- April 22, 2024
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Seabreeze High School senior Brian Dunlop playing in the game against the University Titans. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze High School senior Brian Dunlop. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze High School senior Brian Dunlop. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze High School senior and captain Brian Dunlop leads the team in a stretching routine before practice. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze High School senior Brian Dunlop works hard at practice. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze High School senior Brian Dunlop, coaches Eli Freidus and Jon Kinsler and Seabreeze principal Earl Johnson Jr.. Photo by Michele Meyers
Brian Dunlop is captain of the Sandcrabs soccer team, an AICE student, maintains a 4.5 GPA, co-founded the Spirit Club with his buddy Ria Gupta, and is the owner of The Glass Geek, a window cleaning service.
“When COVID hit last year, my business stopped, because obviously people didn’t want you to go in their homes,” Dunlop said. “I had to pick up another job so I worked at the Gap in the outlets. Retail is not for me.”
Dunlop is a senior at Seabreeze High School who has tried multiple sports throughout his life. There was only one he came back to, and that was soccer. He tried out his freshman year, but did not make the team. Instead of giving the sport up, it drove him to work harder toward his goal of playing soccer for Seabreeze.
“Our proudest moment as parents was watching his response to not making the soccer team his freshman year,” his mother Praise Dunlop said. “Most kids would have given up, but it made him work harder. He came back his sophomore year and made the team. To see him not make the team as a freshman and then to now be captain just shows his character and work ethic. Watching him be a leader on the team is so much more important to us than how well he does on the field.”
Dunlop’s co-captain is Cole Miller, who adds balance to their responsibilities. Miller is a midfielder and brings an offensive perspective, whereas, Dunlop brings a defender’s rationale. He hopes to help his team create and finish more opportunities on goal and be smarter and more efficient with the ball.
“Brian has maturity and leadership beyond his years,” coach Jon Kinsler said. “He does everything asked of him and puts it into use on the field. He’s bought into all the coaching I have implemented and his play has skyrocketed from it. There is no one on the field that works harder, and he’s been a no-brainer captain selection for our program.”
Prior to moving to Daytona Beach, Dunlop and his three younger siblings lived in Titusville, where his father Chris Dunlop was a pastor and his mother was always busy organizing church activities. Both his grandfathers were also pastors. Dunlop considered following in their footsteps, but for right now, it is “not in the cards.”
Academically, Dunlop excels with a consistently high GPA and his enrollment in Seabreeze’s Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education, which offers college level rigor at the high school level. Additional college credits can be acquired, similar to Spruce Creek High School’s International Baccalaureate program.
“At school, I consider the AICE coordinator, Ms. Gaines, to be a mentor,” Dunlop said. “She has been really helpful regarding applying to colleges and knowing what to do. Over the past four years, she’s always been someone that I can talk to.”
Dunlop has applied to Florida State University and will find out in February if he’s accepted. He plans on going to college to become an anesthesiologist.
“I’ve always wanted to travel,” Dunlop said. “When I am an anesthesiologist or even in another medical field, I could go to other countries, help people and travel at the same time.”
With a demanding senior year ahead of him, Dunlop has decided to take his glass cleaning business at a slower pace. The Glass Geek was born out of his dad’s desire for him to come up with a business of some sort when he was 14 years old. The two of them watched a lot of YouTube videos about cleaning windows and Dunlop cleaned his sliding glass doors over and over for practice. The business was steady until COVID shut it down last year.
“It’s actually very satisfying,” Dunlop said. “ You put soap and water on the window and use a squeegee to take it off. Very satisfying.”
