By Kayla Knowles
Executive Theme Editor
The spotlight shone bright on senior Derek Zeoli as his academic and musical achievements were brought to light when he was awarded Student of the Year.
Costa staff awarded Zeoli the 2015 Student of the Year at the All Awards Ceremony on June 2 in the Costa auditorium. The other nominees included Ryan Cosner, Reilly Edmonds, Lauren Irwin and Mai Nojima, who were nominated for their excellence in their academics and extracurricular activities.
“I was extremely happy to have been considered alongside the four other amazing nominees,” Zeoli said. “I have been inspired by them to do well my whole high school career at Costa.”
Zeoli has taken part in multiple instrumental extracurricular activities at Costa, including marching band, jazz band one and two, concert band, wind ensemble, sax pack, vocal ensemble and Mira Costa Muscle. On top of all of those activities, Derek has also performed in Costa plays and musicals including “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Peter Pan” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”
“I was pleasantly shocked and amazed at all of Derek’s accomplishments,” Derek Zeoli’s mother, Carla Zeoli, said. “Derek is an exceptionally bright and extremely driven young man.”
Zeoli began playing his first instrument, the piano, 10 years ago. With the help of his piano instructor, Kevin Brough, he learned to love music. This passion for music led him to learn how to play the saxophone in elementary school.
“For the most part, we let our kids make their own decisions as to which activities to pursue, with the exception of the piano,” Derek Zeoli’s father, Alan Zeoli, said. “I required that both of my boys learn the piano from an early age because I feel that music is an essential part of life. As a former musician, I know the profound and unique joy that creating music can provide, and I wanted my kids to experience that too.”
Derek Zeoli also participates in a form of martial art outside of school called aikido. According to Derek Zeoli, he has been involved with aikido for around 10 years, and it has led him to become a well-rounded and stronger person.
“Aikido gives me a sense of serenity,” Derek Zeoli said. “Though I have learned to defend myself, it has had a much greater spiritual impact. Aikido has given me tools to be a better person, to overcome obstacles and to be more thoughtful.”
Although Derek Zeoli has been successful at Costa, he has experienced the difficulties of maintaining a balanced schedule with all of his extracurricular activities and school work.
“Derek has maturity and wisdom far beyond his age,” Carla Zeoli said. “I will never forget when Costa had a fire drill and Alan was looking around for Derek on the football field. He said that all of the kids were goofing around and chatting, but Derek was sitting on the ground working on his homework. He just follows the beat of his own drum.”
Derek Zeoli will attend New York University Steinhardt in New York City in the fall where he will study music composition for films and multimedia. Derek Zeoli hopes to use the skills that he obtains in Steinhardt to become a top composer.
“Music is my passion in life,” Derek Zeoli said. “It has given me a strong drive to be creative. I am incredibly excited to pursue a music composition career.”
According to Derek Zeoli, Costa has prepared him for life by making him a hard-working student and a well-rounded, knowledgeable person.
“The most important thing I have learned is that sometimes your best is not good enough, but that is okay,” Derek Zeoli said. “That is how you can get better.”
Leave a Reply