Whiz Kid: HCC and USF Student Tracy Maré Aims High in Music and Tennis

Tracy Maré is a whiz at moving forward with her goals to become a high school band teacher and tennis club owner, with a passion for making other people feel special.

“That’s what I have planned so we’ll see how well it goes,” said Maré, a student co-enrolled at Hillsborough Community College and the University of South Florida, who works after school at the Brandon Sports & Aquatic Center.

Brandon Patch caught up with Maré on March 5, where she talked about her studies and her job and the influences that have affected her life from birth to age 19. Maré was attending a band auction at Bloomingdale High School, where she graduated from in 2010. (For related coverage, see the Bloomingdale Patch article, “Bloomingdale Band Hosts 21st Annual Auction.”)

Brandon Patch: How do you feel about Hillsborough Community College?

• Maré: I love it. They’re scheduling is flexible and classes are small so you get to know the other people in your class and the professors better. I think it enhances your learning experience because if you have questions you feel like your professors are more approachable as well as the other classmates. It’s more a tight-knit family.

Brandon Patch: Tell me about your music.

• Maré: I play the flute, piccolo and trumpet. And I start in concert band at USF, playing trumpet. I’m extremely excited about that. You can take marching band at USF if you’re an HCC student. I just hope that college band is as fulfilling as high school’s marching band was.

Brandon Patch: So, you enjoyed high school marching band?

• Maré: Being in marching band and just being [at Bloomingdale] was the best experience in my life. Not only did I learn more about music than anyone has ever taught me but having been taught by Mr. [Jon] Sivret [the band teacher], you leave with a sense of loyalty and very strong character. I want to be a band teacher because of Mr. Sever.

Brandon Patch: What makes him such a great teacher?

• Maré: He works extremely hard every single day and expects no less than that from [his students]. He teaches as much bout life and everyday living, and who you should be as a  person, as he teaches about music. It’s just inspirational to see someone put so much into what they love to do and do such a good job at it and it’s something that I’m passionate about, too. I see that it can be done and hope some day to do the same.

Brandon Patch: What about the Brandon Sports & Aquatic Center?

• Maré: I like that there’s always something to do and the people are great, the people are friendly, and it’s a great school. They have swimming, diving, gymnastics, martial arts, tennis and fitness classes, a Wii room and an arcade. It’s just a great experience for kids to go out there and enjoy themselves in a positive environment.

Brandon Patch: You speak highly about the people you work with and train with at the Brandon Sports & Aquatic Center.

• Maré: I absolutely love them. They have great staff over there. It really is about creating opportunities and challenging students to do better every day and to push themselves and to work harder every day. Most of what I know is on the tennis side, because I’m involved in tennis. Eric Dobsha, he’s my coach. He pinpoints exactly what you need to work on, shows you how to improve it and makes sure that you work hard. And also he’s very inspirational. He makes you want to do better.

Brandon Patch: What makes you tick?

• Maré: I like to go out of my way to make other people feel special. To say, ‘Hey, you’re doing a really great job with this,’ to encourage them, to show them somebody sees you’re working hard and it is appreciated, because sometimes people don’t notice and it can get discouraging and I don’t see any need for that. I want everybody to be happy.

Brandon Patch: Of your many learning experiences, what stands out?

• Maré: Going into my junior year of high school I got put on leadership for band and over the summer we went to leadership meetings. One lesson was about “86-4.” Mr. Sever gives you a blank piece of paper and pen and says, ‘Pretend you have $86,400 and you have to spend it all in one day. You can’t invest it, you can’t use it as a down payment, it has to be completely gone in one day.” People go through this exercise and think about how they would spend that $86,400 and then they discuss it and realize 86,400 is the number of seconds in a day. So, what would you do with your seconds in a day? How would you spend your time? It’s about finding out what’s important to you. What kind of person you want to be is reflected in how you spend your time.

Brandon Patch: What makes you such a compassionate person?

• Maré: It’s a quality I got from my mom. She’s always compassionate and concerned about other people. She never wants to see anyone hurting and seeing that in her, from the time I understood what was going on around me, has kind of taught me the type of person I want to be.