Goals & Failure: A Talk by Luke Duprey '07

Luke Duprey ’07 was the speaker at the winter term Athletic Assembly on the last day of school before March break. Luke hails from Concord, New Hampshire, and arrived at Eaglebrook in 2005 as a Fifth Former living in Mayer House. He played football, hockey, and lacrosse during his two years at Eaglebrook. “When I came to Eaglebrook I really got the chance to figure out what I enjoyed doing, and that was sports,” he told the students.

 

After graduating from Eaglebrook, Luke attended Philips Andover where he played the same three sports. When applying to colleges, he decided he would focus on lacrosse and matriculated at Duke University after Andover. Luke was a member of a two-time national championship winning team while he was at Duke, and he captained that team his senior year.

 

Luke moved to San Diego, California after graduating, where he coached lacrosse at Torrey Pines High and San Diego State University. It was in San Diego where Luke became aware of the military in a way he had not been before. He was especially captivated by the Navy SEALS, and soon realized that he would like to become a SEAL himself. He moved back to New Hampshire to begin training. When he was selected to apply for the SEALs, he went back to San Diego for the three-week intensive tryout. “They were the toughest three weeks of my life,” he said, but he continued, “I knew I was in the right environment, because even thought it was so tough, because despite how miserable the conditions seemed to outsiders, I was as happy as I could be, because this was a passion of mine. I knew inside this was a goal I wanted.”

 

Luke did not get selected to become a Navy SEAL. He told the crowd, “that was two years of my life that I had dedicated to something that I really loved and I was really passionate about, and I failed. Sometimes you will fail. Sometimes you will come short. That is alright, you need to learn from your mistakes and find something else that challenges you.”

 

Luke was just hired to be the new lacrosse coach at Philips Andover. He is thrilled about the new job, “Despite the fact that I had another dream and another goal that I didn’t achieve and that I failed at, I am just as happy because I found another one,” he said. We wish Luke the best in his new endeavor, and we are so thankful he could come share his story with the Eaglebrook community.

 

As he said, “You all have the opportunity to choose whatever you want to do in this world. Believe in yourself, and you can work hard and achieve anything.”