How Inclusivity Has Become Part of BYU Belonging

Professor Cougar Hall sits down with Greg Hooke, a senior in Public Health and member of the College of Life Sciences Student Belonging Council, to explore what “belonging” really means at BYU—and how simple acts of connection can change campus culture. Greg shares how a Johns Hopkins internship studying bias in long-COVID care opened his eyes to everyday experiences of being unseen, and how that sparked student-led efforts at BYU: first-gen mentoring lunches, a Women in Life Sciences dinner, and hands-on service with Help Me Grow Utah and United Way. He and Dr. Hall unpack the tension between competition and collaboration in tough gateway classes, swap practical ways introverts and extroverts alike can make friends, and celebrate a college-wide bump in belonging (now ~86%). Greg also opens up about recovering from a traumatic brain injury, the faith that grounded him, and his goal to become a neurologist who blends clinical care with public-health principles of inclusion. If you’re new to campus—or helping those who are—this episode is equal parts playbook and pep talk. 

Recorded, Edited & Produced by Christy Gonzalez, Harper Xinyu Zhang, Kailey Hopkins, and Tanya Gale

Transcript

 [00:00:00] Cougar Hall: Welcome to Y Health, a podcast brought to you by the BYU Public Health Department. I'm Dr. Cougar Hall, a professor here at Brigham Young University where the, you are a student parent, or BYU fan. This podcast will help you navigate the world of public health. Our podcast strives to help individuals receive accurate information regarding public health, so whether it's global or local, we will discuss how it pertains to you. 

[00:00:36] Cougar Hall: Just kick back and relax as we talk about why health. Greg Hook. Welcome to the Y Health Podcast, my friend Cougar. It's great to be here. Oh, I've been looking forward to this one for a while. Your name's been on my calendar and I'm like, yeah, we're getting closer to talking to Greg. You and I met in the Health 10 Class Foundations of Public Health several years ago. 

[00:00:57] Cougar Hall: That's right, yeah. Then we worked on a research paper [00:01:00] together. We've had some interaction, but. I don't know that we've chatted much in the last 18 months, even like year. So catch me up. What are you doing? Let our listeners know who you are, why you're on the podcast. Let's go for that. 

[00:01:13] Greg Hooke: Sure. Well, my name's Greg Hook. 

[00:01:15] Greg Hooke: I'm a senior here at VYU, but I still got a year left. One of those situations studying public health and I absolutely love it. I seriously feel public health is the best major. And it's not just 'cause you're paying me to say that, but I, I'm married, my wife is about to graduate. Since we've kind of researched together, I've just been doing a lot of my classes, had some really cool opportunities to participate in diversity research as well as artificial intelligence research. 

[00:01:42] Greg Hooke: And one of the most meaningful things I've been involved with has been the Life Sciences Student Belonging Council. I'm really stoked to talk about that today. 

[00:01:50] Cougar Hall: Okay. That is absolutely why we're having you here because it's really a cool time at BYU and in the College of Life Science in particular, really looking at how [00:02:00] we make sure everyone feels like they have found their place. 

[00:02:03] Cougar Hall: They have a place here. We love them. We care about 'em. Why don't you begin with that actually? How long has the group been formed? Are you the one who formed it? What are the goals? What are the 

[00:02:13] Greg Hooke: objectives? Great questions. Yeah, so this started two years ago, and this was after my internship in Baltimore. I had the incredible opportunity to be a part of the diversity summer internship program. 

[00:02:26] Greg Hooke: Through Johns Hopkins, Bloomberg School of Public Health. Cool. Just as a side note, I saw everyone around me was applying to internships That seemed like the right thing to do. This was an area I was really interested in, but I applied to tons of internships and every single one except this one. So for the students listening, be ambitious with your internships. 

[00:02:45] Greg Hooke: Seriously. You never know what's gonna happen. 

[00:02:47] Cougar Hall: Half of us see Johns Hopkins. We're like, no, I'm not Johns Hopkins. Right? But you went for it and you landed at the top of the heap. So really cool. Tell us about your experience in Baltimore then. 

[00:02:57] Greg Hooke: Yeah, I felt really blessed to be there, and I definitely did not [00:03:00] feel like I was qualified to be there, but it was an amazing experience. 

[00:03:04] Greg Hooke: I was surrounded by such incredible students from various different backgrounds who had various interests, and they're all researching really cool things. I got to research the effects of long COVID, specifically with racial and gender bias and how that affected treatment of long COVID patients. And it was eye-opening, cougar super eye-opening. 

[00:03:24] Greg Hooke: You hear of these patients who don't have any observable symptoms, and because of that you start to see some of the worst in humanity start to come out. Some really unfortunate experiences where people feel ignored, forgotten, dismissed. And it really opened my eyes, and then taking that research and talking to my friends and finding that these incredible people who I am inspired by, they're having the same experiences every day. 

[00:03:50] Greg Hooke: Super sad for me. Yeah. So coming back to BYUI was like, Hey, I gotta do something about this. I can't stand for my friends being [00:04:00] treated in these certain ways. Luckily for me, Dr. Han, who is incredible, she's one of the deans of the College of Life Sciences, okay. And is super passionate about belonging. She had similar goals too, so we. 

[00:04:11] Greg Hooke: Put our heads together and we're like, let's do something about this. And what a better way to foster belonging for the College of Life sciences than getting a bunch of students together from the College of Life Sciences and teaming up and seeing what we can do together. So that's how it got started and informed. 

[00:04:26] Greg Hooke: I'm totally inspired already. 

[00:04:28] Cougar Hall: Belonging is a word we don't use across campuses. So at other universities, what would belonging be called? Is there a term? Is this under the Office of Diversity, equity Inclusion. Or is this entirely unique to BYU? 

[00:04:44] Greg Hooke: Give us some belonging background. I think that's a great question. 

[00:04:47] Greg Hooke: There are belonging offices in other schools, but the purpose of belonging is really building community. We're building genuine connections with the people that are here, faculty, students, people that just visit. [00:05:00] And we want the people who come here to feel like they're heard, they're seen, and they're welcome. 

[00:05:05] Greg Hooke: And so at the crux of it, that's what we're trying to do. 

[00:05:08] Cougar Hall: Are there students who don't feel seen, heard, and welcome on campus? 

[00:05:13] Greg Hooke: Absolutely. 

[00:05:14] Cougar Hall: Help me understand why. What are some of the stories? What are some of the experiences? 'cause for some of our listeners, they may say, I went to BYUI felt like I fit in. I felt like it was a great place for me. 

[00:05:28] Cougar Hall: So help that particular listener understand why someone who comes here may not feel like they fit in, they're being seen, they're being heard, or this is their place too. 

[00:05:38] Greg Hooke: I'll tell you a story. The other day, one of my friends was in the College of Life Sciences, just sitting down and someone came up to her of another faith just visiting BYU and saying, Hey, I think this school is amazing, but because of my faith, I don't feel like I'm gonna belong here. 

[00:05:55] Greg Hooke: I don't know if this will be the right fit for me. So is BYU really? [00:06:00] Are they really gonna welcome me into their community? Is this a place where I deserve to be? And and where I should be. And my friend was like, yes, of course at BYU, we're not perfect. But we really try to focus on what makes us similar and what we can learn from each other. 

[00:06:20] Greg Hooke: And there are experiences like that every single day where due to disability, race, gender, other identities, things like that, even people who just feel lonely. Don't feel like they belong. So not belonging is an occurrence pretty much every single one of us has. And so it's so important that belonging is targeted at every one of us. 

[00:06:42] Cougar Hall: Cool. It really is a human need and I will say, and I've said this before on the podcast, so I won't make this about Cougar's experience as an undergrad, but. It's very possible in the middle of 35,000 people to feel lonely. It's very possible to grow up, to [00:07:00] be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latterday Saints, to have served a full-time mission, have an experience along those lines, and still feel like, I'm not sure, these are my people. 

[00:07:09] Cougar Hall: So if you can imagine just for a moment what it's like if. You aren't a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints, or you've only been a member for a short period of time. You don't have Pioneer stock or pioneer ancestry, or you don't understand all the cultural kind of ins and outs and norms. 

[00:07:29] Cougar Hall: What if maybe you did serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints, but it wasn't for the full expected time? What if you identify, you know, as gay or lesbian, or. What if you come from a racial or ethnic background that is not well represented on campus? Because for me, I really fit kind of the traditional mold. 

[00:07:53] Cougar Hall: Latter day saint. My family joined the church during the Navu era. My parents came to BYU, my siblings came to [00:08:00] BYU. I'm a white male, cisgender, straight like check box, box, box, box, box. And I still feel like, I'm not sure I'm supposed to be here. It's exponentially, you know, a different experience for someone. 

[00:08:15] Cougar Hall: So it's not just that basic, I feel lonely. I'm not sure if I found my people. It's like, am I really wanted here? And is this a place where I can learn, I can grow, I can thrive? I think many of us have noticed that, have felt it when teaching a class or when interacting with students, but. You're actually doing something about it, so I just wanna give you a huge hug. 

[00:08:37] Cougar Hall: Thank you, Greg. What specifically though, are things that you can do? I love this idea that belonging is not a certain group, it's everybody. So kind of a universal approach to, hey, we're all gonna find our place here. Are there specific things or objectives, initiatives that this group has? 

[00:08:57] Greg Hooke: Cougar, I love what you said. 

[00:08:59] Greg Hooke: I [00:09:00] think that was powerful. The beautiful thing about belonging. It's not hard to foster belonging. It's really just friendship, other people, and going just a little bit further to look up from your phone or talk to another student in a class or say, Hey, I really liked what you said there. That's the stuff that makes people feel seen. 

[00:09:19] Greg Hooke: As a belonging counsel, what we have found is the biggest problem and challenge for students in the College of Life Sciences through informal and formal surveys. That they don't have enough opportunities to make friends. Oh, which is interesting. That's over cultural competence, cultural humility, different religions, all those things combined, like not having enough opportunities to make friends is the reoccurring answer. 

[00:09:45] Greg Hooke: So what we do is try to foster opportunities for people to make friends. And even more than that, also empower them in the process in Acre, achieving their career goals and feeling really a part of this BYU community. I'll give you an [00:10:00] example. Yeah, please. Earlier last year, we had the first generation luncheon as a college, which was an incredible event. 

[00:10:06] Greg Hooke: We had a renowned physician here talking about his experience as a first generation student. We had mentors and faculty and professionals at every single table. For every single major, willing to mentor the first generation students that were there. We had over 30 different organizations on BYU, from Honor Society, multicultural Student Services. 

[00:10:27] Greg Hooke: They're offering resources to these students. This is the kind of awesome stuff that the College of Life Sciences is doing, and we're so blessed to be a part of, but that really empowers students. That helps students not only feel seen, but also move ahead in their career. Feel a little bit more like, okay. 

[00:10:44] Greg Hooke: I can do this. If this person's doing it and this person's done it, I can do it too. 

[00:10:49] Cougar Hall: Love it. So we have a meet and greet. We have a come and meet and rub shoulders, but we're going way beyond that because they're learning from others who have been in their shoes and felt some [00:11:00] of the same things and faced some of maybe the same obstacles. 

[00:11:03] Cougar Hall: And this is how they navigated that. And so there's a networking. I think when you network, especially when you can see yourself in that person who's been there, done that, it does wonders for your confidence, for your hope, right? Let's just say hope. It gives you a path forward. Like, I can do this. I just needed a little bit of momentum, a little bit of traction, maybe a nudge. 

[00:11:25] Cougar Hall: So I love that. Is there anything coming up similar like that was 

[00:11:29] Greg Hooke: last year. Last week we just had the woman in life sciences dinner doing pretty much the same thing. It's a very unique thing. To be a woman here at BYU in the College of Life Sciences. There are some unique challenges that come with that, and it was empowering for the women here at the college to learn from each other and to share that experience together, as well as with other professionals. 

[00:11:50] Greg Hooke: Now, we don't have more dinners or luncheons happening this semester, but we do have a service project. I find one of the best ways to foster belonging is looking side of [00:12:00] yourself. That's what worked for me. Yeah. And I, I can get into that later, but we're gonna be putting together some children developmental kits with Help me Grow Utah and United Way, and that's gonna be really exciting. 

[00:12:12] Greg Hooke: So we're hoping to have a lot of students for that. But then the rest is just a little bit less, I'd say organized, but still belonging initiatives that we're a part of. We're in the college lifeline, putting together the list of international holidays and plastering it throughout the college on the TVs. 

[00:12:28] Greg Hooke: We're trying to. Get students who are new to majors to connect with each other and get each other's numbers so they can go to devotionals together. So they can go to lunches together. We have people who are even just studying for the mcat. They're like, Hey, come study with me. I can teach you for free because this is helping me study too. 

[00:12:47] Greg Hooke: So there's a wide range of things, but we're really involved in helping the students just feel like they have a place here. 

[00:12:54] Cougar Hall: I could see how this, I mean, you're fostering like this change on campus. There's a change to the culture. [00:13:00] I've loved my time at BYU, but it's also, there's this feeling, it's out there. 

[00:13:05] Cougar Hall: It's almost palpable of competition. And that makes sense because if you sit down in Chem 1 0 5, there's 400 people in the auditorium and then they'll say, Hey, we grade on a curve and we're gonna give out 40 A's. And you're like. Wait a second. There's 40 people in my row that are clearly smarter than me. 

[00:13:22] Cougar Hall: At least I think they are. And so why would I help you study for a Chem 1 0 5 test when I need to be in the top 40 for that curve and I need that grade to qualify for the MCAT or medical school or. Physical therapy school. So there's kind of this feeling of, I can't help you too much. I like you, but I'm gonna keep you at arm's length because you might be in my way to the success and the goal that I've set for myself. 

[00:13:48] Cougar Hall: But you're kind of that counter push to that, which is what if we were collaborative? What if we looked out for each other and it wasn't, you know, I'm eyeing you to see. Are you, you know, do [00:14:00] you have something I don't have? Did the TA give you information they didn't give me? And it's more of, Hey, why don't we get together? 

[00:14:06] Cougar Hall: If we're both gonna do this, let's do it together. Any journey is gonna be more enjoyable with someone else. We can help each other out. When I'm high and you're low, I can help you. It's just so good to have a fellow traveler. As you make it through this BYU experience, it almost feels like five years from now, Greg, like you started this thing, but it might literally change the culture in this college. 

[00:14:28] Cougar Hall: I'm really hopeful. 

[00:14:29] Greg Hooke: I hope so too, and I believe it's doing it already. On recent college wide surveys, we've seen that our feelings of belonging among students across the College of Life sciences has increased like 4%, and it's pretty high. It's at 86% right now, which is awesome. Let's get it to a hundred though, to comment on what you were saying. 

[00:14:48] Greg Hooke: I think that's a sad reality of what a lot of freshmen students here experience, especially in the College of Life Sciences. We're in some tough classes. But it's shortsighted to see [00:15:00] that, hey, I'm gonna try to get ahead by putting others down. The purpose of our education here at BYU is to come here to learn, go forth, to serve, and how are we preparing to live a life of service if we're not serving while we're here and being the kind of person we want to be in the future right here and now. 

[00:15:18] Greg Hooke: And so if we wanna foster belonging, if we want to help communities, if we want to change the lives, we gotta start here now. It doesn't have to be too hard either. Like I was saying earlier, just say hi to people. Just be their friend. Just be a listener to people. You don't have to understand their culture or their problems, but listen to them. 

[00:15:38] Greg Hooke: Make them feel seen and heard. That's the kind of stuff that changes lives, and we 

[00:15:42] Cougar Hall: can all do that. It really is. I'm thinking about this. I'm thinking about my students. I have a class of 76 students right now. In fact, we meet here in about an hour and a half, so I'd love to talk to you all day, but. So many of those students come in every Monday and Wednesday and they sit by [00:16:00] themselves, and I compare that to, I took a yoga class about two weeks ago and the instructor said, Hey, I love getting together and practicing yoga with each of you yogis. 

[00:16:11] Cougar Hall: I'm noticing a lot of the same faces each and every week, but I'm not seeing you interact with each other. How about every time you come to my class, you just say hello to someone new? Because within a week or two, you're all gonna know each other and you're friends. And yoga's not about being competitive. 

[00:16:29] Cougar Hall: We all have different bodies. We all have different capacities. We all bring different experiences to this. But when you come here, we're all tapping into the same power. So why don't we just decide we're all gonna be friends? And I was just like sitting there going, what? She said? Yeah. Like that's what I should be saying in my Monday, Wednesday class. 

[00:16:48] Cougar Hall: Hey, we're all gonna be here for the next 16 and a half weeks. Why don't we decide right now, we're just gonna make friends. Every time we come, we're gonna sit somewhere different. Meet someone new. [00:17:00] Now it might just be, yeah, I met that person. I know their name. I know where they're from. I know what their major is. 

[00:17:05] Cougar Hall: But I don't know, every fourth or fifth time you sit down with someone new, it's gonna be different. It's gonna be not just this kinda skin deep or surface, you know, kind of interaction, which is fine. We all need those. I call 'em hallway friends, someone, I know their name, but we never really chat or talk about anything more than how's the weather? 

[00:17:22] Cougar Hall: But every fourth or fifth person you're gonna tap into someone. You're kidding. Oh, I would. I'm from there too. No, you're kid. Oh, I know him too. You're kidding. Oh, I love volleyball. And we start to make these deeper connections pretty soon. We do have someone to study with. Nine 30 on a Thursday evening. We do have someone to, on a Saturday morning, go to a service project together. 

[00:17:43] Cougar Hall: We do have someone that we can, as we register for next semester's classes, text and say, Hey, which section are you taking? I'd love to be in that section. It's just, it's just that. It's just deciding. Yeah. I'm just gonna say hello. Doesn't require a ton of time, doesn't require a ton of money, doesn't require some kind of, you know, [00:18:00] traumatic experience or movement by the Holy Ghost to say, Hey, this is who you need to talk to now. 

[00:18:05] Cougar Hall: Just decide. You get to talk to everybody. It's pretty cool. 

[00:18:08] Greg Hooke: I think it's a beautiful thing and it's more than just cheesy saying, Hey, golden rule, I'm gonna treat others like I want to be treated. There are students here on BYU campus right now. That are not coming to school for belonging related reasons. 

[00:18:22] Greg Hooke: They're scared. They don't feel they belong. That's very real. That's a person's college education. The same as what I found in Baltimore, learning about long COVID. There are people that are not going to doctors even though they're so sick because they're afraid, and we don't want a society like that. We need to play our part to help people feel welcome and that has a real effect on people. 

[00:18:46] Cougar Hall: Yeah. Ah, you're so inspired. I love it. What type of support have you received? I don't know. And that could be, that's a pretty broad question. Is there some financial support for your group in putting on events? I know you have the support [00:19:00] clearly of our associate dean and also our dean for that matter, but, and. 

[00:19:06] Cougar Hall: What type of support are you receiving? And I mean that in its broadest sense. Maybe there's some funds from a donor to increase belonging, or maybe it's just an objective of the college. It's something university wide where we have this initiative for belonging, but within our college who clearly have the support of the Dean's office. 

[00:19:26] Cougar Hall: What, what's it been like as you've started this group? 

[00:19:29] Greg Hooke: Inspiring the deans of this college. They really care about the students. When you hear some dean say, yeah, I love you. It's true. They do love you. They talk about you all the time. And that's what I found. But I think the fuel to this fire isn't the funding that we get through the College of Life Sciences. 

[00:19:49] Greg Hooke: It's the people that are giving that funding and the people that are pushing this forward. We have 10 students on the Belonging Council from all different majors, and [00:20:00] they are the fuel to this fire. They are incredible. They're passionate, they're persistent too, and they really care about other students here. 

[00:20:09] Greg Hooke: We have people from Bermuda on our council and from Chile, and then people who have really awesome experiences helping others and have a lot of unique things to contribute, and it's just been so inspiring to see what they come up with. How they reach out to the students in their classes. They're examples to me. 

[00:20:27] Greg Hooke: They're really the fuel to this fire. So 

[00:20:29] Cougar Hall: how does someone get involved with the Student Belonging Council? Greg, is there an 

[00:20:34] Greg Hooke: election? Great question. We're appointed by the deans of the college, but short answer, you don't need to be a part of the Belonging Council to help people belong and make a difference, right? 

[00:20:45] Greg Hooke: We're all in this together. We're all A BYU community, and so you can take the initiative today. To just say, Hey, I'm gonna try a little harder in my class to go sit next to someone new. Or even though I'm a little bit of an introvert, I don't really like chatting with [00:21:00] a ton of people. I'm gonna smile at someone new today, or I'm gonna remember someone's name. 

[00:21:04] Greg Hooke: I'm just gonna mentally note it. That stuff makes a difference over time, you know? When I first started here at BYU, like every other freshman, I was nervous. I felt the competitiveness. I was excited to be here. But unlike every other freshman, I had a brain injury that I was dealing with, um, a pretty severe one. 

[00:21:25] Greg Hooke: I had sustained it on my mission a couple months prior. I wasn't paying attention where I was going in a dark concrete apartment building. My head slammed into some concrete. From that moment forward, everything about my life changed outwardly, looked the exact same inwardly. I didn't feel like I belonged in my own body. 

[00:21:46] Greg Hooke: My personality was different. I couldn't maintain normal conversations with people. I couldn't really read. I had to sit in a dark room for most of the day. Wow. And so coming to BYU, dealing with some of those things, [00:22:00] I definitely felt like I didn't belong. Not only, I not feel as smart as everyone else, but I also had to sleep for a lot of hours in the day and step outside my classes 'cause my head hurts so much. 

[00:22:11] Greg Hooke: I truly felt, where is my place in a community like this? And my answer really was looking to the savior, Jesus Christ. If anyone knew what it felt like not to belong, it was him. He was outcasted by his friends. He didn't have a place to stay at night. He spent all of his time serving others and I thought, hey, that's something I can learn from. 

[00:22:38] Greg Hooke: I'm not super special or anything like that, but I can try to be more like Jesus Christ and look out side myself. And you know, I can't say that I've completely healed from that brain injury, but what's been truly amazing is as I've looked outside of myself, I've felt that belonging for me. And that's one of the beautiful things about this stuff. 

[00:22:59] Greg Hooke: [00:23:00] That when you really look outside yourself, you're like, Hey, I'm gonna make a difference for someone else. Boom. You feel like you have a purpose. And I think the same goes in our fields too. We feel like we're contributing. We want to feel that we're making a difference in our families, for our students, for our communities. 

[00:23:17] Greg Hooke: And this is a really impactful way that each of us can, it's changed my life and I hope it changes the lives of the people listening. 

[00:23:24] Cougar Hall: Oh, Greg, there's no doubt. I just love your enthusiasm. I'm just gonna come right through the microphone, just how passionate you are about that, and thanks for sharing your story. 

[00:23:33] Cougar Hall: I knew a little bit of that, but I didn't know this whole story, and that really resonates with me. There's so many different ways we could feel like we're the other and we're not part of the nucleus, so to speak. Right, right. The things that you're saying are reminding me. I'm currently teaching one of our Unif 1 0 1 classes, which is. 

[00:23:51] Cougar Hall: A class for incoming freshmen and moving forward, every freshman is gonna have this experience. And it's a tremendous experience, right? Connecting students [00:24:00] with the resources on campus, which are many to help them succeed, including the Office of Belonging, helping 'em find their place at BYU, understanding the uniqueness of BYU, and recognizing that they're gonna go forth and we're gonna combine both the career. 

[00:24:18] Cougar Hall: Knowledge and information related to their content areas, but they're also gonna understand what it means to be a disciple scholar. They're gonna increase in faith. This is the dual heritage of BYU, being bilingual at BYU is to be able to talk about the temporal and the spiritual. And I was talking to my students two weeks ago. 

[00:24:36] Cougar Hall: Many of them are, you know, lonely. I mean, not just in my class, but many freshmen coming in, like you said. And there was two things that I shared on that particular day, and the first was. Some of us come from a place or you know, the experience has been, we can just reciprocate. So people reach out to us. 

[00:24:54] Cougar Hall: We just reciprocate and I've told 'em, listen, BYU is so big that you're gonna have to [00:25:00] be proactive from time to time. You're gonna have to lead out, you're gonna have to organize a party, you're gonna have to make brownies and send out invites saying, Hey, if anyone wants to watch the game, I just made some. 

[00:25:10] Cougar Hall: You know, I got empty calories. Come on over. You're gonna have to do that. And you're gonna have to be okay. If no one shows up for the first one or two times, you put that out there. It's okay. Lots of people got lots of things going on. For all we know. They're at home alone in their apartment and they're just like, I don't, I don't know if I'm gonna know anybody. 

[00:25:27] Cougar Hall: I don't, you know? But we have to be proactive. We can't just wait for everything to come to us. Maybe that worked in high school, maybe that worked in your home stake. It's not gonna work very well here. So we're all gonna be a little more proactive and just go for it. The other thing I really want to encourage students to do this is so true for not just students. 

[00:25:45] Cougar Hall: This is true in my neighborhood too. We can't come home and just sit in our room, sit in our house like we, we've gotta go back out. So I just tell 'em you, you gotta get out. And even if you're just gonna read for four [00:26:00] hours, 'cause you have this nice block of time to study and do homework, don't do it at the desk in your dorm room. 

[00:26:05] Cougar Hall: Go to the library, go to the commons area in the life science building, go do it. Just get out where you're increasing the likelihood of someone passing by who you know. Are you walking over to the library and being like, oh, hey, hey, there's a guy from a mission. Hey, how's it going, bud? I'm just heading to the library. 

[00:26:22] Cougar Hall: Yeah, you want to go? Oh yeah, let's go by the cougar. Eat and grab something to eat first. But if you're at home, your dorm room, your apartment can literally become a prison. It's just connecting you from the rest of the world. I just asked my students, just get out. There's so much going on. Heck, you don't even know what's going on. 

[00:26:39] Cougar Hall: You don't even know what the party is in this particular room or what's going on in the Richard's building. Just go. Just go and act like you're supposed to be there. Do it. They probably have cookies and BYU punch for crown out loud. Go, just get out and go do. And the other thing is create your own, like be the one who pays it forward and is proactive. 

[00:26:57] Cougar Hall: Don't sit back for four years and say, yeah, no one ever called me, [00:27:00] never got asked out, never got included, never. You know, like, just do it as a student. There were times where I just, and I wasn't from Utah. I got on my motorcycle and I'm like, I don't know where this road goes, but it looks like it's got some good twisties. 

[00:27:13] Cougar Hall: I'm gonna see. And then, oh, it's an hour and a half later. Oh, I'm in price. Oh, and they have a McDonald's. So happy day. Like just go and do an explore. Nice. But that's better if you do that with a friend. It's better if you just. Include some others. You guys been to Sundance? Yeah. Me neither. Do you wanna go see it? 

[00:27:30] Cougar Hall: I don't. I don't know what's up there. Let's just go for it. I love that attitude that I think is really close to what you've been talking about today, which is just, it doesn't take that much. We just gotta, we just gotta connect. I are those crazy ideas. That's wise. Counsel. Don't ride your motorcycle to price by yourself. 

[00:27:48] Cougar Hall: I'm just saying. Right. Maybe if there's a McDonald's out there that's worth this, I know it's totally worth it. 

[00:27:53] Greg Hooke: Oh, man. No, that's wise counsel. That's wise counsel. And I would say too, for those who are introverts out [00:28:00] there, it doesn't have to be that you're, you know, going outta your way to enter a conversation. 

[00:28:05] Greg Hooke: I know that feels awkward. I know that's stressful. I get it. But try to find a way and be proactive to make a new friend. It doesn't have to be this super awkward thing, but maybe if you've sat next to someone for the last six, seven weeks here at BYU, earn their name. That's not too much to ask. It doesn't have to be a super scary thing. 

[00:28:27] Cougar Hall: It's so funny 'cause I think sometimes as a students we feel like, well if I say hi to someone. It might be creepy like they think I wanna marry them. I'd like it down. I just wanted to say hi. Like that's actually part of our culture I think is because we, we do tend to date, we do tend to get married younger than other college students around the country. 

[00:28:48] Cougar Hall: There's no doubt but. We can talk to people, you can talk and have opposite sex friends and you're not courting them hoping to marry, you know, by next Friday. So maybe we have to get rid of kind of that [00:29:00] stigma and be like, oh no, sorry, I was just saying hi. I didn't have any other motive. I promise my motives are pure. 

[00:29:06] Cougar Hall: I agree. And just like to connect with people. Maybe that's kind of the elephant in the room sometimes. Truthfully. I think that's a good point. Yeah. Interesting stuff. Greg, this has been so helpful for me. What you're doing is so important for a college. What, 

[00:29:20] Greg Hooke: what is your future? I wanna be a neurologist. I want to help people that were in a similar situation that I was and that I'm in still. 

[00:29:28] Greg Hooke: Brain injuries and other mental illnesses, chronic diseases, just injuries in general, can be very dehumanizing to people. You feel like you've lost a part of you that was once yours, and you'll always remember how life was before that, but, but now all you know is what you have. That's so incredibly disheartening. 

[00:29:48] Greg Hooke: So I wanna help people in that situation. So I'm studying for the MCAT right now. Also a disheartening process. You got this, but it's worth it. It's worth it. And neurology is something I'm really passionate about as well [00:30:00] as public health. There's a capacity and a really awesome untapped potential to take these principles of belonging and say, okay, now let's apply this to public health. 

[00:30:12] Greg Hooke: Let's reach those people who feel on the outskirts of society for whatever reason, feel forgotten, and let's bring them back. Let's reach out to them. Let's give them some resources to be able to increase and improve their quality of life. And that's a beautiful thing. And so combining those two things together as well as continuing to work with belonging, that's the future plan right now. 

[00:30:33] Greg Hooke: Also having a lot of fun doing it. 

[00:30:36] Cougar Hall: I love it. You have such a bright future, Greg, and I've enjoyed all my interactions with you. I just have a couple more questions and I'll probably add some more commentary of course. 'cause I talk too much. 

[00:30:46] Greg Hooke: No. 

[00:30:46] Cougar Hall: Are we, I feel like we've talked around a bunch of kinda actionable items, some things that we can do, but we've really focused on campus, so maybe there are some actionable items that translate beyond campus. 

[00:30:58] Cougar Hall: Do you have two or three [00:31:00] things that you've been focusing on in your council or. What you've taken from the program at Johns Hopkins, are there two or three actionable items that everyone can do? And maybe we've covered 'em all and you can just restate them in a concise manner. 

[00:31:15] Greg Hooke: One, don't be afraid to start something y'all. 

[00:31:19] Greg Hooke: I'm just a BYU student and I think we, we say that and we diminish ourselves, but that's powerful. We each have something unique and and important to contribute here at BYU and in the future. Whether we're, we're a student right now, a faculty member or not, we all have a unique perspective that will empower others in their life's journey. 

[00:31:41] Greg Hooke: So don't be afraid to start something. When I approached Dr often about starting the Student Belonging Council, I had no idea what I was doing. I had an idea and I didn't understand the planning, the funding, but that didn't matter at that point. What I did have was the passion to pursue an idea. I think a lot of us too easily [00:32:00] lose that passion. 

[00:32:01] Greg Hooke: When we see the barriers and challenges around us, we think, oh, I'm not qualified enough. The peer reviewers see right through this. This won't matter to them, but it's important. And I love the quote that the work of the world isn't done by geniuses. It's done by ordinary people who have learned to work in an extraordinary way. 

[00:32:22] Greg Hooke: That's what we do when we pursue our ideas and we just work hard at them. I think those are the most successful people and those are the people that make the difference. So that would be number one. And then number two, belonging isn't just an issue at school. You get on the metro, you're on the east coast, you're on the subway, right? 

[00:32:38] Greg Hooke: You sit next to someone who knows if that person has even been talked to that day. You just gotta keep looking around you, in your communities, in your wards. Maybe instead of yelling at the person that cut you off on the freeway, just wave to 'em or something. That one's a little harder. I'm working on that one. 

[00:32:55] Greg Hooke: But there are people all around us and we all share that common need to belong. [00:33:00] So just be a little more intentional. 

[00:33:02] Cougar Hall: Yeah, I love it. You know, I've thinking about what we had talked about today, there are those that are concerned about any program. That is targeting, you know, one specific group and I understand some of those concerns. 

[00:33:18] Cougar Hall: And I also think about our savior, who in the New Testament, multiple places, you'll hear that the whole need no physician, that he's the master healer. And if I'm well at the moment, he may not give me all of his attention, but he's gonna find that person who needs that extra love, who needs to be healed. 

[00:33:42] Cougar Hall: But as you've described this, you've indicated very clearly that belonging in the College of Life Sciences is about everyone. And I think one of these little ahas that I've had as you've been talking, Greg, is that. We have some who feel like they belong [00:34:00] here and we have some who really are hurting and staying away and feeling like this is not my place. 

[00:34:07] Cougar Hall: Belonging in this college involves everyone. And I imagine at some point in your four or five years here. You're gonna be on both sides of this equation. You may be the whole, and you don't need a physician, or you may be the one who needs some healing, but it involves everyone because literally, if I'm feeling whole today, then I'm the one who's reaching out. 

[00:34:30] Cougar Hall: And if I'm low and I'm lost, then I need that hand to reach out to me. But this is not a program where there's certain funds or certain activities that are limited to one specific group. We don't have a study area in this building That's just for men or just for women, or just for these majors or just for first gen college students? 

[00:34:52] Cougar Hall: No, it's for everybody. And everyone's involved in belonging because you are either receiving. Or [00:35:00] you're giving and we're all gonna have experiences where we can do both. Sometimes what the receiver needs the most is to reach out to someone else. I think you've mentioned that today, like that outward focus is the best anecdote for some of the things we're suffering from that inherently cause us to look inward. 

[00:35:21] Cougar Hall: Right, like, man, so this does involve everybody. We're not picking out a specific group and trying to give them a leg up. We want everybody to rise up. So I just love the way that you're going about it. It feels inspired and it feels consistent and. What our savior, Jesus Christ has asked us to do and what he's shown us. 

[00:35:43] Cougar Hall: So I'm totally touched. I hope that translates well. I hope you can see it in my eyes and hear it in my voice. How just pleased I am with your efforts. What have I left out? What part of your story would you like to share with our listeners before we sign off here in a few minutes? [00:36:00] 

[00:36:00] Greg Hooke: Cougar, that was beautifully said, and I really love the takeaways that you took as far as what is left and what hasn't been said. 

[00:36:08] Greg Hooke: I wanna speak a little bit more on comparison. I think that's an area that many of us struggle with, no matter where we are in life. And I would just say, you know, I've always thought it was pretty cheesy when people are like, compare yourself to yourself. I'm like, well, I want to be a doctor. There are clearly MCAT scores that I should be hitting. 

[00:36:28] Greg Hooke: There's GPA requirements. You're telling me to compare myself to myself. But I had a moment today where I got to really reflect. Thinking about this podcast and saying, wow, I've come a really long way to where I was before. If I was three years ago when I was starting BYU and had head pain almost every single minute of the day. 

[00:36:50] Greg Hooke: If I could only see what I see in myself now, I would be amazed. I'd encourage you to think about that. I'd seriously [00:37:00] encourage you to take some time. Even if you're a freshman and you just started not too long ago, you're changing. You're becoming a better person. If there are areas of your life that you feel like, Hey, you know what, I'm inadequate here. 

[00:37:11] Greg Hooke: That's okay. You're recognizing that. Let's keep going. Let's move forward. But don't invalidate the progress you've already made. That's a beautiful thing that keeps me going, that keeps me going. 

[00:37:22] Cougar Hall: Amen. It's so easy for us to chart the progress of others 'cause we're the observer, and rarely are we the observer of our own growth. 

[00:37:30] Cougar Hall: So I think that's why we're supposed to slow down and be mindful. I think that's why we're supposed to journal. I think that's why we're supposed to really reflect on our experiences because we are growing. I've had students who tell me as a senior, they're like, I don't know what happened. Like I've been here for four years. 

[00:37:45] Cougar Hall: I've passed all my classes, but I haven't learned anything. Then they get out and they start in their career. They start talking to extended family or friends, and they're like. That's weird. How are you not able to do that? They don't realize that they have grown. They do have more [00:38:00] tools in their tool belt, but you don't observe yourself in that way. 

[00:38:04] Cougar Hall: You only observe others. So that is inherently a challenge for us related to comparison. So I love that you're like, I look back three years, the things I was worried about. I'm still worried about other stuff, but that other stuff has changed. Like I'm like, oh my goodness, I've gotten through so much. I'm so much more resilient than I thought. 

[00:38:24] Cougar Hall: I was. Really cool. Huh? Super cool. Life is a trip. It's a really good trip. I love it. Worth continuing on, for sure. Absolutely. Well, Greg, I wish you all the best. I know you have big plans in the future. You've shared those with us a little bit. What's got you excited? What's waking you up in the morning? 

[00:38:41] Cougar Hall: You're like, I'm ready to roll. It's a lot of work, but I'm ready to roll. Is there something you're reading or listening to, or is there something that's kind of bouncing around that frontal lobe of your brain and thinking, man, this is cool. I can't wait for this. 

[00:38:53] Greg Hooke: I eat the same breakfast every morning, still keeping me going. 

[00:38:56] Greg Hooke: I love it. It's an apple salad. There's a plug. If you [00:39:00] ever want to know more about that, just find me in the halls. But other than my breakfast, this belonging council, seriously, it is so cool to feel like you're making a difference in your college. It's even cooler to realize, hey, it's not because you're all that either. 

[00:39:15] Greg Hooke: It's because what you're doing is important and you're able to contribute, and I love that. I love that feeling. So that's keeping me going. 

[00:39:23] Cougar Hall: Love it. Greg, you're gonna be a great doc. You're already a great researcher and I want to have you on again, if that's okay before you leave here and let's get an update on where you are headed to school and how your family's growing and developing and all just. 

[00:39:38] Cougar Hall: So many things I want to catch up with. You know, maybe in the next 12 or 14 months we'll get you back. 

[00:39:42] Greg Hooke: That would be awesome. Cougar, you're awesome. I really appreciate this Why Health Podcast. You're doing a lot of good through it, so thank you. 

[00:39:49] Cougar Hall: Thanks brother. Thanks for joining us. All the best. Thank you for joining us today. 

[00:39:53] Cougar Hall: Catch us on our next episode and don't forget to subscribe to Future Y Health [00:40:00] episodes.