Spotlight On: Cooper Hronchek, CCES Class of 2024

 

Cooper Hronchek ’24 has certainly packed a lot into his years at CCES – from winning state championships and balancing an extremely rigorous slate of courses to multiple business ventures and becoming more comfortable as a leader. He has learned a lot on and off the field that he believes will help him be successful as he graduates in less than a month and starts this new chapter.

 

In the fall, Cooper will be attending the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL to pursue a degree in finance. He knew from the start of his college application process that he wanted to attend a bigger school, so he also applied to Georgia, USC, Clemson, and Notre Dame. However, in the end, Florida was the perfect combination of size, academics, and distance from home.

 

While he’s excited for a bigger school and all the different opportunities and experiences that will be available, Cooper has enjoyed his time at CCES, where he has been a student since the 3rd grade. Cooper particularly appreciates how close everyone is, saying, “This community is something you can’t get anywhere else.”

 

The CCES community certainly loves a good football game, and Cooper, a member of the Varsity Football team since his sophomore year, will graduate with a number of memorable ones on his resume. At the top of the list are the two state championships – the team won back to back titles in 2022 and 2023, his junior and senior seasons. While the season didn’t end in a championship, the regular season win in overtime against rival St. Joseph’s when he was a sophomore is also a favorite. Cooper made All-Region honors as a junior and a senior, and was the recipient of one of the highest team awards this year - the “Sword of the Cavalier.” This is given to the player who demonstrates “outstanding leadership on and off the field, embodying the team’s core values of effort, teamwork, and passion.”

 

Teachers and coaches have always noticed Cooper’s natural leadership skills. In the classroom, he is quick to jump into discussions, attentive to others’ perspectives, and always willing to help his classmates. On the field, teammates and coaches quickly recognized his selfless attitude, always striving to put the team above himself. Cooper was selected to be a part of the CCES Leadership Academy last year, a yearlong program for junior student-athletes that focuses on leadership styles and areas for growth on respective teams. The program, led by Football Head Coach, Quin Hatfield, impressed upon Cooper that he didn’t need to be the best on the field to be a good leader. Instead of focusing on individual success and accolades, Cooper worked to support his teammates, cheering them on regardless of how he played.  

 

While it’s bittersweet to have his football days behind him now, Cooper has no regrets. He worked hard, always gave 100 percent, and cherished every moment. He says, “I hope younger players just have fun and enjoy it, because it won’t last forever.”

 

In addition to football, Cooper also played basketball for three years and was a member of the Varsity Boys Basketball team that won State this year. Outside of sports, Cooper was a member of the Investment Club and Spanish Club, was inducted into the Spanish Honors Society, was an AP Scholar, and maintained High Honor Roll for three of his four years (Honor Roll for the other), despite his intense course load.

 

Cooper will graduate with seven Advanced Placement courses on his transcript, doubling up in sciences his junior year (AP Physics and AP Chemistry) and social sciences this year (AP Psychology, and US Government and Economics). His favorites were AP Physics and AP Spanish, calling them “fun” and “hard, yet rewarding.” 

Although balancing this rigorous curriculum of classes hasn’t been easy, Cooper says it’s taught him a lot about how to manage his time well. Because of the constant workflow, he quickly developed a relaxed attitude, trying to not be overly stressed or anxious about everything on his plate. Instead, he kept his head down, focused on the next task, and got it done. That mindset translated to the football field as well, allowing him to move on from any one play and focus on the next snap.

 

Despite his already packed schedule, Cooper has taken multiple opportunities to learn about business and expand his entrepreneurial spirit. As a sophomore, he and a classmate wanted to make some money, so naturally they bought a vending machine. They struggled to find a location and ended up selling it, making $2 in profit. This might have discouraged some, but not Cooper. He and some friends had been casually doing yard work around town since the 9th grade, but decided to take it up a level. They added a range of services, including window washing, mowing, and cleaning gutters (although now they mainly just do mulching and pine straw), quickly filling up their days with clients. Then, this year, he had to choose a topic for his senior capstone project. Cooper made it his goal to expand his knowledge about investing, doing research, understanding market trends, and becoming more comfortable investing for himself.

 

Associate Director of College Counseling, Bartley Sides, describes Cooper as “a dedicated and versatile individual with a wide range of interests.” Mr. Sides says, “Cooper’s involvement and enthusiastic approach to life make him a well-rounded and engaging individual, and I have no doubt that he will add as much to his college community as he has the CCES and Greenville community.”

 

Who is someone who has greatly influenced your life? My dad.

If you could relive any CCES experience, what would it be? MS recess.

Name something this world could use more of? Cooperation.

If you could try anything and know you wouldn’t fail, what would it be? Golf.