Stacey’s two older brothers came to Geneva first, so she followed them to the college she had visited “a zillion times,” at first unsure about her career path. God soon opened the right doors however. Within the first semester, Stacey changed her history major into a minor and gained a new major—music.
“With music classes, there is always something I am excited to learn about,” she explains her decision. “Although I really like history, I feel so much joy when I study music.” She may combine both topics in order to be a music historian, and is currently exploring grad schools for ethnomusicology, the study and analysis of music in its cultural context.
“I like it because I grew up hearing music from around the world, and I loved learning about the cultures from which the music stemmed,” Stacey says about ethnomusicology. “I also like it because it allows me to connect with and better understand cultures with which I have nothing in common, other than a mutual appreciation of music.”
Geneva College has plenty of musical opportunities: Stacey is the marching band president this year, and is serving her second term as the secretary for the Genevans, the college choir. She’s also one of nine members in the Grace Notes, a small women’s ensemble. The group performs at civic functions, women’s luncheons, Genevans concerts, and other community events. It’s Stacey’s third year in the ensemble.
Like many students, Stacey finds it “almost impossible” to pick a single professor as her favorite, but she gives a shout-out to the new teacher of music history, Matthew Kickasola. “Music history is one of those areas that can be really stuffy and dead or very alive and relevant,” she says. “And he makes it relevant. He just makes it a really fascinating subject.” Her Humanities 103 course under Dr. Shirley Kilpatrick was also “fantastic,” she mentions.
During her time at Geneva, Stacey has enjoyed feeling like the campus is a giant family during homecoming. “There’s so much to do. You can see the different vendors and you can see the different alumni come back,” she says, adding that “people are always coming and going. There’s so much to do and see.”
As Stacey looks forward, two graduate schools in Ireland appeal to her. The master’s program abroad is speedier than the traditional American model, after all, which suits her approach to learning: efficient, professional, and a year or two ahead of the curve.
-Adam Rowe '14