In the span of a recent week for Seneca High School senior Mark Mehochko, he competed in a regional scholastic bowl meet and performed in five shows of the spring musical, using a French accent to play the part of Lumière in “Beauty and the Beast.”

That alone may seem like a lot for the average high school student, but Mehochko, of Mazon, wasn’t done.

He competed in the District FFA Profiency Award interviews as he described and defended his garden mum production project. He was honored at the National Honor Society ceremony where he performed his speech team routine. He spent time in the gym practicing for a pole vault and also composed a speech for an upcoming FFA public speaking event.

And according to his agriculture teacher, Jeff Maierhofer, he did each of them well.

“I would describe Mark as a driven, unique young man with a wide variety of talents,” Maierhofer said.

Mehochko, son of Dan and Julie Mehochko, sees the value in using these high school years to hone those talents and develop skills to help his career.

“I think it’s a drive to do all I can while I have the opportunity to do it. I think a lot of people in life don’t have the opportunities I have, so I might as well use those opportunities while I’m given them,” he said.

Growing up, Mehochko went to his grandparents’ farm every Thursday while his mother worked late and would help with chores.

Now in high school, he uses the farm to run a small business growing mums.

“It’s been a really cool experience FFA brought to me, because that was my sister’s FFA project when she was in high school and it got passed down from her to my other sister and then I continued the project for all four years of high school.”

The FFA, Mark said, is where he’s spent most of his spare time in high school.

“I’ve just always grown up around agriculture. My dad traded commodities and different stuff like that and my grandpa owned a farm and I was out there a lot so it was just kind of natural for me to join the FFA.

“It ended up transforming into something that honestly is a big part of who I am and who I have been during the high school career,” he said.

Outside of FFA, Mark also enjoys participating in the speech team and said it’s helped develop his personality. On Saturdays, he and the team visit different high schools for public speaking events. He noted he and his friend recently did humorous duet acting.

“I’ve always loved public speaking and getting in front of people and talking. Some people may say I talk a little too much,” he said with a laugh, “but it’s something that really makes me happy. I think it’s an important thing for a high schooler to do.”

Mark also credits his involvement in plays for developing a better sense of self. His extra-curricular activities and leadership roles have helped him grow over these last four years.

“During Mark’s freshmen and sophomore year, it was evident that he was a talented student academically,” said Chris Jackson, Mark’s guidance counselor. Mehochko owns a 4.304 GPA/4.0 scale. “While that hasn’t changed, the growth that I have seen is with his confidence. I think his extra-curricular involvement has really helped Mark’s confidence. Not that Mark was ever shy, but he has really grown into a student who is confident in their decisions and determined to succeed.”

Mark is involved in various clubs and leadership activities. He also just began his track season and participated in golf in the fall.

When this fall rolls around, he’s not sure yet where he’ll attend college as he’s waiting to hear back from a few colleges he applied to, including University of Notre Dame, Vanderbilt University and the College of William & Mary.

He thinks his love for debate makes him a good candidate for law.

“I was very argumentative for a long time. I have very strong opinions. Now I’ve relaxed and I try to be more open to what people say.”

Eventually, though, he hopes to enter politics.

“I want to make the world a better place,” he said. “I think all people need to be treated equally and I think there’s often times where we see discrimination and that’s a difficult thing. It’s something that has to be acknowledged and dealt with.”

Jackson said he expects great things from Mark in the future.

“I truly feel that one day, after practicing law, we will see Mark running for office and wining an office to begin a successful career as a politician,” Jackson said. “A role in Washington D.C. could easily be in Mark’s future.”