Cedar Ridge High School Salutatorian Marissa Maxim is fascinated by politics. Combining her fascination with politics and her determination to build a strong foundation for a future career in law, Marissa is set to study political science at Texas A&M University this fall.

Along with Cedar Ridge, Marissa also attended Blackland Prairie Elementary and Ridgeview Middle School during her time in Round Rock ISD. She is a member of National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta math club, Health Occupations Students of America, serves as academy ambassador, class council and plays soccer.

“Graduating as the class of 2017 salutatorian is my greatest accomplishment in high school,” Marissa said. “It is a reflection of the amount of hard work I put in over the years.”

Marissa credits several of her teachers for giving her the positive reinforcement, courage, and freedom to explore unencumbered in her classes. Specifically, she acknowledges physics teacher Tim Holland for his contagious enthusiasm about physics that resulted in an unsurpassed passion for learning by his students.

“Marissa is a student that holds high expectations for herself and is relentless in her approach to challenges,” Holland said. “She motivated me to be a better teacher. I have a great deal of respect for her.”