Grace Fisher '13: Hitting the Right Notes

By Theresa Schmidt ‘09

Creating beautiful music is like achieving a quality education. You need to be in tune with those around you. Talent is important, but perhaps equally essential is dedication and hard work. With this in mind, Vocal Performance major Grace Fisher is hitting all the right notes at McKendree. She explains, “Coming to McKendree has taught me more about life - about how to deal not just academically or even socially, but more of a global perspective. McKendree provides you with opportunities to be involved in many different areas so you get a chance to explore a broader range of musical vision and skills.”

A variety of skills is something Grace has in spades now. "If I were in a larger university I would probably never have the chance to take composition lessons, get into dance or take percussion lessons. I would be strictly learning voice. I would probably have no chance to get into other fields. Now I’ve been exposed, it’s more marketable if you know how to do many different things. McKendree just challenges people to grow in areas they would never grow before.”

Self-improvement is not just limited to academics at McKendree. As a previously homeschooled musician living in Japan at the time of her acceptance, Grace had more than the average hurdles to face: “Living on campus was a big culture shock. Everything about living here is so different than in Japan."

Create your own experience.

Offered a full music provost, Grace had overcome her first barrier to success, but still feared the social challenges ahead of her. She notes, “My freshman year, Sarah Adams and I got paired together; she was homeschooled and she knew some Japanese and it just kind of worked. She was a perfect roommate and I'm thankful that McKendree paired us together. After about a year my barriers started falling down and I started getting more involved with different clubs like the International Student Organization and Rotaract. It’s amazing! Before I could barely talk to anybody and now I meet so many different people.”

With a strong connection with her peers, Grace was more than ready to supply the passion and hard work required for musical and academic success. She describes, “I’ve learned to be overall independent. You have to make yourself; you have to create yourself your own. You just don’t get anything done by waiting; that’s how apathy starts. That’s something McKendree taught me. As long as people make the best of what they have, where they are, their experience will be amazing because they’re creating their own experience.”

Join Grace Fisher at her Senior Recital:
Tuesday, November, 13th at 7:30 p.m. in Bothwell Chapel.