Hi! My name is Chaitan Grewal, I’m from Elgin, Illinois and I’m a freshman studying Classical Guitar Performance. This is only my first year at Jacobs, but I could tell you from the first week of classes that I made the right decision to come here!
In high school, I was very involved in every musical opportunity possible. Whether it be band, choir, marching band, drumline–I wanted to do it all. Music is the thing that gave me the most joy, frustration, work ethic, dedication, and satisfaction. I always wanted to surround myself with people who loved music as much as I did, but I hadn’t made the connection that music was what I wanted to do with my life. It hit me when I was a junior and on my way home from visiting my sister who also went to IU. My parents were telling me that it was about time to start applying for colleges and thinking about what I want to do for a degree. They said that music auditions were about a year away at that point, so I made the decision right then and there that I was going to major in Guitar. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else, and it was the obvious choice for how much I loved playing and experiencing music!
When I was researching colleges, Jacobs was an obvious choice for the environment that I was looking for. I was so excited to possibly be at a school where I would be constantly pushed out of my comfort zone, and surrounded by people so much better than me, because that’s where you can really grow as a musician. I had emailed a guitar professor (who I am now studying with) and set up an in-person lesson, and it was the greatest decision I could’ve made in my audition journey. The emails back and forth with the professor were amazing. He really took time to respond and made me feel like he wanted to help me with the audition process (which was a lot more than any other school’s professors that I had reached out to). When I got to campus in the summer and had my lesson with him, it was great! He was so excited to finally meet me, and we went over all of my audition materials as well as what I needed to do to best continue preparing for my audition in January.
I had also scheduled a tour of the Jacobs buildings, and although the pictures of the performance spaces, statistics, and videos online were all great, nothing compared to seeing everything in person. My tour guide was also a guitarist, and she was so great! She shared her experiences with the program, why she decided to come to Jacobs, and answered any questions that I had from the student perspective. The highlight of the tour though was that she was able to take me into Auer Hall while a student happened to be practicing for their pipe organ recital. When we opened the doors to walk into the hall, the student was at the peak of a piece, playing all of these rich chords at the loudest volume imaginable. It was so powerful and beautiful that I just stood there with my mouth agape. I would take notes for every school that I visited with the pros and cons for that school, but after visiting Jacobs, my only note was: I must go here. I spent the next 6 months preparing for my audition weekend so that when it finally came, I was nervous, but it went exceptionally well. I received my acceptance letter about 2 weeks later and basically hit “accept” right then and there.
Later in my senior year, I went to go see the Guitar Ensemble perform for the Guitar Ensemble Extravaganza Concert, which included the Jacobs Guitar Ensemble, Jacobs jazz guitar faculty, the Electric Guitar Orchestra, and a whole bunch of other performances. The whole concert was mind-blowing! I was just thinking the whole time, “Wow, all of these people are so talented.” After the concert, my professor came up to me and said, “So Chaitan, what did you think? This will be you next year” which was such a crazy thought at the time to think that I’ll be the one on the stage soon, but I can say now that I’ve already had 2 extremely successful concerts with the Guitar Ensemble this year, including this year’s Guitar Ensemble Extravaganza.
I love being a student here at Jacobs because I always feel like I’m progressing and becoming a better musician. There is a community of people who all have such an intense drive and dedication to their craft that forces you to stay motivated every day. Everyone has bad days and gets frustrated now and then, but there’s always someone here to help you out and remind you of how far you’ve come. You’ll always be in an environment where everyone loves music just as much as you do, and will be surrounded by like-minded people. I’m always involving myself by going to concerts, meeting new people, and joining clubs, because the opportunities you have here at Jacobs are only limited by how many hours you have in the day. Congratulations on your admittance to Jacobs, and I would love to see you here on campus next fall!
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