Spotlight On: Marissa Larocque, CCES Class of 2023

Marissa Larocque is “a very talented artist in all senses of the word: dancer, artist, instrumentalist,” describes Assistant Director of College Counseling, Bartley Sides. Every day after school, you can almost always find her at dance practice. Having performed in Carolina Ballet Theatre’s Nutcracker, Ghosts, Enchanted, Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, and most recently Snow Princess, she is a dedicated and talented dancer and spends upwards of 400 hours dancing per season. Despite this time commitment, she always comes to school prepared and ready to excel.  

“Managing both school work and dance time has been more and more of a challenge later on in my academic career, but I have always been able to manage. By either contacting my teachers and asking for possible extensions during the busy dance season or staying up late, I have always been able to bounce back,” reflects Marissa.

In all of her free time outside of dance, she also plays the flute, piccolo, and piano, and she has been a member of the CCES band since 5th grade. In her words, “Dance and music have been a very important part of my life. I can’t really remember a time when I was not dancing. I have also loved challenging myself in the instrumental world and love to learn more ways to play music.” In addition to dance and the band, she also has been pursuing ceramics since the 9th grade. 

Out of all of her artistic pursuits, dancing is definitely her favorite, and she hopes to pursue it next year in some shape or form while attending Wofford College. She has not yet decided if she will audition for the Wofford Dance Team, but if not, she will likely teach tap dancing at a local studio nearby. She chose Wofford, because “out of all of the places I have visited, it made me feel the most at home.” The friendly faces, the small class sizes, and the school spirited atmosphere all attributed to her decision. 

While at Wofford, she hopes to major in business and potentially minor in environmental science. The fact that she is interested in two seemingly very different topics is no surprise. Her teachers have described her as someone who is “committed to challenging herself through a rigorous curriculum that includes three Advanced Placement courses, but she always wants to explore her interests, never missing a moment to do so.” 

“Never missing a moment” has defined Marissa’s CCES experience. She has only taken one free period during her entire time at CCES (she has been attending since 5th grade), and has always taken  a variety of enrichment classes such as ceramics, photography, forensics, and many more.  “High school overall is a great place where you can learn your strengths and weaknesses as a person,” she says. “By trying many different classes, you can have a greater understanding of those said strengths and weaknesses.” As someone who has earned three art awards (2 of her paintings are hanging in the middle school), high honor roll (10), and honor roll (9,11), her strengths appear to outweigh her weaknesses. 

Marissa will miss CCES but is excited for her next chapter. “I have had a wonderful experience at CCES. I can’t imagine myself at any other school during the time I was here. The faculty is very kind and are truly dedicated to teaching the students! I am so blessed to have been a part of the class of 2023 Cavaliers.” 

I don't have a favorite movie character I would like to be, but if I had to be someone on TV, it would probably be Julie Chen Moonves and host of the reality TV show Big Brother. 

My dance peers have greatly influenced my life by being with them for so long. My parents greatly influenced me because they were my first teachers. Whether learning how to do laundry or investing money, they have done a great job. 

Probably the renegade