TN TECH – While the start of the academic year is a milestone for any college student, it carried extra meaning for Tennessee Tech University business information technology major Ryan Wilmore.

This fall marked Wilmore’s return to campus after three semesters away battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a rapidly progressing blood and bone marrow cancer. With his cancer now in remission, Wilmore is reengaging in life as a Golden Eagle with a new perspective and confidence forged from facing – and overcoming – a devastating illness.

Wilmore called his return to campus “overwhelming” in the best way.

“That sense of normalcy, seeing familiar faces and familiar buildings – it was great to be back,” he said.

Although Wilmore first enrolled at Tech in 2022, his connection to the university stretches back much further. His father, Randy Wilmore, a 1982 Tech graduate, has long been one of the university’s most dedicated alumni. He devoted 30 years of service to the Alumni Association Board of Directors, contributed more than 40 consecutive years of generous giving to the university and earned the Alumni Association’s 2024 Outstanding Service Award.

When it came time to choose a college, Ryan said Tech was the obvious choice.

“It was a pretty clear and obvious decision,” he said. “Tech is such a great university in the state, and it’s affordable too.”

His mother, Cindy, joked that his college path was sealed by virtue of his last name.

“Growing up a Wilmore, you’re pretty much going to Tennessee Tech,” she said with a laugh. “And Ryan never discussed going anywhere else.”

At Tech, Wilmore excelled in the classroom – earning a perennial spot on the Dean’s List – and joined Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI), the fraternity his father helped bring to campus in 1979.

But everything changed when cancer struck in December 2023.

“I still have the piece of paper from where the oncologists first wrote out ‘acute lymphoblastic leukemia,’” Cindy recalled. “As a mom and as a woman of faith, it was, ‘God, why?’”

The demanding treatment schedule and frequent travel to Nashville forced Wilmore to disenroll from the university, adding disappointment to an already painful season.

“It was really discouraging,” he said. “That fear of missing out and not being in school.”

Randy remembered one particularly difficult day moving his son out of the fraternity house, not knowing when he would be able to return.

“For a dad, that was tough,” he said. “There were some hard days, but we knew better days were ahead.”

Even while recuperating at his family home in Maury County, Wilmore said his Golden Eagle community continued to support him. The College of Business sent him a care package, and his fraternity brothers visited to share well wishes, among other gestures of support.

Once his improving health made a return to school possible, Wilmore said Tech staff made the reentry process seamless.

“They were very good about it,” Wilmore explained. “I’d email with questions about re-enrolling, getting scholarships back, and they’d respond the same day. It was all a smooth process.”

Now back in class, Wilmore is focused on a future career in data analytics – a goal that suddenly feels more attainable after the challenges he has faced.

“If I can go through all of this, then I can do pretty much anything I put my mind to,” he said.

His family has also found ways to mine purpose out of their season of pain. Randy recently joined the board of trustees for the Tennessee chapter of Blood Cancer United, formerly known as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

“It’s extremely personal to be part of this and to try to advance the cause,” Randy said. “I think back to the drug that has probably been most meaningful for Ryan, and it’s something that wasn’t around five or 10 years ago. I’m thankful for those who gave money to fund that research, because we’re the recipients of it. Now, it’s our turn to pay it forward.”

Wilmore continues to travel to Nashville monthly for chemotherapy and will need several more years of clear scans before being considered cured. But today, he says he feels like his old self again – only with an even deeper appreciation for his health, family and Tennessee Tech community.

“I feel normal,” he said. “I feel like myself pre-cancer.”