Alumni News - Jeff Mills (’79)

Jeff Mills (’79) lives in Johor Bahru Malaysia, just across a bridge from Singapore, where he teaches at an international school. We talked about how families globally value education for their children, and the similarities and differences between Overlake in the 1970s, and the growth of new schools globally where Jeff has spent the last twelve years of his career. He has two children, one in Thailand, and one studying in Bellingham. Jeff’s undergraduate degree from Lewis & Clark was in natural science, which involved advanced biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics, as an onramp to medical school. After receiving his BS, he changed course and got a master’s degree in International Business, which is where he spent his the earlier part of his career. He shares how he decided to teach and also a wonderful adventure on the set of The Empire Strikes Back from his Overlake days.

What are you doing now?

I currently teach mathematics, algebra and geometry, to students in grades 8, 9, and 10 at an international school. In some of my previous positions, I have also taught science. I’ve taught in international schools all over the world, and many are only a decade old, which is about how old Overlake was when I started there. Generally, the quality is not where Overlake is now, but it is improving over time. My own daughter attends a private international school because the public schools are just not very good. Education is valued globally, because parents see it as the portal to economic opportunity and social mobility.

Talk about your path to what you are doing now.

About 12 years ago I was in what turned out to be my last business, in the building industry, in wood products for construction. Then the housing crash hit. I decided to take a year off to travel, get some rest, and think about what I wanted to do next. Interestingly, my mother also spent most of her career in business, and then transitioned to teaching at the end of her working years. She also taught internationally and got to travel and see the world in a way you can’t as a tourist.

While I was traveling on my year off, I met some teachers, particularly in Bangkok. I had accepted a job in China, which was to begin when my year of travel ended. When I arrived at the job in China, it was the middle of winter, and I was working in a building with no heat! Fortunately, I brought plenty of clothes, so I put on three or four layers to try to stay warm. That lasted about a week. I decided to apply for a teaching position in Bangkok, where I received my first teaching position.

What challenges have you met along the way?

I had to start at the bottom in teaching, because I had changed careers. I eventually received a master’s certificate from the UK called a post-graduate certificate in education, which gave me the credentials I was missing, and allowed me to work at the better schools. But I had to gradually work my way up. It can be a struggle at times, but it is very rewarding work. I love it.

What did you bring with you from your Overlake experience?

My most memorable experience, in a way, was on a cross country ski trip to Norway with a number of Overlake students – this was a sort of extended Project Week, similar to the Voyageurs summer trips to Europe led by Jean Orvis. This was in my senior year, the winter of 1978-79.

At the end of the trip, we went to a remote area of Norway to a special place called Finse that was ideal for cross country skiing, with long flat barren areas. There was only one hotel and a youth hostel. No resort or anything.

As we arrived on the train, we were greeted by all these people wearing Star Wars film crew outfits: jackets, hats, etc. Then we saw Mark Hamill! I walked right up to him and asked if he was Mark Hamill! He laughed and said, “Why? Do I owe you money?”

It turned out that the movie production company had booked the entire hotel. So we had to move to a youth hostel, which was not that close.

A small group of us later snuck over to the hotel to see if we could meet some of the cast. We peeked into some tents where all the sets and props were stored, and no one stopped us. Inside the hotel we were stopped by one of the managers, who was leading us to the exit, when a crewmember stopped him. Most of the crew was English, because the sets were being filmed at Pinewood Studios in England. This particular person was from the United States and he told us to return that evening as his guest to hang out in the bar.

A number of us came back that evening and were hanging out, soaking up the scene. Someone remarked that I looked like Mark Hamill – a resemblance I didn’t see, honestly. We had the same build, which turned out to be important later.

The next day was a white-out blizzard, so we could not ski. Late that afternoon, some people from the film came by the hostel and asked if I would be willing to be a body film double for Mark Hamill! I was just in the right place at the right time. Chris Peterson (’79) was also picked as a possible body double for Harrison Ford, but they only kept him for a day or two.

In the end, I worked for several weeks, going in at 5 am to be made up, including the facial scars Mark had. I usually slept during makeup because it took so long! Then I went to wardrobe to get into costume. Mostly it was a lot of waiting around for shots to be ready. I received a little bit of compensation, which seemed like a lot at the time.

I was in all of the outdoor snow scenes on the planet Hoth. I was interviewed by a local paper about the opportunity.

It was wonderful, and I got to meet and hang out with Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and even Carrie Fisher. The rest of the Overlake students went home, because the trip was over, but I stayed on with permission from my parents, to finish the shooting. I was staying by myself at the youth hostel. The filming was a fascinating education, but the social time with these rising movie stars was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The great thing about all this is the EXPERIENCE. None of it would have happened if Overlake didn’t offer international trips as an integral part of its educational experience. Most Owls who went on international trips of this kind didn’t get to be in a blockbuster movie, but all of them got a sense of the wider world, and our place in it.

Click here to read a translation of the Norwegian newspaper article about Mills experience