From a young age, junior Dillon Lee knew what he wanted to achieve once he reached high school. He decided upon two main activities, crew and band, long before his freshman year even began. Now, several years later, he’s proud to have become successful in both his goals and has learned many lessons from his passions.

The first time Dillon walked through the doors of FHC as a freshman, he knew he was destined to join the crew team. Growing up in a family that was very active in crew, it was less of a choice and more of a given.

“My brother and sister both joined crew for all of their years in high school,” Dillon said. “It was kind of expected for me to continue with it too. But I definitely don’t mind; I enjoy doing it.”

From his very first year, Dillon had potential to excel in crew. As a coxswain, he guides, steers, and commands the rowers on the boat to yield the best results. However, he never expected to be given such a vital role on the boat.

“Coach saw a potential in me to be a coxswain my first year,” Dillon said. “So, I never made the initial decision to be one, but I’m really happy with how it turned out. People call me the “coach on the boat,a�� which is really true.”

Taking on such a big commitment is not easy, especially since Dillon’s talent was noticed early on by the coaches and his fellow rowers. Keeping in shape for the season’s start takes year-round exercise. Once the main rowing season actually begins, daily practices on top of additional conditioning add up to dozens of hours of practice for Dillon every month.

But all of Dillon’s hard work in crew has led to great results for the boats that he coxes. In his last season, his boat, the lightweight men’s eight, won states and advanced to the finals where they achieved fourth place nationally. Even more, Dillon coxed the senior men’s eight boat as a sophomore, which is a huge achievement for a first-year varsity coxswain.

Completely separate from crew, Dillon joined the band in sixth grade and has progressed in the subject ever since. From his freshman year onwards, he’s taken part in marching band and been given a spot on the drumline.

“I’ve always wanted to be a part of drumline,” Dillon said. “My whole life, I’ve watched a lot of drums and my big goal up to high school was just to be on the drumline. When I was in middle school, I thought everyone who played the drums looked really cool. I guess I just wanted to be that guy.”

Making a lot of new friends and growing these friendships have been huge benefits of band and crew for Dillon. Junior Kristen Giles is one of many that Dillon has become close to over the past few months.

“Drumline has definitely made Dillon and I a lot closer,” Kristen said. “We get to spend so much time with each other, especially at band camp. All of us on drumline have our own little jokes, and we’re just really close.”

Dillon plans on continuing these activities until he graduates. Although there’s a lot of work that goes into being so successful in his passions, it’s more than worth it for the reward and friendships that he gets in exchange.

“The people on drumline and crew really make it worth it,” Dillon said. “Playing the drums [and rowing] is fun and exciting, but it makes it so much easier when it feels like I’m just hanging out with friends.”