At the end of the long day, senior Claire Holland listened as the announcements came on. She anxiously awaited the announcement of the senior superlatives winners. Holland held her breath as she waited for the winner of Most Talented Female to be called.

She knew she had been nominated, but she wasn’t sure she would win. A big smile broke out onto her face as she heard she was the winner of the award.

When she was younger, Holland would look through her older sister’s yearbooks. Her older sister, Carly, had been on the Wingspan newspaper staff for four years.

“When my older sister was on staff, she used to show me her high school yearbooks, and I was always so intrigued by them. I thought, ‘I have to win a senior superlative,’” Holland said. “I have to win most talented, that’s the only one I can do because I’m not athletic. Singing and performing is the only thing I’m good at, so I always wanted to win that. I made that a goal of mine.”

From the time she was 6 years old, Holland took classes at the Flat Rock Playhouse. She was in show choir for three years at the Playhouse and traveled and competed in Atlanta. Holland danced for 11 years at Carolina Dance Company and was in five mainstage productions at Flat Rock Playhouse, some of which were musicals. Holland has taken honors theater and honors dances classes throughout her four years of high school. She also competed at the N.C. Theater Conference twice, one year as a stage manager and this year as one of the lead roles.

Holland danced in the musical Guys and Dolls at West in 2014. She won the Arts for Individuals talent show in her sophomore year along with Maggie Connor, singing “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5.

Holland is not the only talented member of her family. Charles Holland, Claire’s father, is a professional musician and has been doing shows at the Flat Rock Playhouse for more than 20 years.

“I was also in the talent show my junior year. I sang an Adele song, and my dad played guitar with me there so that was really cool, and that was one of my favorite high school moments because he has been such an inspiration to me my whole life. He’s the reason I wanted to start performing and why music is such a big deal to me, so getting to share that moment was incredible,” Holland said.

Charles Holland was also voted Most Talented when he was a senior at West in 1981. In high school, he participated in chorus and was in a barbershop quartet.

“Anytime I’ve been able to get my hands on being on stage, whether it’s singing, acting, dancing or even stage managing, I’ve tried to get it,” Claire said. “So I definitely think I’ve done a lot to get this award. I’ve devoted my whole life to performing and musical theater and self expression, so I’m very thankful and very honored.”

By Emily Turpin