As was announced on the Principia College Instagram on Saturday, Oct. 26, senior Grace Pécheck is this year’s Principia College Lincoln Academy Student Laureate. This award is given to one senior at every degree-granting institution across the state of Illinois. 

Pécheck was voted to receive this award by Principia faculty not only for her prowess as a leader, but also for her general work in uplifting the atmosphere as well as the Principia community and beyond. Recipients of this award must meet a 3.0 cumulative GPA requirement.  

I got to sit down to talk to Pécheck about what this award means to her, the work that she did to get it, and how she plans to continue to make a difference in whatever community she is a part of in the future.

When asked about the significance of the award, Pécheck said, “It’s pretty significant just because over the past few years at Prin I’ve been seeing a peer who receives this reward and those people are people who I look up to and admire for what they contribute to academics and just to campus in general through extra-curriculars, so to be included in the same group as those people is a big honor for me.”

I asked her how she felt academically, and here’s what she responded: “I am very involved academically; I really enjoy school and learning. I’m a double major [in English and history] and a double minor [in education and philosophy]. I’m the president of Prin’s academic honors society. This is my third year working as a writing tutor and my second as the academic representative on Student Senate.”

Pécheck has all the tools on the table to be successful once she graduates. When I asked her what her plans were she said, “It’s my goal to be an educator, I want to teach young adults, whether that means high school or college, I’m not yet sure and it’s something I’m still trying to figure out. I think this award just supports that in terms of résumé because it shows that I am academically and extracurricularly involved.” 

Pécheck has obviously put in a ton of work to get to where she is now. She is honored to be included in this group filled with other outstanding people who are ready to make a difference from across the state of Illinois. She will attend a special ceremony hosted in Springfield, Illinois, at the state capital to receive her award.