funny, but we hung out pretty often throughout Wapo.

Initial Thoughts: This man is Jakob's friend from Bishop Amat, he's gotta be legit. Seems really fun and caring.

(Left) When we visited Gordon McKernan's office for lunch in April, there was a massive fake gator in his courtroom. Luke takes pride in being dramatic, so he naturally got a candid photo of him pretending to be eaten by the gator. While searching for photos of him from the road this year, I found many wacky videos of Luke rather than photos, but this was one that fit him well. Luke's year was rather described in videos this year, though, from filming Tiktoks to random videos of himself doing or saying something funny, and that is very unique to him compared to the rest of the team. (Right) I'm pretty sure the thing we are sticking our heads in is a piece of Styrofoam from the Talbot's new TV box. We called ourselves the "Giraffe Neck Gang", due to our extremely long necks, which prompted us to stick our heads out as far as we could to take this silly photo, which honestly describes our relationship pretty well.

Favorite Memory: In January, we were staying with a NET alum family in Texas, the Holleman's. They had this 100-acre farm that included a zipline over a pond. It's super fun, but if you lose your grip you are landing right into marshy water. Luke, however, took it as a challenge, as someone bet him $15 to drop in the middle of the swamp. That is exactly what he did, as he dropped in the water wearing his blue jeans and Nike jacket. It was disgusting... but he got $15 out of it. He was always down to do something crazy, and that was a perfect example of it, and another example of videos describing his year way better than photos.

Something Luke taught me: Listening. Luke is an external processor, so often times when he saw something that did not sit well with him, or he was going through something internally, he would talk it out with the guys on our team. While this led to many long nights after a hard day's work, it was really beautiful to see Luke be vulnerable with us whenever we checked in, and it was a way we could love him as well. Furthermore, we learned a lot from each other by what Luke had to say at the end of each night, whether it was challenging ourselves to grow in a certain area, or recognizing strengths in each other while sharing advice or wisdom. When we listen we learn, and I learned a lot about myself and the guys on my team just by Luke sharing his mind with us, and I am super grateful for that.

What the world should know: Luke is a service-oriented gentleman who has grown from a boy to a man this past year. He knows what the right thing to do is, even when it includes tough change, and acts on it rather than sit and mope about it. He is always finding new ways to challenge himself each and every day, and that is largely due to recognizing the challenges God is giving him each day to grow. He loves to speak, sing, and act loud, so you can never miss his shining personality. He understands his identity as a Son of God, and takes that responsibility head-on each day, speaking aloud his faith daily on social media, which is not easy in our generation. Plus, you can always act goofy with him.

What’s next?: Luke will be returning for a second year of NET with Katherine and Sarah! I'm not surprised by this decision in the slightest, he is going to be great.

To Luke:

Wait... you have bear fists? Hehe, I hope you got that. Thank you for all the memes this year, for trusting in me and our relationship, and for relying on the Lord's strength this year to help you persevere. I am so freaking proud of the leaps and bounds you made this year, and I'm so excited to hear about your growth in this next year of NET for you! May God continue to bless you, and know of my constant prayers. Love ya brotha!