EVAN TODD

Senior Spotlight

When Evan Todd came to Hammond, he didn’t anticipate being so widely involved

Transferring from Blythewood High School his sophomore year, he says that Hammond’s continued in-person learning during the COVID pandemic made him capitalize on his desire to move schools “After about three months of doing virtual, I knew it wasn't for me. I would always look for a reason to try to move schools ”

Sophomore year, Evan was on the baseball and sporting clays teams, was a leader with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and played with the guitar club He is a longtime singer, and always “secretly, deep down, liked musicals and liked plays and theater ” But he never foresaw participating in the arts at Hammond “I remember coming in sophomore year, and people asked me why I didn't do Select Ensemble, and I kind of, like, laughed in their face What do you mean? It's lame ”

Ultimately, though, Hammond’s choral and drama programs drew Evan in He’s sung with the Select Ensemble since junior year, took on a supporting role in last year’s production of Clue, and played the lead role of Peter in this year’s production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe The arts aren’t Evan’s only new endeavor since he came to Hammond: he was chosen to serve on the honor council his junior year, and also for the Hammond Leadership Council his senior year

Off campus, Evan sings and plays alongside three of his classmates in Forest Drive Band, which formed as a successor to Blake Weinbach and the Boys after Weinbach graduated from Hammond in 2021 While watching one of the former band’s performances, Evan describes being “so jealous of Blake ” He says, “I kinda weaseled my way in and said, hey, guys, we gotta jam sometime I sing I play guitar We gotta figure this out.”

After performing at Hammond’s 2022 Dance Marathon, Forest Drive (then the Hap Shull Experience) was invited to perform at the University of South Carolina’s Dance Marathon later that year It was then, Evan says, that “we [the band] realized that we have really good chemistry and we should try to write our own music ” Working for an entire summer, Forest Drive released a full-length album, Reflections, on September 30, 2022, a moment Evan describes as “one of the proudest moments of my life ”

How am I going to enjoy it?”

Asked about the hardest part of his Hammond experience, Evan candidly describes how Hammond’s high academic standards made for a tough adjustment One instance in Dr Ragan’s honors American literature class exemplified it: “I had never received below a 96 on an essay at Blythewood I come over and I get a C+ on Dr Ragan's first essay, and I just freak out ” But Evan worked diligently and saw himself adjust: he cites “being able to see my progress in writing” as a rewarding aspect of his time at Hammond His induction into the Cum Laude Society, an honor bestowed on the top tenth of students in the senior class, is no small feat, either

Evan’s personality converges an enthusiastic love of life with intentionality, depth, and a remarkable maturity He describes his parents’ work ethic, exemplified in a family mantra of “we don’t do lazy and we don’t do stupid,” as a guiding force in his life, alongside a “live in the moment” mentality. “Really, I try to wake up and realize that I only get to live today, today So how am I not going to be lazy? How am I not going to be stupid? How am I going to enjoy it?”

As student body vice president, homecoming king, a Cum Laude inductee, a senior leader in FCA and guitar club, and a member of the selective Honor Council and Hammond Leadership Council, it’s pretty clear that Evan Todd has fulfilled this mission. He will be attending Baylor University in the fall, majoring in biology on the premedicine track His parting advice to Hammond students is that “it's important to realize that the best way to respond to failure is just to work harder and do better and just, don't take it personally.” He adds, “Enjoy every single second of wherever you are you get to choose how much fun you have and so choose to have the most fun ”