When I was a freshman at Grove City, I remember filling out an application for something and it asked me “How will your college be different because you have been there?” To be honest, this question completely stumped me. At the time, I had no idea how I (an average student from a tiny high school in the middle of nowhere) would be able to have any impact at all on Grove City College.
Now, two and a half years later, I can look back and see how that question has shaped my college experience thus far. It struck a chord somewhere within me and I began to search for opportunities to impact people and the college community during my four years here.
My search was far more fruitful than I could have imagined. For the sake of simplicity, I will summarize my results in three categories:
1. Opportunities for learning…outside the classroom
Grove City College hosts numerous guest lecturers and discussion events every semester. The topics range anywhere from Ronald Reagan to worldwide missions to “Wasting Time Well.” I have enjoyed events like the annual Reagan Lecture, Missions Conference, and tea time with Grove City women. There are also numerous Bible studies and smaller discussion groups. These types of opportunities have allowed me to learn from both my peers and renowned speakers, and attending them offers support to the College and the types of events that they will continue to hold in the future.
2. Opportunities for leadership
More often than not, this goes hand-in-hand with point number three. Here at Grove City, opportunities for leadership exist everywhere you look. Students have leadership opportunities in over 150 clubs and organizations. These range from Student Government to Greek groups to campus ministries to professional and academic organizations to intramural sports to academic honoraries, and the list could go on. Personally, these opportunities have helped me find my voice and built me into the person I am today.
3. Opportunities for service
Service opportunities abound on this lovely campus. Many, if not all, of the leadership opportunities mentioned above are fantastic ways to serve both your peers as well as the student body and community as a whole. Students have the opportunity to become Resident Assistants, to serve Christ on spring break Inner City Outreach (ICO) trips, and to take part in numerous campus and community ministries including Young Life, Project Okello, and a prison ministry. I have traveled to Ashland, Kentucky on an ICO trip every year over spring break, and those trips have been an excellent time of service, learning, growth, and blessing for me.
So Grove City College provides all of these magnificent opportunities, but what does that mean for students? It means that Grove City students have more opportunities to impact (and be impacted by) their peers and college community than you might realize. It means that Grove City College gives its students so much more than a four-year degree in their subject of choice – it offers them four years of personal growth and impact.
