By Alyssa Cortes
TAMPA, Fla. — Alyssa Soleil Rivera, a 21-year-old senior international business and marketing double major at The University of Tampa, sits in front of her desk in her dorm room, the wall behind her cleared of any decoration except for a single, bare patch where a poster once hung. Her desk — cluttered with textbooks and half-packed boxes — has been strategically arranged to create a makeshift studio. A few books hold up her phone, propped perfectly at eye level, while a makeup mirror casts a soft, glowing light on her face. It is clear how much Rivera has learned to make the most of her circumstances. She’s setting up for another self-tape audition, an essential part of her life as a rising actress.
She jokes about her “DIY studio,” but there is no sign of frustration at the moment. Instead, she exudes a quiet determination from years of honing her craft. She reviews the script one last time, checking the phone angle and fixing her hair. She’s playing Ginny, a brash, calculating, and slightly intimidating character.
“God. Javier is such a tool,” said Rivera, her voice dripping with disdain as she made eye contact with a spot to the right of the camera lens.
She’s holding nothing back, her eyes fierce and unblinking. Her performance is raw and unfiltered. She’s the character, and nothing else matters.
Rivera is different from your typical college student. While many of her peers at UTampa juggle classes, assignments, and possibly a part-time job, Rivera is carving out a career as a rising star in entertainment, while also managing an internship, serving as a resident assistant, holding the role of vice president of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Alpha Chi Omega, and taking 20 credit hours each semester.
As a model, singer, and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists actress, it is clear that this isn’t just a “hobby” for Rivera; it is a profession in its own right. She may be a student at the UTampa, but her ambition extends far beyond the classroom, her acting career feels most deeply ingrained in her identity.
“I feel like Alyssa’s a person that knows what she wants in life and is able to get it because she’s gonna push relentlessly for it,” said 23-year-old Kaleab Tadesse, senior cybersecurity major at UTampa.
Rivera pushes through every rejection and every audition that does not go her way. It’s something she’s learned from years in the entertainment industry, as she chases her dreams while maintaining her academic responsibilities. It’s about maintaining a balance, she says. That means having packed days of waking up early, taking classes, doing homework between breaks, and managing her extracurricular responsibilities. Having been in the entertainment industry since childhood, she’s always had many responsibilities; priorities just shifted.
Her journey is one many young artists face: how do you pursue your dreams while managing the demands of life, school, and work? Rivera learned resilience is key, even if it means enduring countless “no’s” before hearing “yes.”
“Yes it’s about AP f—— English, Trevor. Here I am busting my a– to be valedictorian, and up comes Javier, affirmative action-ing his way to all my scholarship money,” said Rivera.
She is on take number four now, her face softening as she hits pause. She raises an eyebrow and pulls a face.
“One more,” she said, her voice breaking the tension.
Her gaze back to the screen, she dives into another round.
“I think that’s the one,” said Rivera, after another take. “Let me just check.”
She rewinds the video and plays it back, her gaze scrutinizing the frame. Her face relaxes for a split second, satisfied. There are nine takes in total, two deleted. In 30 minutes, she has finished the audition.
“Alyssa is dedicated and thorough in everything she does, always giving 110 percent,” said Christian Farrell, 22, senior allied health and human performance major at UTampa. “[Alyssa is] kind, driven, and uplifting, she’s a genuine person who works hard and motivates others around her.”
Beyond acting, Rivera has a strong sense of cultural pride. As a Mexican-American woman in the entertainment industry, she’s committed to reshaping stereotypes about Latinx representation.
“I want to represent the actual Latinas because I’m sick and tired of the American film industry representing Latinas in a different way,” said Rivera. “I just wanna represent anybody that feels like they don’t belong from either here or there because you are. You’re from both, and it’s okay to be from both.”
“I truly believe that Alyssa is a kind person,” said Maryn Horvath, 21-year-old senior applied sociology major at UTampa. “I think that she cares about everyone around her, her friends, her family, her residents, everyone in her sorority. She really, truly, and deeply cares about other people and whether they succeed.”
Rivera said, “[I want to be remembered as] I guess a little Latina activist but, honestly, just somebody that treated people with kindness.”