Hopkins started their high school career with no plan to be in the class top ten and achieved their class rank by taking classes that were interesting.

“My freshman year, I took some fun classes like Auto and First Aid & Safety,” Hopkins said.

A meeting with Hopkins’ counselor junior year changed the lack of knowledge about the top ten.

“I found out junior year that I was in the top ten, and it was surprising to me,” Hopkins said.

When Hopkins found out they were in the top ten, they made an effort to retain their ranking or improve it.

“I was like, ‘I’ll make it a goal to maintain being in the top ten,’ and I actually went up a couple ranks since [junior year],” Hopkins said.

Being in the top ten is a very prestigious achievement, requiring hard work, intelligence, and commitment. These traits have helped Hopkins obtain success in academics while taking some of the most difficult classes OHS has to offer.

“There’s no denying the difficulty of [AP Calculus BC], but it’s more so are students willing to accept the challenge of the class,” Jordan Orlewicz, Hopkins’ physics teacher, said.

Hopkins has no problem accepting a challenge in the classroom. This has helped them take and succeed in a variety of difficult classes.

“I just took all the AP classes I could freshman year… I just wanted to continue the challenges I had had,” Hopkins said.

Hopkins’ strong work ethic has helped them in the classroom, but has also helped them achieve success as a four year athlete on two OHS teams, golf and basketball.

“[Hopkins] has just a crazy work ethic, multiple AP classes, going to practice every single day. Sometimes two practices,” John McKernan, Hopkins’ coach on the OHS golf team, said.

Due to their dedication and commitment to the respective sports and teams, Hopkins is a captain of the varsity golf and basketball teams. These experiences were some of Hopkins most fun during the year.

“I think my favorite part of the year was basketball, being a captain of that team. I was also captain of the golf team, that was very fun and they were both really impactful,” Hopkins said.

Hopkins’ drive on the field and court carries over to the classroom, where they show up with a positive attitude every day.

“[Hopkins] has always been ready to go, always determined, always focused,” said Orlewicz.

Over the past four years at OHS, Hopkins has learned some important lessons from their experiences, inside and outside the classroom.

“[I learned] that relationships just really matter… just if you offer stuff to people, they offer stuff back,” said Hopkins. 

Hopkins will take all they have learned over the past four years to the next adventure. Hopkins will be attending the University of Florida in the fall to pursue a lifelong dream of studying engineering.

“When I was little, I wanted to be an astronaut, but going to space isn’t really my thing now, so now I just find aviation and that stuff interesting,” said Hopkins.

Over the past four years, Hopkins has worked hard to achieve a top ten ranking in the Oviedo High School Class of 2025, and the lessons learned along the way will help them for life. Hopkins will look to utilize these lessons as Hopkins looks to challenge themself in college.

“I would say it’s important to challenge yourself. It helps more than you think in the moment,” said Hopkins.