Four seniors share their current goals and aspirations. In May, we will revisit the same students to see if those have changed. This is the story of Timothy Yakovlev. 

Aditi Bhati, Staff Writer

Name a talent, and it seems senior Timothy Yakovlev has it. Despite being a singer, an actor, a gymnast, a violinist, a guitarist, a drummer, and a bassist, he is serious and passionate about every activity he takes on. As he goes into his final year, he seeks to improve his skills in all his pursuits and continue them in the future.

Yakovlev comes from a very musical family, which is the reason why he is so musically oriented. All of his family sings and plays instruments, so it comes with no surprise that he has been singing from a young age and playing violin since the age of seven. One of his two older sisters, Nicole, got into songwriting and playing the guitar, which inspired him to take on other instruments in addition to the violin. She cites their mother as one of the main musical influences in her and her brother’s lives.

“Our mom viewed the arts as a valuable part of general development, so all three of us were heavily involved in the arts from a young age. As we grew older, art stuck to us all in many different forms,” Nicole Yakovlev said.

One of Timothy Yakovlev’s favorite classes at Northview is AP Music Theory because it teaches how others write music. As someone aspiring to write music himself, the class provided him with valuable insight into what creates good music. This deep interest is something Yakovlev believes to be an important component of his identity.

“I feel like music has definitely had a giant part to play in who I am. I’ll always be listening to music. Even when there’s no music, I’ll just be thinking of a rhythm or a beat through my head and thinking of what the guitar or drum part is,” Yakovlev said.

In fact, one of Yakovlev’s biggest goals this year is to revive a club he really enjoyed his freshman year, Clique Musique. The members met weekly and played music together, improvising tunes and teaching techniques to anyone who wanted to learn them. They performed live shows during lunch as well, but after the pandemic, the club failed to persist. Since it once provided Yakovlev with a relaxed environment to play with other people with the same passions, he would like to restart the club into an establishment that will be here well after he leaves Northview.

Next to music, Yakovlev’s other passion is theatre; Advanced Drama is his other favorite class. He knew from a young age that he wanted to be in productions and on stage.

“I have two older sisters, and both of them were in theatre. I would go watch their plays, and I would just be so amazed and mesmerized by the show,” Timothy Yakovlev said. “I was like, ‘I want to do that.’”

His favorite theatre production is “Puffs” from his sophomore year, in which he played the lead role of Wayne, a student wizard. He enjoyed it because it was fun to prepare for with the rest of the cast, and fellow actress Grace Hernandez agrees.

“It’s always fun to do shows with him cause he’s very personable and helps out in any way he can to make the show the best it can be. He’s truly a model theatre kid,” Hernandez said.

Lately, Yakovlev has also rediscovered his passion for gymnastics, something he took classes for growing up but had to drop because of its time commitment.

“I went back about a year and a half ago, and I’ve just been really happy about being able to do gymnastics again,” Yakovlev said.

Yakovlev hopes to continue all of his hobbies in the future. He plans to work in film, which will make use of both his acting and gymnastic skills. Going to an in-state college like the University of Georgia or Georgia State University would be ideal for him because of the rising film production scene in Atlanta. Additionally, he hopes to join a band in college to pursue music in some form, and he knows that wherever he goes, he will always have his artistic passions to motivate his work.