Buried donors, forensic excavation, bullet reconstruction labs, blood spatter analysis — the kind of work where the "classroom" is more often a crime scene than a lecture hall. Dordt senior volleyball player Jillian Fisher didn't just study criminal justice from a textbook. She lived it, shovel in hand, carefully brushing away soil from a decomposing body to learn how evidence survives in the ground.

And the best part? She loved it.

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"I want to go into forensics or crime scene investigation," Fisher says matter-of-factly. "It might sound dark, but there's so much good that can be done. The deed is already done — my job is to help bring justice and help families heal."

That balance — between what is heavy and what is hopeful — has defined Fisher's four years at Dordt.

Fisher wasn't recruited by a long list of colleges. She didn't have family legacies pulling her toward Sioux Center. One connection — a high school coach who was a Dordt alum — was the thread that led her here. A campus visit sealed it, not because of the gym, but because of the cadaver lab.

"I came thinking I wanted to be a biology major," she says. "I got to walk through the cadaver lab, meet professors, and I remember thinking — no other school I visited offered anything like this."

She later added minors in chemistry and criminal justice, and four years later she's still a biology major, just not the kind she originally imagined. Med school was the early dream. Now? Crime labs, evidence rooms, case files.

"Being responsible for someone's life in a hospital felt more stressful than this," she admits. "In forensics, you're still helping people — just in a different stage of the story."

On the court, Fisher's road wasn't glamorous. JV for two seasons. A varsity role without the guarantee of minutes. No starting spot, no stat sheet spotlight — but a presence on the team with a sensed responsibility.

"I'm a leader, even if I'm not a captain," she says. "I want my teammates to know I'm there for them."

Her first two years were the hardest. Like so many college athletes, she arrived as a former star. Then reality hits: not everyone plays.

"I had to learn that volleyball isn't my identity," she says. "And that took time. A lot of athletes don't talk about that enough."

She found freedom in accepting her role. And then she left the country.

Last spring, Fisher lived in Uganda for a study-abroad program that connected faith, health care, and culture. There, she shadowed doctors, worked in clinics, and learned what compassion looks like when language, resources, and context all change.

She also found peace stepping away from volleyball — and yet, still found a way to play.

"With another Dordt student we'd jump into faculty games or just play for fun," she laughs. "It reminded me how much joy there is in the game without pressure."

Fisher will graduate in May and hopes to head south — "I hate winter" — and land in a forensics role, whether lab-based or at active crime scenes. Florida is a possibility.

She doesn't know exactly where she'll end up, but she's no longer afraid of the uncertainty.

"If I could talk to myself at 18," she says, "I'd say it's not all about volleyball, or getting A's, or being the best. Work hard. Be patient. Honor God. You don't have to get angry when things don't happen the way you want. There's purpose in the long route."

Not everyone is wired to walk into the aftermath of tragedy and help tell the truth. Not everyone sees forensics as a way to serve Christ.

But Fisher does.

And when the volleyball years are behind her, she won't stop defending — she'll just do it in a different arena.