Grace “Gus-Gus” Blessinger was born and raised in Madison, South Dakota. Grace has one older sister, Anna deCastro, and lives with her parents, Justin and Christina Blessinger. Grace’s favorite color is burgundy or an orange/red. When she graduates, Grace would like to pursue a humanities degree (eventually a PhD) and possibly minor in marketing or psychology. She is proud of her family, having published poetry, and having been late to class at least 20 times in her high school years. Her favorite T.V. show is Community or Dr. Who, her favorite movie is The Good the Bad and the Ugly, and her favorite book is Picture of Dorian Grey. Grace works at the Lake County Museum, and the most rewarding part of her job is seeing her mom every day.
Grace also lives by her mom’s motto, “The worst someone can say is no.” If Grace could live anywhere in the world, it would be Vermont or Wicklow, Ireland. If asked what her favorite food is, she will answer with, “Apples, I eat them like a horse,” or Potatoes Dauphinoise. In her free time, Grace enjoys listening to vinyl records, jewelry making, embroidering, linocutting, and playing RDR2. She loves music; her playlist jumps from Latin chants and Leonard Cohen to the Beastie Boys, Radiohead, Big Thief, and Noah Kahan. Grace is really good at Etch a Sketch and embarrassing herself. One thing Grace cannot live without is her candle warmer just because it's pretty green and warms up chocolate. If she had any superpower, teleportation would be nice so she can get out of situations, like embarrassing herself, but if it really came down to it, she would teleport inside a bank and rob people blind. If she could be any cartoon character she would be Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. Grace is afraid of being alone and ladybugs, but that does not stop her from eating them like chips!
If Grace had to recommend anything, it would be to eat Honeycrisp apples. In 10 years, Grace hopes to be finishing university, with no kids and a man who loves her! If Grace had 5 million dollars, she would use one million to buy the best crafting supplies, she would use another million to travel the world with her family, two million for charity, savings, and boring stuff, and the last million to do all the stuff listed in the song “If I had a million dollars” by Barenaked Ladies. She would also like to travel to as many places as possible, but Wales and Ireland first. Her advice for underclassmen is “Remember high school isn’t the end of everything. It’s okay to care a little less about what everyone thinks about you, and work toward your own goals. Be yourself! Also, don’t eat at the cafeteria unless you’re a fan of trichinellosis.” Her favorite quote is from one of her favorite authors, Oscar Wilde. “You can never be overdressed or overeducated.”