Amarissa Missios is a storyteller, through and through.
The outgoing Destrehan High School graduate showed her talents as a pianist, writer, singer and actress during her time at DHS, but no matter which of those activities she was involved with at a given time, the chance to connect with her audience was what drove her the most.
“I’ve always loved telling stories,” Missios said. “I think a performer can touch the audience and really inspire them to feel things … writing a little short story, you can bring people on a journey to learn about the world and learn things about themselves … I love the connection aspect.”
Missios has been a member of the choir, talented theatre, principal’s advisory group, national English society, beta club and has been principal’s scholar for three years. During her time at DHS, has participated in every vocal ensemble offered at the school. She is also a dedicated pianist and was a committed member of the DHS theatre department and an AP Music Theory Scholar. Missios served as president of the school’s International Thespian Society.
She will be attending Tulane later this year to double major in musical theatre and English.
“Being a part of theatre and choir was crazy foundational for me in discovering what I want to do in college,” Missios said. “Choir and theatre were my home and I tried to do as much as I could with both.”
The close knit groups she became a part of by joining both also went a long way in helping her acclimate to high school. Missios was home schooled until her freshman year and arrival at Destrehan.
“I think because I found the arts so quickly and honors classes were so small and personal, I found community really quickly,” she said.
On the theatre stage, she said the show “The Three Musketeers” was her favorite of many that she had the chance to work on.
“That was really the first time I played a role of a character who was more outgoing than I was,” Missios said. “That helped me grow as a person and it pushed me to find confidence on stage … I was really scared at first. I’ve done a lot of musicals before, but this was different and I was kind of scared I’d be too much or not really fit in. The people around me helped me a lot. It’s a big family and they encouraged me … it helped me really become the character.”
But she said it was a show with the River Region Drama Guild that made her realize the stage was a calling for her.
“’You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’ was the show and I played Sally Brown,” said Missios. “It was a small show and small cast … I got to sing solo my first night. The audience was two feet away … I could feel myself switch from myself into the character, and I knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.”
Missios said her career dream is to perform, but the second major of English can open doors to additional methods of storytelling as well.
“I’m still figuring it out. Obviously, my dream is performing. But also writing, whether journalism or creative writing …. I love to write and I love to read. I’m figuring out what my niche is.”
