A small group of band students is auditioning as qualifiers for all-state Wednesday through Saturday with one of them a freshman, flute player Jeamin Yun. Joining a group of seniors in San Antonio, Yun continues something of a school tradition.

“We’ve had four freshmen who’ve made all-state in the past five to seven years,” director of bands Jamie Weaver said. “Daniel Yang and Richard Huang, who are now both four-year all-staters, Sara Jeong, and now Jeamin. It is kind of a rarity, even statewide. [The region process] starts with 50,000 musicians, and the final number [at the state level] ends up around 1,500.”

For Yun, the accomplishment stems from hours of practice and dedication.

“I usually practice about two hours a day on school days, and around four hours on the weekends unless there’s a conflict or I’m really worn out,” Yun said. “I try to practice everyday, but, of course, when I’m loaded with homework, I tend to slack off a bit.”

In addition to being a member of the school’s top band, Wind Ensemble, Yun also participates in dance, and was involved in color guard as well earlier this year.

“I’ve been playing flute for four years now, and for dance, I’ve been on and off a lot but overall, I’ve been doing it around five years,” Yun said. “I really enjoy performing and pushing myself for flute, and I’ve always just loved dancing. I think both activities help push you yourself a lot and keep you intact with your emotions because, as cheesy as it is, your mood really shows and impacts your performance.”

For fellow flute player Connie Yang, Yun’s success is inspiring yet intimidating.

“Jeamin is really good and really committed to what she does,” Yang said. “Though it can be kind of pressuring to have someone who’s younger than you, especially a freshman, be able to play at that high of a level, I can tell that she’s going to go pretty much wherever she wants to with music.”

Although she’s now the top flute player in the state, it may not be her favorite endeavor.

“I honestly think I like dancing more, even though I spend way more time on flute and I’m probably better at flute than dance,” Yun said. “I think with dance, I feel more free than playing flute, and there is really no wrong way to dance but there are definitely many wrong ways to play flute, especially in larger groups.”

While Yun now joins the school’s other all-staters, next year will be a different story, as nearly all other qualifiers from campus will be graduating.

“Next year, Jeamin is probably going to be one of our only all-staters,” Yang said. “A lot of Wind Ensemble, which has most of the all-staters in it, are seniors that’ll graduate at the end of the year. There’s still a lot left for the rest of the year, though, like full orchestra and UIL.”