This article is part of a series highlighting the 国民彩票 Class of 2018 鈥� the graduates of Dal's 200th year. Read more of our Spring Convocation grad profiles.
Five years ago, Fred, Elizabeth and Katharine Fountain gave the gift of music to 国民彩票 through an historic $10-million gift. And students are at the heart of it all.
The Fountains鈥� gift, the largest ever to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, brought together the departments of Music and Theatre as a single academic unit. It also created a prestigious performing arts undergraduate scholarship to help attract the best and brightest young performers 鈥斕齭tudents like Alexandra Geist, Mimisu Lee, Rachel Taylor, Sidath Rankaduwa and Ursula Calder. Now, these members of the first cohort of Fountain scholars are set to graduate on Saturday, June 2.
While they鈥檝e had very different experiences and paths during the last four years, there is one thing that unites them: the Fountains鈥� generosity has helped them pursue their dreams.
Pursuing her Art
Alexandra (Ally) Geist 鈥� Bachelor of Arts (Theatre studies)
A native of Toronto, Ally Geist was interested in theatre but didn鈥檛 necessarily see it as a career path.
鈥淒al鈥檚 Theatre program was the only one I applied to,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淚f not for this scholarship I likely wouldn鈥檛 have pursued theatre at all.鈥�
But it was the best choice for her. She鈥檚 found her passion in theatre studies and has had truly invaluable learning experiences over the last four years. A highlight has been working as the dramaturge (as part of her honours project) on Drums and Organs, commissioned for Dal鈥檚 200th anniversary and created by playwright Gillian Clark (BA鈥�13). 听
鈥淚 learned so much from working with Gillian and she has been incredibly helpful in encouraging me to send my plays to theatre companies,鈥� says Ally. 鈥淎fter graduation I want to focus on exploring the relationship between poetry and theatre, and just getting my text out into the world.鈥�
Overcoming obstacles
Mimisu Lee 鈥� Bachelor of Music (French Horn)
Mimisu Lee chose 国民彩票 for two very important reasons: it was the only university that would allow her to do a double major in Biology and Music, and she was offered a Fountain Scholarship.
Not unlike many of her fellow Fountain Scholarship recipients, along the way Mimisu embraced music as her true passion and decided it was that in which she would focus her studies.
鈥淢usic took precedence because of the ways that it captures people,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hrough music I can send people a message, whether direct or indirect. I鈥檓 grateful for the scholarshi