Tyler Hill

Story by Sam Martin

To call Tyler Hill a “nontraditional student” would be an understatement. Originally born in Mildenhall, England and living in nearly every corner and cranny in the US, 28 year-old Hill served in the US Air Force as a signals analyst and a learning facilitator for six years immediately after graduating high school before returning to Sioux Falls to enroll in the University of Sioux Falls as a communications major. While at USF, Hill was involved in Theatre Company Fellowship. Hill’s early graduation can be owed to coincidentally having the credits needed to graduate in the fall. Additionally, Hill also has an eagerness to enter the next step in his life as a college graduate.

Already ahead of the curve, Hill has recently applied to twenty jobs to various media and marketing businesses and companies in the Sioux Falls area, including a position as a producer at Sioux Falls’s KDLT News. Although a yearning to enter the workforce and pursue his passions aren’t necessarily the main reason he is graduating earlier, Hill does admit that an early graduation has its advantages. “I’m not going to be applying for jobs at the same time that every other person is going to be applying for jobs,” Hill said. “I get about a six month period where all the other people coming out of college aren’t going to be in the workforce in the same way I would be.” Hill poses with a sign in the McDonald Center

As the first person in his family to attend and graduate college, Hill says that his college degree serves as a reminder of what he is capable of. “I had a 2.2 GPA in high school. I thought college would never happen for me,” Hill admitted. “To me, this means so much to be able to prove to myself that I can work hard enough to get this, and I can achieve this. I’m different than the other people in my family, and I can work hard, I can set goals, and achieve them.”

As to what he will remember most from his time at USF, Hill said that he will always remember the people and come back to see them again. “The people are what made me fall in love with USF, made me stay at USF, and the people are what’s going to lead me back to USF even after I’ve graduated… to see the productions people are in and things like that, because I still want to stay in touch with their lives. I still want to be able to see what they create, what they make, and what they do moving forward.”