2021-College-Report

spotlight stories continued * Stories written by T.Cay Rowe RE S I L I ENT ALUMN I MAR INA LOCASCIO Dance MAR I NA LOCASC I O SANTRES BROUS SARD RE S I L I ENT ALUMN I SANTRES BROUSSARD Journalism and Mass Communication MARINA LOCASCIO has struggled with depression and anxiety since she was a child, but with her own strength and the help of others, she has found ways to cope with them. Mental struggles may have been predictable, considering that her mother died when she was 9 and her father when she was 12. She grew up in New Orleans, but after her dad died, she moved in with her grandparents in San Antonio. Because neither of her parents had graduated from high school, that became her first goal. At O’Connor High, she was co-captain of the Goldusters dance team, and her director was a Texas State alum. “I began investigating Texas State’s dance program and liked what I saw – the faculty, the curriculum and the ability to get a job after graduation.” With no family financial help, she found loans and grants and worked at Bahama Buck’s selling snowcones and smoothies. At Texas State, Marina says she “found a home” in the Division of Dance and joined CIM TEYA (Creation in Motion Touring Ensemble for Young Audiences), a troupe that introduces elementary kids to dance. It was during a performance with CIM TEYA in Dallas that she again got upsetting news. At the time, she and her boyfriend (now husband) Matt were living with his parents. The devastating news: Matt’s mother had been murdered. “It was the week before finals. The dance faculty held me up, rearranged finals, helped me through the funeral. I was blessed to have them beside me.” Marina graduated in the spring of 2018 and now teaches where she student taught, at Berkner STEM Academy, a high school in the Richardson ISD. She currently directs the Ramblers, one of only four co-ed high school dance teams in the country. Her 17 boys and 15 girls entertain at pep rallies, children’s hospitals, parades, and other venues. She also is assistant director for the Bandoleras, the 21-member dance team. “I have learned how important it is to have confidence in yourself. It’s fun to watch my students blossom in confidence as they perform.” ■ SANTRES BROUSSARD’S graduation in May 2020 almost didn’t happen. His mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in the fall of his senior year. He was ready to drop everything and move home to Houston to be with her. “She wouldn’t hear of it, though,” he says. “She insisted that I go back to school. When I did, the professors in Mass Communication could tell something was going on with me. They were there for me and told me to take off whatever time I needed.” Tres had chosen Texas State for the individual care he sensed, even before he knew he needed it. “I visited several colleges, and San Marcos felt right – a little slower pace than I was used to in huge cities. And the orientation process helped me feel like I wasn’t coming into campus life blind.” Texas State turned him onto the career possibilities of public relations. He had not considered that possibility before graduating from Hightower High in Houston, where his parents reared him and his two brothers. “I love the excitement of PR,” he says. “It’s work that doesn’t seem like work. Every day is different.” As if graduating during a pandemic and your mom’s poor health were not enough of a challenge, Tres’ planned internship with the City of San Antonio was cancelled abruptly with the shutdown. With the help of a former student, Derrick Sanders, he found another internship with Sammis & Ochoa Public Relations and Digital Marketing in San Antonio. That work helped prepare him for his new job with the MullenLowe Agency based in Boston, where he will be working with the PepsiCo account. He moved there during the summer with his girlfriend, Lakisha Galentine, who graduated in December and will go to work with a veterinarian. They felt comfortable with the move to the Northeast because Tres’ mother has been declared cancer-free. “Her news to me that Halloween night was certainly a wake-up call. It showed me how quickly life can change, and Texas State helped to showme a determination I didn’t know I had.” ■ 32 ■ C O L L E G E R E P O R T 2 0 2 1 ■ 33