By Cassie Honeycutt, Features Editor

As the morning sun shines through the stained glass window, the young girl rubs her tired eyes. She is captivated by the choir practice. Staring at her mom in amazement, she watches her every move with the hope that one day that will be her.

Senior Hopelyn Kovacs grew up admiring the arts and has been in love with performing since she was little.  

“We would learn music in elementary school between singing in the choir to acting in the musicals. Then once I got to middle school, I knew for a fact I wanted to join the band. I was also a part of the choir at the middle school,” Kovacs said. “I knew I wanted to continue band in high school, but I decided to do choir instead of jazz at first. And now here I am, the field commander of the marching band, and first trombone of the honors jazz band.”

Kovacs applied to be the field commander of the marching band last spring, and with such a serious position comes a lengthy application process. 

“I had to go through an audition, fill out a question packet, write an essay and then have an interview with Mr. Ebert,” Kovacs said. 

Kovacs started preparing for the position a while ago and was hoping all that hard work she put in paid off. 

“I had worked hard on getting better at conducting and to actually get the position and to truly be able to conduct this year made me very excited,” Kovacs said. 

Bob Ebert, First Flight’s band teacher, knew that Kovacs had many qualities that would benefit the band, but one stood out in particular: “Hopelyn has brought a style of leadership that’s a little more direct than the last few years and she is not afraid to identify and address performance issues and does so in a professional manner.”

Kovacs was ecstatic when she received the position. Those close to her knew what she had overcome to get what she wanted most. 

“This year, as field commander, she has overcome her anxiety of leadership of her peers and stepped up in other areas to help not just the marching band but the honors jazz band and the chorus program by teaching herself how to run the sound systems for jazz after that role was left vacant from a graduating senior,” said her supportive mother, Jennifer Kovacs.

Field commander is a position that holds many responsibilities, including serving as the main conductor of the other student leaders. Kovacs takes this position very seriously and tries to be the best she can be for her bandmates. 

“With leading all of the songs, I have to have all of the music memorized, which might seem like something simple but there are so many different things going on,” Kovacs said. “We have to get the speed of the different charts correct, and make sure if there is a time change we put it at the right measure and do the correct beat pattern.” 

The work started this summer with band camp in August and after-school rehearsals throughout October.

“After falling behind schedule due to Hurricane Dorian, she’s helped get the band back on track, which means the entire halftime show has been installed and now we’re simply cleaning it up,” Ebert said.

Having so many outlets in the arts – and wanting to be part of them all – Kovacs has come upon some issues.

“I was in the Honors Choir my freshman year, but I had to drop due to the fact that I just couldn’t fit all of the classes I wanted to take into my schedule, so I had to choose between Choir and Honors Jazz,” Kovacs said. 

Even though Kovacs doesn’t take choir class anymore, she still incorporates it into her life. 

“I do still sing for fun, and then I’ll occasionally sing the national anthem at the soccer games or wherever they want me to,” Kovacs said. 

Though Kovacs is the one everyone sees performing, she credits the person behind the curtain – her mom.

“She has taken me to countless evening rehearsals, and she goes to every single performance I am in, even if she has to drive hours to and from the events,” Kovacs said. “She is my biggest cheerleader, and always has been there for me. Without her love and support, I doubt I would be where I am in music today.”

Kovacs has worked hard to achieve her goals, and her hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed. 

“She has always set the bar higher than I said it had to be,” Jennifer said. “And while I always wanted to attempt the same things she has at some point growing up, I never had the huge amounts of courage and grit that she has.”

With Kovacs catching the “theater bug” her junior year, she plans to expand her interests in the arts in the future. In college, she wants to major in some type of musical theater with a minor in music or instrumental. 

“All I know is that no matter what I do in the future, I will always have my love of the arts with me, and will always have that love for as long as I live,” Kovacs said.  

Junior Cassie Honeycutt can be reached at 21honeycuttca35@daretolearn.org.