By Chamberlain Zulauf<\/p>\n
Donovan Hill is a name that many people know on campus. He is the kind of person who can warm up to new friends easily and cares about his community. Coming from Newark, Delaware, Donovan has a major in political science and a minor in communication studies.<\/span><\/p>\n Realizing he wanted to come to Roanoke is a similar story to what most people would say- \u201cThere was a career college fair at a nearby University and I talked to Courtney Penn, who is an amazing person and got me to come down to Salem for a visit. I fell in love with the campus, it\u2019s such a natural feel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While Donovan likes to keep old traditions alive, he has no issue with change either.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI remember coming to Roanoke thinking I would be a pol-sci\/economics major. After one economics class I was like \u2018nope!\u2019. I had to shift my life around after that. I stuck with Political Science and started working as a Peer Educator, doing good work similar to what nonprofits do. Without that job opportunity I never would have figured out that that is a work environment I want to be in after I graduate. So, big thanks to Roanoke College for that!\u201d said Donovan.<\/span><\/p>\n Donovan really is a familiar face, \u201cI do quite a lot on campus\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n He has been an RA since his sophomore year, is in the honors program and is a member of ODK, an honor society. Most notably, both for the RC community and himself, Donovan works as a Peer Educator.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the Peer Education roll we talk about safe sex, drinking practices and mental health. I have the pleasure of being a lead Peer Educator. I identify closely with that job; it\u2019s been life changing for me,\u201d said Donovan.<\/span><\/p>\n Donovan helped run the \u201cTake Back the Night\u201d event last week for sexual assault awareness. The event raised over $700 for an involved non-profit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Some advice this issue\u2019s quintessential Maroon has for underclassman is to not:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTake for granted those \u2018transferable skills\u2019 like knowing how to work with a team, presenting and being personable. Writing an email even, is a simple skill that you aren\u2019t graded on- but those are skills people look for after college. Hone in and don\u2019t underestimate those skills, they will help guide you through life,\u201d said Donovan.<\/span><\/p>\n Being the Folk at \u2018Noke for this Thanksgiving themed issue is perfect for Donovan; who\u2019s favorite holiday is Thanksgiving\u2026 tied with Christmas.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI love being with my family. Growing up, Thanksgiving was always at my house. It\u2019s a huge staple in my family for my mom to throw down in the kitchen. A lot of my cooking skills come from helping her in the kitchen,\u201d said Donovan.<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking of being with family, Donovan is very glad to be back in class on a full campus.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGetting sent home two years ago was rough. Everyone needed a break though, so it was a blessing in disguise. I even took last fall semester off to let Roanoke get used to online learning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Dance Crews are a family and tradition that Donovan likes to keep alive.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy primary dance style is Hip-Hop\/Animation. I got started dancing about eight years ago. I just happened to be working stage-tec for my High School’s talent show. I was interested watching a dance crew practicing. They were like \u2018well hey kid, come join us!\u2019 As a sophomore, seeing juniors and seniors reach out to me was amazing. Next thing I knew I was coming to their practices,\u201d said Donovan.<\/span><\/p>\n From there Donovan became fully integrated into that Dance Crew and a year later he became the Crew\u2019s Caption. Even to this day he and some core members link up when they’re back home, \u201cWe have such a passion for it we want to keep it going after graduating,\u201d said Donovan.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI post myself dancing on Instagram to track my progress- when I first started out, I was really cringy and had no rhythm\u2026 I\u2019m big into the underground dance scene. You picture people dancing in abandoned warehouses and empty parking lots. I did that kind of stuff. A part of that culture is that you have a dance name- a presence. When I first started out my name was assigned to me by my mentor. The name I was given at first was Droid. In a dance crew you must earn your way up which is when you can choose your own name. It took a year and a half to get to that point but now I\u2019m known as Kaiju because I\u2019m a monster on the dance floor,\u201d said Donovan.<\/span><\/p>\n He has come a long way since first starting to find his rhythm. He\u2019s been in dance battles\/circles with prominent members of the community like Fik-shun, Phoenix from the Elektrobotz and Sam Caudle. He\u2019s also been in classes with the likes of Wildabeest Adams and Janelle Ginestra.<\/span><\/p>\n Donovan- I mean Kaiju\u2019s- favorite Roanoke memory is more than his Instagram feed.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy freshman year I was with my good friend Carly Shepacarter while I was going through a stressful night. She was like \u2018let’s go for a walk\u2019 around the outdoor track. We ended up laying on the infield looking at the stars and talking about anything. That night I saw my first shooting star. It sounds so Disney, but it made me feel like everything would be ok,\u201d said Donovan.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, getting ready to graduate, Donovan is \u201cin the broad camp.\u201d And \u201cDefinitely want[s] to do something in the nonprofit sector.\u201d He plans to stay in the Salem area as there are a lot of non-profit opportunities in the valley.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll hold office one day, that\u2019s the dream. Maybe not president although my friends do joke about that,\u201d said Donovan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Chamberlain Zulauf Donovan Hill is a name that many people know on campus. He is the kind of person who can warm up to new friends easily and cares about his community. Coming from Newark, Delaware, Donovan has a major in political science and a minor in communication studies. Realizing he wanted to come […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":6428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-6427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-folks-at-noke","tag-summer2019"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/IMG_20210224_180227_242.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}