Seniors pursue music, creative writing, drawing and painting
By Julian De Ocampo ’13
THE ROUNDUP
Many are quick to cite that Brophy creates new generations of businessmen or lawyers; however, many neglect that a number of Brophy students elect to pursue professional careers in the arts.
Take, for example, the band The Season Premiere, who played on Vans Warped Tour and debuted at No. 73 on the iTunes Top 100 with their EP “Kind Sweet Kinda Wild.”
The band, featuring senior Riley Knapp ’11 on drums, has achieved considerable success, and its members hope to continue their musical careers.
“I absolutely believe that I can make a career out of music,” Knapp said. “I know that it is what I am meant to do, and nothing can stop me from doing it.”
Knapp also said that his friend and fellow senior Mitch Hosier ’11 could soon make a career in music as a producer.
However, the arts extend far beyond the musical realm, as many students are pursuing careers in other areas such as writing.
Jeffrey Bussey ’11 said he looks to major in creative writing in college.
Bussey became especially interested in writing after taking a Creative Writing English class taught by Mr. John Damaso ’97.
“I knew going in that it would be beneficial to my writing, which going into the class had, over the years and notebooks, evolved on its own from songs, to poems, to short stories,” Bussey said. “Then the class happened and things just started to make sense, more sense than anything that had ever actually made sense to me before.”
Other students have found their talent through drawing and painting.
Fine Arts teacher Mrs. Debbie Cronin instructs a number of talented young artistes in her AP Studio Art class.
Her class is full of students looking to study art in college. Mrs. Cronin said that Kevin Donley ’11, Will Firth ’11, Austin Hale ’11, Garrett Friebott ’11, Sean Bassett ’11, Jeff Bussey ’11, Paul Wirth ’11, Alex Iversen ’11 and AJ Raglow ’11 are all looking to pursue a career in arts.
These students will join the ranks of past alumni who have gone on to pursue careers in art.
One alumnus, Peter Freeze ’08, is studying Graphic Design, photojournalism and Interactive Web Design at Creighton University Admissions.
During his time at Brophy, Freeze was the Photo Editor for the Brophy yearbook and became interested in journalism through graphic design class with Mr. Mike Nelson ’96.
Mr. Nelson himself found his calling through art following his education through the art program at Santa Clara University.