A Greenwood Community High School senior credits his time on the field and in the stands with his fellow band members to helping him land the No. 1 spot in his class.
A drum major in Greenwood’s marching band each fall, Isaac Welliver transitions to playing euphonium in the Woodmen pep band during basketball season and is in concert band from November to May.
Welliver, the valedictorian of the senior class with a 4.65 grade-point average, said the demands of being a drum major have played a role in his academic success.
“Band is definitely not just a walk in the park. You’re basically talking about a two-hour practice almost every day. It can be taxing,” Welliver said. “Especially when marching band is going on, you have to have good time management skills.”
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“Being in band has really taught me a lot beyond the musical aspects. It teaches you patience and perseverance, which helps you with your classes.”
John Morse, director of bands at Greenwood, has known Welliver since the start of his freshman year, and notes his musical versatility and self-starter mentality.
“The drum major role is a lot of leadership and Isaac is good at that,” Morse said. “He’s got a great professional demeanor. His level of responsibility is outstanding.”
Welliver never closely monitored the GPAs of his friends, but they have had a friendly competition for who could be the best, which plays into the senior’s competitive spirit, he said.
“There’s an aspect of competitiveness. I’ve always been really competitive at just about everything,” he said.
“My parents have definitely pushed me and my brother hard to do as well as we can academically. At some point, probably during about eighth grade, I guess I internalized that. Ever since then, I’ve been driven to succeed.”
Welliver looks forward to the academic challenges ahead when he majors in computer science at Purdue University.
His interest in computers started with a friend who took an introduction to programming class that Welliver found interesting, and in his freshman year, he joined the school’s robotics team, he said.
“To me, it’s fascinating that with programming and computer science you can create literally anything you want on a computer as long as you have the idea and you have the motivation to do it,” Welliver said.
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Name: Isaac Welliver
Age: 18
Parents: Daylon and Annette Welliver
Residence: Greenwood
GPA: 4.65
College: Purdue University
Major: Computer science
Career goals: “Right out of college, I think I’ll be working for a software company or something like that. My eventual goal is to start my own software company. I’ve always been fascinated by entrepreneurs and admired people who go out and create jobs.”
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