Lisanby Scholar Series: Jordan Wright

By Jen Kulju (M'04)

Jordan Wright was in the fifth grade when she was asked on Instrument Day to play a “big, weird instrument” on her shoulder. That instrument was the viola, and she “immediately fell in love with it.” In the ninth grade, Wright began tutoring younger students and developed an interest in studying music education. That same year, she visited JMU for the first time, where she participated in Spring String Thing. In coming back for other events, she “saw how people greeted each other in the hallway like they knew each other forever” and thought, “This is the place for me.”

Now a freshman music education major at JMU, lives in Wayland Hall and feels right at home. Moving from London, England, to Northern Virginia when she was young, Wright says she used to have to “fake an American accent” to avoid being bullied. At JMU, she says she is able to be herself —and that it means so much to finally feel accepted. Wright says it also means so much to have been named a Lisanby Scholar. “I am quite hard on myself, so getting a Lisanby Scholarship validated that I’m good at my craft and that I’m appreciated. It also alleviated the financial burden of going to college.”