Bursting through the final few climactic days of the year, Dimond Senior Larissa Hensch is ready to pack her bags and say farewell to Alaska and high school altogether.

Hensch is by far one of the most dedicated and successful students at Dimond.

She was dedicated to numerous clubs and after school activities, receiving varsity letters as well as academic excellence awards.

Her friends and fellow students all regard her as a determined student with a bright, friendly attitude and a very vibrant personality.

Senior Jasmine Kobayashi said, “Although she has an obsession with cats and mythical creatures like unicorns and mermaids, she’s always a focused, driven and hard worker.”

Hensch has been a part of Math Club and Key Club since freshman year with over 20 hours spent volunteering through Key Club each year.

Her dedication to Math Club awarded her with the title of vice president her junior year and president of Math Club senior year.

Life at Dimond High School has been very memorable for Hensch, and lots of those memories will be carried on even after leaving for college.

She said, “The best memories I had at Dimond were definitely the ones spent with friends. Jumping into the lake during cross country season was always a blast.”

Hensch even got to be a part of Prom Court her Senior year, and enjoyed all of Dimond’s dances.

She said, “Prom Court was a fun experience, if not a little strange at first. Going to the dances with my friends was a nice way to have fun away from the stress that school can be sometimes.”

Aside from academic successes, Hensch has been on multiple athletic teams as well as groups and been awarded various varsity letters.

Cross Country Running was a large part of her athletic career, having been in it for four years, and she also played basketball and ran in track for two.

A good friend of Hensch, Senior Quincy Smith, said, “My time in Cross Country wouldn’t quite have been the same without Larissa. She was always there to run with me for warm-ups and she always pushed through even when it was really hard.”  

Having initially planned on going to West High School, Larissa changed her mind last minute to go to school with her friends instead.

The choice was something she was initially back and forth on, but now she admits to it being a choice well made.

School wasn’t always an easy path for Hensch to take; having multiple AP classes and taking six of them all at once her junior year had her stressed a lot.

It it amazing how a student can handle so many AP classes along with activities, sports and clubs after school without crumbling under the workload.

With the final days of her senior year fast approaching, Hensch said, “High school wasn’t perfect but it was pretty great because of my awesome friends. I loved participating in multiple sports and clubs at Dimond and will miss it, but am super excited for what comes next.”

The time now comes to decide for her future, and although initially frightened at the thought she has finally settled on the path she is comfortable with.

Hensch plans on attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in New York for at least four years and is interested in hopefully achieving a degree in Physics.

She said, “I’m super excited for college and the independence although I’ll miss my family and my cat Tinker.”

It is not doubt she will be missed at Dimond and by the many friends she enjoyed attending Dimond with, but she will accomplish great things in the future. There is no doubt.