Life is coming full circle for Troy Luccketta of Tesla. The band wrote part of its first album at a Woodland warehouse in the 1980s and now the drummer is helping out at Woodland Polytechnic Academy.

Luccketta spoke to the charter high school’s students Friday afternoon about never giving up on one’s dreams.

“I just hung in there long enough and I just never gave up,” he said.

When he discovered the drums at 10, Luccketta knew what he wanted to do and practiced drums until he started joining bands in his teens, eventually becoming part of Tesla. He said it took perseverance and “a lot of hard work.”

“Where would we be without the dream?” Luccketta said. “So I’m here to say whatever dreams you have, keep the dream alive and make it happen.”

But he did get side-tracked in pursuit of his dream when he became addicted to drugs and alcohol. A friend helped him realize he had a problem and he got sober.

Substance abuse led to the band briefly breaking up in 1996. For the most part, however, Tesla has been together more than 25 years.

Luccketta makes the commute from Nashville, Tenn., to tour with the Sacramento-based hard rock/metal band. The band is performing at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln on Friday, May 18.

“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity and you all have opportunity here at this school,” he said.

Luccketta knows Woodland Poly executive director Steve Marks Jr. and will be coming to the school more in the future. He

did not perform at the assembly Friday.

The charter school is beginning its music program this fall.