Leading with 'quiet grace'

[Editor’s note: This is the second in a weeklong series recognizing noteworthy graduates from the Class of 2017. This year’s series highlights “the road less traveled,” students who are taking on unique experiences or facing unexpected turns in reaching his or her destination in life.]

By HILARY MATHESON

Daily Inter Lake

As high school graduation approaches, 18-year-old Rachel Maher gets closer to her aspiration of helping children and families navigate life as a psychologist.

The Glacier High School senior has had to work through her own set of challenges that have led her on this path.

Maher moved to Montana from Pennsylvania with her mother around the age of 10 following the difficult divorce of her parents.

“My parents split up when I was 8 or 9,” she said, noting that her parents attempted to reunify the family, “but it wasn’t working.”

Before moving, she had visited Montana, but it wasn’t under the happiest of circumstances.

“My brother got in trouble,” Maher said, “... he went to a boy’s home.”

Initially she moved into her grandmother’s house with her mom. Although a new beginning offered a fresh start, there was a lot Maher had to leave behind.

“[I was] leaving all of my friends. We had family back there too — my aunt and cousins — just leaving everybody I had known all my life and having to kind of start a new life,” Maher said was difficult.

Her mother, Michele, who had home schooled Maher, returned to the workforce.

“It was hard not having my mom at home,” Maher said.

Through the transition, Maher had the support of her mother to rely on the person who she sees as her role model in life. How she coped was through her faith. Between the two, she found strength.

“I definitely leaned into God when going through the harder stuff — that there was a reason, and hope,” she said.

Her French teacher, Stephanie Hill, said Maher exemplifies confidence and leads with “quiet grace.”

“Rachel’s incredible faith not only in herself, but also God means that she does not waste time being consumed with self-doubt or being fearful of taking chances like many young people. Instead, she spends her time inspiring others to follow her lead and take leaps of their own,” Hill said.

For a period of time during her parent’s divorce, Maher also went to counseling. While she didn’t necessarily find the formalities of counseling helpful at the time, the experience helped inform her career decision.

“I just want to kind of make that system different and be able to help kids differently than I was helped,” Maher said.

And she’s enjoyed taking psychology in high school.

“I really like my psychology class, just getting to learn the details of the brain and learn why people are the way they are,” Maher said.

At Glacier High School, grit and gratitude are two qualities that staff hope to instill in students before they graduate.

For Maher, “Glacier grit” comes through as a quiet confidence and studiousness that has earned her magna cum laude designation — meaning she has a grade point average between 3.75 and 3.99 — in addition to academic distinctions in Advanced Placement, business, fine arts and international language. Achieving these distinctions requires a certain amount of credits in each respective area in addition to other criteria, which she accomplished while working a part-time job. Her accomplishments will be recognized through five cords worn at graduation.

“Academically, the number of cords is reflective of her commitment to her education as an opportunity for a better life, regardless of personal circumstances,” Glacier counselor Jerad Avery said.

She set out to earn the cords her sophomore year.

“I knew I definitely wanted to go after a couple of them. Then I started taking business classes, and started French freshman year too, and found out there were cords with those too,” Maher said. Choir, which earned her the fine arts distinction, was a natural progression of her interests. She’s performed in the advanced women’s choir and was selected for the 16-member Glacier Breeze ensemble.

Business teachers Josh Munro and Cindy Jones have noticed Maher’s proclivity for hard work and organization.

“Rachel is hardworking, self-motivated to be successful and a real problem solver,” Jones said. “She will be successful in the path she chooses for her future because of her determination and professional attitude.” Maher also described herself as being very organized.

“I’m really organized and time oriented, which sometimes gets in the way because I like think life needs to be planned out and that’s not how life goes all the time,” Maher said.

After graduation, Maher plans to attend Flathead Valley Community College to earn an associate degree and then transfer to the University of Montana. Eventually she wants to run a private practice in Montana.

“It’s just always felt like home after coming here from Pennsylvania,” she said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.