Sophomore year of high school, while attending Tampa Catholic High School (TC), a desire to take to the skies sparked within Marissa Vereb ‘23. This grew into a career in aviation and flying hot air balloons. After watching her father, Fred Vereb, operate hot air balloons during her childhood, she decided to follow in his footsteps and add flying them as well to her list of achievements and accolades. In 2025, she was the youngest pilot to participate in the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This event is the largest gathering of hot air balloons in the world, with hundreds of pilots in attendance.
“During my sophomore year at TC, I decided I wanted to become a hot air balloon pilot just like my dad, so I went online and applied for my student pilot's license, received it in the mail, and began my training at 16 years old,” she said.
At Tampa Catholic, Marissa was extremely involved. As a second-generation Crusader, she continued a family legacy established by her mother, Maria “Missy” Mueninghoff Vereb ‘82, and later shared with her sister, Micayla Vereb ‘21, the class co-valedictorian. Marissa was a Crusaderette, founded the Garden Club, was a member of five honor societies, received the President’s Education Award for Excellence, and more. With all her school involvement, she worked hard to balance flight training with her teams, clubs, and studies. During her senior year, she began to explore piloting seriously.
“I went on a discovery flight in Clearwater, where I got to actually fly the plane and instantly knew there was nothing I would rather do than fly,” she said. “The next day, I went to school very excited about my possibilities for the future.”
Marissa credits notable teachers she had at TC with giving her the encouragement to take this leap into a unique field.
“At TC, I had some very supportive teachers to help along the way, one being Mr. Alvarez, my AP Computer Science teacher, and my AP Psychology teacher, Mr. LeVie,” she said. “They were both very supportive and encouraged me to take the jump and go down a different path than my peers. I didn’t know anyone else who had taken the same path as me, and my whole life, I had always assumed I would just go to a university. Having that support system from my teachers really encouraged me to make my own decisions and create what seemed to be a less ‘traditional’ path.”
After her graduation from TC in 2023, Marissa set off for Polk State College to pursue her passion for flight.
“They have an extensive aviation program providing a bachelor’s degree in multiple areas of aerospace,” she said. “They also integrate flight training into your college education. I was able to receive my associate degree in professional pilot science, which required me to earn my private pilot license, instrument rating, and commercial airplane license while taking academics toward my degree, including classes such as aviation maintenance and aerospace law and ethics. I was also able to earn a bachelor’s degree in aviation administration, which provides more varied opportunities within aviation besides flying.”
A year and a half post-high school, Marissa received her commercial hot air balloon license in New Mexico while the annual Balloon Fiesta was happening, and the following year she applied to fly and was accepted as a pilot. She brought her balloon to fly alongside the pros, but little did she know she was a historic attendee.
“To my surprise, I was notified that I would be the youngest Primary Pilot participating that year,” she said. “I was not expecting to be the youngest primary pilot there, but it is an experience I will never forget. The community of balloonists the Fiesta brings together each year is absolutely incredible. It is my favorite week of every year, and I’m excited to be going again this year in 2026. It is such an honor to be able to fly with more than 650 other pilots, all passionate about the same thing.”
Marissa finished her degree at Polk State College in only three years and graduated summa cum laude with her Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Sciences. Now, she’s preparing for her dream career to become reality.
“Since graduating, I have been working on earning my Certified Flight Instructor-Airplane rating so I will be able to teach people to fly,” she said. “Aviation is a career where learning never stops; there is always another step ahead. I plan to continue this path and work my way up to working as a professional pilot. I am also continuing to instruct hot air balloon training and am working on building my own hot air balloon ride and instruction business. My future career goals include becoming an airship pilot, so I am continuing to work toward that and building flight hours to get me there.”
For Marissa, the sky is the limit to where her hard work, dedication and dream chasing will take her.