November 2016 - Page 2 of 2 -

Did you know that one of the top 5 most popular areas of study at Grove City College is the engineering program? We have majors in electrical & mechanical engineering that offer students a wide variety of classes that lead to various fields and specifications in engineering.

Hopefully you’ve had a chance to look at the Communications Spotlight to get a feel for how students have discovered their passions through major classes. This spotlight focuses on electrical and mechanical engineering majors and their experiences in deciding career paths. Here are some students’ thoughts on what type of career paths engineering has to offer.

What do you want to do with your Engineering degree?

“I want to have a job that involves engineering as well as communications that might not have the technical knowledge of an engineering degree. I really enjoy public speaking and making presentations, which a lot of other engineers tend to shy away from. I also like the idea of taking a complex engineering idea and putting it in simpler terms that anyone can gain a basic understanding from. My dream job would be simplifying and presenting engineering ideas to business leaders or potential customers interested in an engineering design or product.“

-Senior Electrical Engineering major Mathieu Vavro

“I’ve been considering a software engineering position with my degree. GCC classes helped me figure out what I wanted to do and what I’m good at, specifically computer science classes.”

-Senior Electrical Engineering major Braden Ritts

“I am not 100% sure what area of the engineering field I want to have a career in, but I do know two things I want to achieve in a career. I want my skills and knowledge to better the world and its people, and I want to travel. Ideally I would like to live abroad for an extended period of time. The Grove City environment has inspired me to impact the world for the better. I want to be able to use my skills to change lives and leave a mark in a positive way.”

-Senior Electrical Engineering major Justine Stanszewski

“Upon graduation I plan on working for a year or two in the aerospace industry as a systems engineer. During that time I plan on applying to medical school. The GCC environment contributed to this decision through mentorship from professors as well as discussions with students who have similar interests.”

-Senior Mechanical Engineering major Justin Burke

“I have only had professional experience in the automation industry with my internship, so I know that I am interested in a full time career in something related to that field. I also took a Practical Circuit Design course last semester and really enjoyed everything that I learned in it; so I am very interested in a position where I would be doing circuit design full time as well. There are just so many fields to get into that it makes finding a “niche” extremely difficult; but there have been classes that taught me exactly what I do NOT want a career in!”

-Senior Electrical Engineering major Eric Martin

“Engineering” is as general a term as “communications” when it comes to diversity in majors and career paths. Grove City College offers students the opportunity to extend their interests and involvements with their majors through multiple organizations in different environments outside of the classroom.

My hope in presenting these career spotlights is to open the door to relating majors that seem completely unrelated so that students can bring their skill sets together to recognize the importance of diverse fields of study.

We all come to the point in our lives where we have to decide what we want to be when we grow up on a practical level. We are constantly asking ourselves, “Now what?” What do I actually want to do with my life and what can I do to realistically make that happen? As a college senior, figuring out what to do with my life is beyond pertinent at this point. The best thing about college has been discovering how to use passions and turn them into a career. This is a career spotlight on what it is like to be a Communication Studies major.

In pursuing my undergraduate degree in Communication Studies and Visual Arts, I’ve learned that there are so many different fields for students who are great writers and communicators. Some of the more common career paths with Communications might be journalism, broadcasting, marketing, design, or public relations. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some amazingly diverse students here and have recently asked to do a career spotlight on how their college experiences have helped them decide their future career goals.

What Do You Want To Do With Your Communications Degree?

“I have looked into the field of local journalism and enjoyed getting to know people in different communities that have amazing stories to tell. I love the idea of getting many people excited for a common cause. The great thing about the GCC environment is that there are multiple on-campus activities that give you experience. For example, I wouldn’t have been nearly as prepared for my journalism internship this summer if it wasn’t for the opportunity I had to write for the school newspaper, The Collegian.”

-Senior Communications major Jonathan Fisher

“Communication Studies is such a broad major, and that’s one of the things that first attracted me to it. I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go with it, but the freedom to choose from so many options was so freeing to me. I want to use my Communications degree to work in event planning and/or public relations. One of the most important aspects of a communications major, is the ability to communicate effectively with other people. The GCC environment has been helpful in my interpretation of the major because I’ve gotten to talk to many different people with interesting and unique perspectives of where their careers are headed”

-Junior Communications major Rachel Riviere

“I want to get involved in law enforcement using my degree with the hope of working at the federal level someday. The professors here at GCC have been truly supportive of me when I discuss my future career plans with them. They have written me several recommendation letters and have provided applicable advice”

-Senior Communications major Ethan Paszko

“While I’m not positive about what I’d like to do with my Communication degree, GCC has definitely provided me with pretty diverse options. I’ve had the opportunity to take classes like Crisis Communication and Organizational Communication, and look forward to taking PR and a film class next semester. I think coming into contact with the ideas presented in the individual classes I’ve taken has helped guide me in the general direction I’d like to go—it even got me interested in the internship I just finished up!”

-Senior Communications major Sarah Myers

“I’d love to take my Communication Studies degree and go into the field of Public Relations for theater companies. I worked with Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (CLO) this summer and got hands-on experience…. I fell in love with the idea of passionately promoting a field that is so steeped in human history. Grove City College has prepared me well for a job in public relations for theater in several ways and through the encouragement of many different people.”

-Junior Communications major Courtney Moletz

There are so many unique gifts and talents God gives us to explore. We are encouraged to go further than the classroom to learn about what a job might look like and get hands-on experience. The Communications department offers many different classes and programs to give students an opportunity to explore what to focus on with a broad degree. These students have been determined to discover how God can use their gifts to put them in the careers He has planned for their lives.

For more information on Communications based careers, check out One Day One Job to learn about options.

Month: November 2016

So Now What? A Career Spotlight on Engineering Majors

So Now What? A Career Spotlight on Communications Majors