It was obvious that she carried the artistic gene since she was young. Junior Zoe Rech’s knowledge lied most where art, theatre, and dance were.

“My parents are very supportive,” Rech said. “My mom has always been the artistic type and she pushed [my brother and I] into artistic things. The reason I actually took art was to get out of band in seventh grade, and another class during that period was art. It all started from there.”

Rech is currently in AP Portfolio for sculptures, which is just the kind of art she prefers. Sculpting is also what has taken Rech far in accomplishments.

“I’ve won, for the past three years, the LISD art show.” Rech said. “I’ve gotten first place for sculptures, all book projects.”

In addition to Rech’s dedication to her sculptures, she is also dedicated to her dancing.

“My brother actually started dancing before me, which is normally the other way around,” Rech said. “I kind of followed in his footsteps. I’ve been involved in dance since I was 3 or 4, so a good 13-14 years. I take ballet, tap, jazz and modern.”

Through her participation in her studio’s performance of ‘Nutcracker’ for 10 years and annual recitals, Rech said that dance has truly taught her some important skills and continues to as time goes by.

“Dance has taught me the discipline,” Rech said. “It teaches you that sometimes you have to push through. I’m just doing this for fun, [but] I’m always pushing myself to do better.”

According to Rech, overcoming obstacles has allowed her to learn persistence.

“I don’t have the dancer body,” Rech said. “I go to a classical studio, which is also a ballet studio, so they expect you to have the ballet body. I’ve always had that disadvantage, but I’ve learned to overcome it with the styles I prefer.”

Even if Rech has this disadvantage, her position at her studio proves her worth.

“I’ve made it to the top level of my studio, which is an amazing accomplishment because my studio pushes out professionals,” Rech said. “This year, I got to be one of the dance captains for ‘Mary Poppins,’ that was a very nice accomplishment.”

From her freshman year, Rech has participated in the school’s theatre where she found another outlet to express her artistic abilities and find support.

“I started theatre my freshman year, this has been my third year acting,” Rech said. “As for the friends I met, I’ve learned that no matter what, they’ll always be there for me. I have my theatre teachers who are very nice and very supportive.”

Rech has yet to decide between art and dance as a career choice, but will always see the two as something that has made her who she is.

“I’m going to do something artistic with my life,” Rech said. “I feel like it’s shaped me because it taught me how to persevere. You have to learn, even if things get hard and you don’t want to do it, to stick with it because things do get better and it’s the whole putting effort into everything you do. I feel like no matter what, dance, theatre, and art have taught me lessons that will help me in the future.”