UAPB graduate tells of life lessons learned

After facing life-changing challenges, a Fall 2023 graduate believes she’s right where she belongs.

Carly Van Hook graduated Dec. 9 with a 3.7 grade-point average from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing.

After overcoming two vehicle accidents, not only did Van Hook graduate, but she received a Chancellor’s Medallion for having the highest GPA in the UAPB School of Business and Management.

IN THE BEGINNING

Van Hook began her journey at UAPB on a band scholarship as a percussionist in Fall 2020 with the nationally acclaimed UAPB Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South (M4) band.

Constance Castle, UAPB Donors’ Banquet Committee member, was UAPB Admissions Officer when Van Hook joined UAPB.

“I started with Carly as she entered our university for band camp as a freshman,” Castle said. “Right away, I knew she possessed what was needed to matriculate through the university because of her kind, determined, genuine, and tenacious spirit.”

Van Hook received both the Academic Challenge Scholarship and the Golden Lion Scholarship and was excited to join as a UAPB legacy, following in the footsteps of her father, aunt and brother. She transitioned from Prescott, a small town in the Ouachita Mountains, to Pine Bluff, committed to completing her education in business marketing, serving her community, being active on campus and developing her love for photography.

Learning the importance of earning a summer internship and experience, Van Hook started the Summer 2021 working as a peer navigator with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Save AR Future (SARF) program, assisting the team with data collection and social media advertising.

SARF is a prevention program to reduce health disparities by decreasing substance abuse, HIV and related stigma impacting 18- to 24-year-olds in Arkansas, particularly minority populations, according to the website. SARF also reported that African Americans are at disproportionate risk in Arkansas.

Van Hook headed into her sophomore year as a business major with a concentration in marketing while balancing her love for photography and acquiring business marketing experience. She secured a spot with the UAPB Golden Lions Athletics Department Media Team. She became president and a founding member of the UAPB School of Business and Management Entrepreneurship Club.

There, she developed the club’s brand graphic with the slogan: “We develop future business leaders that Innovate, Network, and Achieve.” She was also an active SBM’s Accounting Club and the Investment Club member.

With her hometown of Prescott less than a two-hour drive away, Carly also supported Colby Tillman, the first African American Criminal Investigator for the Prescott Police Department, in his 2021-22 campaign to be the first African American mayor of Prescott.

In Spring 2022, Van Hook looked forward to being a junior and receiving her first out-of-state internship opportunity under conflicting circumstances.

“I received the best news: I had the honor of being selected to participate in the Walton Family Foundation Investment Team Summer Internship in Washington, D.C., then I received the sad news that my grandfather had passed away,” she said.

LIFE-ALTERING CIRCUMSTANCES

Van Hook drove home to attend her grandfather’s funeral. In a moving testimonial that received a standing ovation when shared at the October 2023 UAPB Donors Banquet, Van Hook said her life changed forever during the drive back to Pine Bluff.

At the banquet, Van Hook said she “had cleared her head after the funeral” and was ready to drive back to Pine Bluff. Having turned around twice after her initial departure, she refused to let her brother go with her because she planned to “be right back.”

She was finally on her way with a friend to Pine Bluff to return her books and wrap up the semester in preparation for her summer internship.

She was 40 minutes from Prescott. Driving no more than 65 miles per hour behind a semi-truck, Van Hook started passing the truck. The 18-wheeler veered into her lane. She recalls blowing her horn and “begging God to protect us.”

The truck driver crashed into the car, and they flipped and wedged between two trees as the truck driver kept going.

“My four-pound Pomeranian looks at me like, ‘I know that’s not glass in my bed.'”

As a result of the crash, she couldn’t move her head, but she held her best friend’s hand and recounted believing and saying, “Everything will be OK; we’re going to make it.”

While her friend was being airlifted, she was transported by ambulance to a hospital in Hot Springs.

“When I thought the nightmare was over, I was in another accident in the ambulance. A teen driver ran a stop light and hit the ambulance. Ripped out IVs, started the process over, and transferred me to a new ambulance.”

Even though she made it to the hospital, her family had difficulty finding her because, based on the scene, there would be no survivors. The family thought Van Hook and her friend were dead. Her friend had two broken ribs and his lungs collapsed. Van Hook suffered a fractured neck and a sprained arm.

Van Hook recounted the doctors saying, “You aren’t supposed to be here.” But to a standing audience ovation at the Donors Banquet, Van Hook declared, “God said, ‘I’m where I belong'” and thanked the donors for their support for her and students like her.

With this attitude of acceptance, Van Hook spent a shorter time than normal recovering from damaged nerves, slurred speech, stuttering, constant blinking and learning to walk again. She couldn’t bathe or feed herself. She couldn’t speak a complete sentence and lost 30 pounds.

Her summer intern experience was replaced by her being surrounded by family, friends and supporters.

“Without my village, getting better would be impossible. We need family because you accomplish more together,” Van Hook said.

Van Hook and her village worked toward the goal: “Get out of the neck brace and get back to UAPB.”

And back to UAPB she came. She attributes her belief in God to her recovery from her accident, citing Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” She also held on to her realization that UAPB was where she belonged.

BACK ON TRACK

Van Hook continued her studies, her work with athletics, leading the Entrepreneurship Club to host two pop-up shops on campus, became a UAPB Communications Brand Ambassador and a multimedia technician for the Pine Bluff Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County.

And yes, she qualified for the Summer 2023 Walton Foundation Investment Internship in Washington.

When asked “What’s next?” she responded with a slight twist on her realization: “I’m where I belong.”

“I am open to traveling the world, learning and growing. There are so many options right now. Someday, I’d like to start a brand-building business and help others come to the limelight. However, after graduation, I look forward to accepting a management position with a marketing company that makes me feel that working with them is where I belong,” she said.

Mary Hester-Clifton is the director of communications at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.