He listens to Vampire Weekend’s Oxford Comma, reads Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and yearns for a creative outlet.

Senior Sebastian Reyes isn’t always going along with what’s popular, and he likes it just fine that way.

“I’ve always been living in suburban Orange County, so I’ve felt sort of constrained,” Reyes said. “A lot of times when I’m driving through my neighborhood, I see a lot of houses that look exactly the same, so I think I’ve always had this desire just to break free from those norms. That’s sort of where my attraction to things that are odd or different comes from.”

It was back in eighth grade, when Reyes walked into Hot Topic with hopes of adding to his vinyl collection, that his whole independent/indie mentality was established.

“Vampire Weekend’s gotten a lot more popular now, but back then, I saw the vinyl of their first album and I had no idea what it was, so I just bought it,” Reyes said. “That’s what got me into listening to indie music and stuff like that. I would definitely say that that was the instant that shaped everything for me.”

Now, his spontaneous buys mostly take place on the Internet. Reyes spends much of his free time searching and exploring for new songs that bring him enjoyment and inspiration. Despite his love for music, Reyes doesn’t see it as a profession.

“Honestly, I don’t think I’m good enough to be a musician,” Reyes said. “But writing, I’ve thought about. I feel that I’m a fairly strong writer, but I just haven’t tried fiction yet. Maybe that’s something I’ll do. I don’t know, I want to do a lot of things.”

Reyes’ passion for writing stems from his love for reading. Although he finds classic literature extraordinarily interesting, he also enjoys contemporary books.

Reyes is currently reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. The weird yet interesting plotline along with the fluid writing of the author makes the book so irresistible for Reyes that he even takes the snippets of time at school to catch up on reading.

“I just like creative things,” Reyes said. “I think the idea that someone is not afraid to put something out there to make art, just really fascinates me. I mean I play piano and stuff but I don’t really consider myself an artist or anything. But just that fearlessness, like be different I guess, that’s something that I would like to have.”

It was actually the sci-fi genre that got Reyes into reading in the first place. Reading Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card in eighth grade was what lay the foundation for him.

“I think I really connected with the main character Ender himself,” Reyes said. “He was as a kid, smaller, and I think his experience of becoming a leader, almost, and his process of development is something that touched with me at that time in eighth grade. I guess at the same time he wasn’t afraid to be different as well.”

As the president for JSA, vice president for NHS and an active member in MUN and Key Club, Reyes has indeed become a leader and role model for people around him. Through these activities, he has also developed a passion in politics.

“I think part of where my love of politics comes from is that I’m really intrigued by different cultures or different countries,” Reyes said. “I have some really weird obsession with North Korea. It’s just so different from everything that I’ve experienced and its idea of communism is just fascinating. I think politics for me is a way to explore how different systems of government work or the way that governments affect our lives and that’s really different throughout the world.”

After attending a comparative politics class at Harvard over the past summer, Reyes is applying early action to Harvard, and also applying to Pomona, Swarthmore and Yale.

“For me, I want to go somewhere where I’ll get a diverse and strong education,” Reyes said. “Also I want a strong liberal arts education and that’s definitely something that those schools provide. Those schools have strong politics and linguistics programs, which is also something I’m interested in.”

The future beyond college is full of endless possibilities for Reyes. He imagines being a university professor, a campaign manager, a member of the state department, or even a writer. But Reyes is still trying to figure out how he want to present himself and who he wants to be.

“Especially here in Orange County, there’s this certain pressure to be successful, to get the highest GPA, to get a 2400 on your SAT, and that’s almost translated into specific activities you have to do,” Reyes said. “In middle school, I played basketball and tennis even though I was never really into athletics. Even now, I’m realizing that I shouldn’t have to do things that I’m not really passionate about. I just want to spend more of my time playing piano or reading books, but there’s that expectation from society that can be at times a little bit constraining.”

Looking back at his high school years, Reyes offers some words of wisdom to all of us who are constantly trying to “discover” ourselves.

“I guess, do what you’re passionate about, what you’re called to,” Reyes said. “And maybe it takes some time finding out what that is, but definitely go through different avenues and try to discern what exactly it is that you like and don’t be afraid to do something that’s different.”