What are the 5 most important things to you right now, why?
A: The five most important things in my life right now are family, education, health, happiness and quality of life. All five of these things make me who I am and separate myself from other individuals. Family is the most important thing in my life and no one can ever replace them. Without their endless love and support, I wouldn’t have stability in my life in order to be confident and successful with whom I am as a person. The second thing I value the most is my education. I adore going to class, learning new things and being able to gain insight of knowledge that I didn’t know before. I’m a communication major with a minor in media analysis, I plan to graduate in the Spring of 2017, then hopefully attend the Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law in the Fall of 2017 to obtain my Juris Doctorate to later become a sports agent to represent clients in Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Hockey League (NHL). I want to be the best person I can be whether it’s in my personal life or in my business/education life. I set high goals for myself to achieve and never settle for anything less. It’s hard work in order to do so, but I’m someone who is always up for a challenge and to prove myself that I can do anything as long as I have passion and commitment. The third thing that I value in life is my health. Growing up with two brothers highly involved in sports, I was automatically the younger sister who played sports with all the boys, which made me a highly competitive athlete for every sport I was involved in. I was a competitive cheerleader, gymnast and dancer for 7 years, I played soccer for 3 years and finally ended up playing lacrosse. I always strive to eat healthy and smart. The fourth important thing in my life is happiness, my friends and family always say, “you can never find Marissa without a smile” and it is very much true. I always want to keep a positive attitude on everything, even if it’s one of the worst days or the best days. I do my best to have a smile on my face and to never let anything get to me mentally. When someone is having a bad day or overwhelmed with a situation, I always let him or her know that I’m there for him or her whenever he or she needs me. Those conversations are the best for a person when they are at their weakest.That one conversation could have possibly changed the person’s mood or perspective of whatever was going on and to know you made a positive impact on someone’s day or possibly their life is one of the most rewarding things in life and it makes you feel like you made a difference. The final important thing I want to discuss that is most important to me is my quality of life. I know there was a reason why I was brought into this life, I may not know exactly what my purpose is or where I am going to end up but I know that God has a plan for me. I have been blessed with everything that has happened so far in my life and I take it for granted at times. I balance all five of these things simply but surely. Yes, life is complicated and the harsh truth is that it never gets easier but that’s just the way it works. You can’t sit around and complain about everything you have to do or stuff you could’ve done. If someone were to really want to be successful and want the best for themselves, they should have a positive outlook on everything, keep an open mind and to always be no one but himself or herself.
How do you balance all of them?
A: How I balance everything that I do is that I keep my life organized and to think of my life as a checklist. If I need to complete a task, I do what is coming up first and complete that task and continue on to the next and it turns into a never-ending cycle. The best way to handle everything that life throws your way is to attack everything one at a time and to always do everything with 100% and never sell yourself short.
What do you think makes for an ideal young person in today’s generation, what are their values?
A: I think in today’s generation, I would hope the ideal person would want to be an overall good human being that can be trustworthy, independent and sociable with a good head on their shoulders. In today’s world, people are mostly meeting through the Internet and it has adapted somewhat good and bad, but people must be more aware of their surroundings and learn how to think actual life scenarios through and not just jump to a conclusion on a particular idea or concept. Even if you look back 10 years ago, that generation of young people is completely different from what it is today. I think a lot of the younger people are losing their face-to-face contact with people, which in my opinion I think it’s really sad because you don’t really see people for who they truly are. But I think that’s what this generation needs the most, sometimes we need to unplug and look up from our smart phone screens for a while and actually take in what surrounds us.
What do you do to be your best to others every day and what do you look for in others when wanting them to be their best towards you?
A: The things I do to be my best towards others is to simply to be kind to everyone that I come face to face with. Even if it’s a complete stranger that I’m walking by, I will be as kind to them as I can be. Like holding the door for someone, letting the car go first when I’m waiting to cross the street in the crosswalk or thanking someone for their kind gestures and wishing them that they have a good rest of their day. The simple and free things in life can be the most rewarding; you have to experience it first in order to recognize it. I look for the quality in people and not what they have to offer me. A valuable gift can only do so much and when you receive a gift from someone, it’s natural to think that you’re going to expect a gift all the time, which can be hard for someone to maintain. I don’t expect anyone to ever give me valuable things, I only expect to have respect and kindness from that person and everything else will work out for itself.
What is one of your favorite quotes…why…how does it influence you?
A: Wayne “The Great One” Gretzky says one of my favorite quotes, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” It’s a short and simple quote with a lot of meaning behind it. You never know when a tremendous opportunity will come your way and it’s your responsibility in order to want to pursue the things you want to do. If you don’t take the opportunity that presents itself to you, it will never be known when it will come to you again. Never regret anything that you’ve done thus far in your life; never be scared to do things a different way or something that is completely out of your comfort zone. If you keep your guard up, you will never know what was being kept hidden from you. Even if you tried and didn’t succeed, it doesn’t mean that you should ever give up on something just because you aren’t good at it. That gives you the opportunity to try other things and be able to stand up for yourself and to not let anything stand in your way.
If you could give anyone advice as to how to live a happy and balanced life in college, what would it be?
A: The best advice that I can give to any college student is that college is an overwhelming time and it seems as if everything is changing and it’s stuff that you’re usually not used to, it’s a good thing. College is a time to experience new things, discover who you are as a person, find out your likes and dislikes and to always keep your head up. I’m going to be completely honest in saying that the first two years of college are going to be the worst two years you want to know why? It’s the first time that you move away from your family and your friends not only are you not familiar with your atmosphere and still getting into the swing of things, most freshman make the mistake of trying to take on more than they can carry. Always stay organized and just remember that everything will be okay, even when you hit the lowest of times, you must always remember that everything happens for a reason, good or bad and you learn from these experiences.