Larissa Allen, 19, is a graduate of Richmond Hill High School. She works as a waitress and loves music.
How long have you lived in Richmond Hill?
I was here when I was really young, but my family moved away when I was three-years-old when my dad was in the military. Once my dad retired, they liked it here so much and thought it was a great place for me to go to high school, so we moved back to Richmond Hill when I was in the sixth grade.When your dad was in the military, did you move around a lot?
Yeah, but mainly in different parts of the Atlanta area. After Atlanta, we moved to Kentucky before my dad retired. It was hard leaving all my friends in middle school when we moved here.What is your impression of this community?
Being on the Bible belt, it’s a bit uptight. Small town talk, stuff like that. I like the people here, but there really isn’t anything in the town but 30 churches, 30 gas stations and three stoplights. I’m glad my parents made me go to high school here though. It was a smart move.
Who was your favorite RHHS teacher?
Mr. (Pat) Paruso, Mr. (Adam) Moret and Mr. (Mark) Linsky were my favorite teachers, but I love all my old teachers. Mr. Paruso was so goofy that he made class fun. I had him for SAT prep. I took my SAT’s before and after Mr. Paruso’s class, and I scored 200 points higher after. I really looked forward to going to his class. I had Mr. Moret for government and economics, and I ended up taking his psychology class just to have him as a teacher again. I hung out in Mr. Linsky’s class for the world cultures club. I just liked talking to him as a person. We talked about music a lot. We liked the same bands, which is really weird because he’s like 20-30 years older than me.
What kind of music are you into?
I can name tons of bands, but I’m not tied down to any particular genre. I love Modest Mouse, Radiohead, The Strokes and Aphex Twin. I like a lot of punk bands, mainly riot grrrl band like Bratmobile and Bikini Kill. I could talk about this all day.
You currently work as a waitress at Outback Steakhouse and have also waited at Gianni’s and Beef ‘O’ Brady’s. What is your impression of that occupation?
I like interacting with people when people like interacting with me. I hate going to a table and saying ‘hey, how are y’all doing?’ and they stare at me like I’m an idiot. Sometimes people are so rude and demanding. I don’t think people understand that they should tip 15 percent. They should change it to 30 percent, so then maybe people would give 15.
Where do you see yourself ten years from now?
I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do, and I’m not planning on knowing for a while. I don’t think that it’s really important right now. I’ll find out, but I need to get out of Richmond Hill first.
If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go?
I would really like to go to Japan. It looks really big and really busy. It seems like fun. I wouldn’t want to go somewhere where it’s all historic; I don’t care about that. I want to go where the bright lights are.
What’s your favorite TV show?
"The Office" is my all-time favorite show. It is so addicting, and it never gets old. Also, I have to like "The Hills" because I am a teenage girl. I also like "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Flight of the Concord".
What about movies?
My favorite movie is "Party Monster" with Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green – just because it’s so bizarre. I really like "Children of Men" and "Fight Club". I like all the movies of actor Michael Cera because he’s so cute, like "Super Bad" and "Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist". I really don’t like those romantic comedy movies; they all have the same plot. Scarface is another one of my favorites. I want to get a big poster of it in my dining room when I grow up - just like all the rap superstars on "Cribs".
Who is the coolest person you’ve ever met?
I know so many awesome people, but the coolest person I know is my best friend Terry Guest – I call him Corn. We get each other. We have the same weird sense of humor. We were in musical theater together all through Richmond Hill High School.
If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be?
I would meet Julian Casablancas from The Strokes. The Strokes are the ones that got me into finding my own music. They are a big part of who I am today, now that I think about it. They influenced me to find all these other bands that nobody has heard of, but when I show people, they like it. It seems to open people up a bit.