Month: October 2018

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Career Fair 2018

Grove City College hosts a Career Fair every year, which provides an awesome opportunity for students to network for potential jobs and for employers to find potential employees. It is a win-win situation for both sides in the business world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year, the college celebrated 20 years of a successful event. Last year, around 170 employers and graduate schools along with 1,200 students attended for an abundance of professional socialization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students of all years and majors attend the Career Fair. Even the freshmen who are not necessarily looking for a job; it is a great way to practice one’s elevator pitch, interview skills, and speaking ability with business people. For seniors, it can serve as the way to land a job for directly after graduation. With the event being around September every year, it can put senior students at ease for the rest of the academic year if they know they already have a job in place for post-graduation.  Even if a job is not found directly at the Career Fair, students can build relationships with business people to meet others down the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students engage with businesses to understand their company goals, meanings, and morals. With a variety of businesses showcased at the Career Fair linked to specific majors, like Accounting, Finance, Engineering, Business, Biblical and Religious Studies, and more, students have the ability to meet their potential employer or network to eventually reach another company.

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, the Career Fair is a wonderful way to look for jobs. Even if it does not specifically cater to a specific major or job interest, making connections with people can be the start of finding the perfect career. Many students can attest to the potential of Grove City College’s Career Fair with the ability to connect people and expand one’s professional circle into the real world after college.

 

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My Summer Internship – Work Relationships

This previous summer I had the opportunity to work at my parents’ business, Keystone Ridge Designs, an expertise site furniture manufacturing company.  It was a comforting image to know that before I started my senior year at Grove City College, I had an internship to add to my resume.  I mainly looked at the internship as a “check off the list” of things to do before graduation.  Although, after a summer of a great deal of hard work, knowledge gained, some family tension, and strengthened relationships, I can say that working was so much more than just an internship.

Keystone Ridge Designs has been around ever since I was born, existing as a purely family business since around 1995.  My grandpa worked hard raising his family that would soon be raising me, along with building a company ever since his early 20s.  Since then, the business has excelled in terms of profitability, customer relationships, and building its brand.

The major concept I took away from my “job” was how important family businesses are and how they function in a world full of the idea of pure profit, no matter the ethics.  I appreciated the relationships between employees and their bosses, essentially my family members, except they were personal.  I watched as my family could ask their employees specific questions about their home lives because they genuinely cared to listen.  When meaningful work relationships are developed, work becomes easier.  It is more straightforward to work together, be efficient in the tasks they do, along with authenticity in the work completed.  The employees took responsibility for their actions, whether good or bad and were not purely focused on their individual career.  The collaborative atmosphere made for better problem solving and the generation of new product ideas to grow the business.  The selflessness that came from these work relationships goes to show that it is possible to profit in a business, while still caring about the needs of each employee.

Hearing about large corporations treat their employees like they are just another person working under them is something I personally could never work for, especially after seeing the relationships at Keystone Ridge Designs.  Similar to Grove City College’s ethics about faith and education, keeping them unseparated, my family’s business functioned to serve a greater purpose.  Working hard, helping others, extending generosity, and accomplishing business in a loving manner are simply four ideologies I want in any potential company I would work with.

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Double Chapel Credits

Grove City College requires students to obtain 16 chapel credits throughout one semester. Chapel credits are offered every Tuesday and Thursday for chapel, which most students usually attend, every Sunday night for a Vespers service, and for myriad additional lectures and events offered throughout the semester. While students at times complain that their semester’s worth of procrastination in obtaining their chapel credits does usually come back to haunt them, there is one event that unites the student body to make sure they attend a double chapel credit opportunity.

While these are usually pretty rare (at most once a semester), these are usually the highest-attended chapel events all semester (for obvious reasons). Students receive two whole chapel credits for attending these events. To put this into perspective, that is one full week of Tuesday and Thursday chapels in a one-hour event. It is easy to see why these would be so popular.

In the past, there have been double chapel credits offered for Orientation Board’s (OB) All-Campus Worship event held on the Quad, which aside from the amount of chapel credits offered, is a top favorite for all students. This year, the Homecoming Worship Service offered double chapel credit in Harbison Chapel. This, once again, drove out the students in masses (for the chapel credit and also for the features of the event). For starters, the service opened with the Warriors Worship team opening with a few songs, before the Homecoming Committee welcomed an alumnus to speak to the student body, offering his words of wisdom from his time as a student with his time in post-graduate life. The service then closed with a few more songs before dismissing students, making sure everyone got their student ID scanned to receive their credit.

This year’s speaker was Josiah Leuenberger (’08), who is now the director of young adult ministry at Orchard Hill Church, a church in the greater Pittsburgh area.

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Event Review: AEX Fall Party

On Saturday, Oct. 6, the men’s housing group Alpha Epsilon Chi (AEX) hosted its annual Fall Party from 7:30-11 p.m. Dr. Dudt, a biology professor at Grove City College, graciously offers his farm as the location of the event.

The event is widely known for its oversized bonfire, where at times nearby surrounding trees are charred from the heat and flames. During the day, many students are often busy with Homecoming festivities, whether it is with another group they are part of or with spending time with their own family, so the event is a great way to wind down a packed day.

The guys purchase apple cider from Emmett’s Orchard, a nearby apple orchard, for attendees to consume while chatting with their friends around the fire. While it does not seem like anything overly special other than being a large bonfire, the event is designed to foster community by having a fun and safe night to hang out off campus with friends.

In the midst of the event, there is an interesting tradition that takes place each year: a story telling time featuring a character named “Wakajankaga.” The tradition was started several years ago by a past group member who was incredibly theatrical and talented enough to make up the entire story on the spot. The time is meant to be a comedic relief, and a sort of “halftime show” to pull all of the attendees in to focus on one thing for a moment. This year’s rendition was special, as the group decided to conclude the character’s story arc, opening the door for new possibilities for a story for next year.

The event is primarily advertised through word of mouth, social media posts, and emails to friends (only because the space can hold so many people). Throughout the night, the group estimates that about 400 people attended the event, making it one of the higher attended years that this event has taken place.

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SGA Homecoming

Grove City College’s annual Homecoming was Oct. 6, and brought thousands of alumni and families back to campus, along with the families of current students. While many students and alumni attend these events to connect, whether from their fraternity, sorority, or housing group, Student Government Association (SGA) partakes in the festivities due to their wide-reaching network on campus. Regardless of other commitments as a student, SGA is one that can be held concurrently with many other positions, which creates a unique opportunity to get a wide range of students involved with the organization. As a result, SGA has a tent on upper campus for fellow SGA alumni to stop by, while the current members mingle.

Current student members also participate in the Homecoming parade each year. Apart from decorating their truck and float, they also throw candy into the crowd as they drive through the parade. With all of the children on campus for this event, this is easily one of the best parts, getting to see the smiles on all of their faces getting candy. Once the parade is over, SGA members take a shift at their tent to hand out caramel apples for attendees.

SGA orders 600 apples to hand out and hundreds of bottled waters, which worked out well because this year the weather was warmer than usual. The caramel apples are always a hit with attendees, as SGA usually runs out before the entire duration of the event is even over.

Each year, it is always interesting to hear stories from alumni that were on SGA during their tenure as students. Even the College’s own President McNulty served as the SGA Vice President of Social Affairs while he was a student here. These stories would most likely not be heard without the opportunity for SGA to participate in the Homecoming festivities each year.

 

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Event Review: Meat and Greet

“It’s that time…Meat time” read the posters advertising the main draw for this event: free steak. While the dining halls unfortunately do not serve steak, the Delta Rho Sigma (Buffalos) housing group and Nu Lambda Phi (Nu Lamb) fraternity teamed up to bring the people what they asked for at the beginning of the semester.

On Sept. 14, the two groups held the event dubbed “Meat and Greet,” where free steak, burgers, and hot dogs were freshly grilled for attendees. As part of an excellent advertising campaign that educated the student body on what the event actually is, this motivated students to get a free dinner away from the dining halls as a change of pace.

Addison Hockins, the social chair of the Buffalos recorded a total of 850 student attendees throughout the entire night, a record setting attendance count for the event. The group found it necessary to keep track of attendance to ensure that each attendee could receive their fair share of steak, which equated to be four ounces worth of meat. When this is paired with the hot dogs, hamburgers, and chips available, this proved to be quite the sizable dinner on a Friday night.

This year, the cookout was held in front of Rockwell on upper Quad. The groups also added live music with student bands performing at the bottom of Rockwell steps to add the extra element needed to keep students at the event to hang out. The bands played setlists filled with hit songs that kept the student body engaged with the atmosphere.

The event had enough food to last through the night, but unfortunately the steak ran out early due to the rapidly growing demand. Looking ahead to next year, the groups will be bringing this event back with only one change: more steak.

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Event Review: OmiCron Lawn

On Sept. 15, the Omicron Xi (Okie) fraternity and Sigma Phi Omicron (CRON) housing group teamed up to throw a tailgate cookout on lower campus in preparation for the annual night football game. This was the fifth time the event has taken place to show school spirit for the game.

The event was a classic tailgate cookout: grills in place to cook burgers and hot dogs, cornhole sets, spikeball games, volleyball, and bocce ball rounds all acted as a draw to get students to come down to lower campus. Grove City experienced beautiful weather for the event, which usually acts as a huge draw to get students outside to hang out with their friends.

Dan Gibson, president of the Okies, estimated there were about 500 students present for the cookout. Toward the end of the event, to mark its conclusion, the Wolverine Marching Band came down Rainbow Bridge and warmed up a few songs with the crowd before everyone made their way to Thorn Field to take the stands to cheer on the Wolverines.

This cookout concluded a three-day series of cookouts on Grove City College’s campus. While all three were unrelated and catered to different demographics of students, many found it as a great way to welcome in a new semester by spending time outside with their friends, enjoying the nice end of summer weather and their friends’ company.

Although Grove City fell to Case Western in the football game, the student section was rowdy to cheer on the Wolverine football team. The night game is one of the best attended football games each year due to the unique atmosphere it creates for students and families in the community. The postgame celebration featured fireworks, and although the team did not secure a victory, the campus certainly won by having a day filled with community, camaraderie, and school spirit.

 

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Event Review: Fall Fest 2018

Saturday Sept. 22 featured the 4th annual Student Government Association (SGA) Fall Festival. The event is designed to welcome students back to campus as part of a new semester by bringing everyone together to experience part of what makes the community at Grove City College so special.

This year, the event was held on the Quad, a departure from lower campus, which is where it has been held in the past. The event featured 47 group organization sponsored carnival-style booths with a carnival style game to go along with it. These booths handed out tickets to participants to put towards redeeming prizes, which were solicited from businesses in the surrounding Grove City area. Prizes included gift cards to Collage Coffee, a local coffee shop in town, Dairy Queen coupons, pumpkin carving kits, and much more.

The event also featured inflatable games, such as an obstacle course, jousting arena, baseball throw, wrecking ball arena, etc. Finally, the event also had a petting zoo with exotic animals such as a zebra, camel, and alpaca, along with goats, cows, and pigs. The petting zoo is easily a crowd favorite each year, with the zebra and camel being the main attractions.

Grove City experienced its first fall day for the event, reinforcing the entire fall theme. A photo booth with supplies donated from Seivers Farm added the perfect setting for a quality Instagram photo on everyone’s feed.

An estimated 1,500 students packed the Quad to enjoy the festivities and celebrate a new semester at the College while enjoying the company of their fellow peers for an afternoon. While the event is a tremendous undertaking by SGA members, which requires a full day’s worth of setup and several hours of tear down, the results are tangible by witnessing firsthand the smiles on everyone’s faces that come out to the event, along with seeing professors bringing their families along to enjoy the festivities, too.

 

 

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Omicron Xi: NBA Jam

It is that time of the season again. Rush! The Omicron Xi fraternity (Okies) is hosting its very first rush event infamously called the NBA Jam. So put on your biggest jerseys, hike those ankle socks up, and come to jam. This great event gives students a way to get to know one of the many fraternities on Grove City Colleges campus. The night is packed full of games, laughter, and much more.

The night is for those interested in rushing a fraternity on campus. Even if you do not know what a fraternity is, still come! It is a guaranteed good time on campus to get away from the busyness of homework assignments one might have. The NBA Jam is an event where students get to face off against each other and current actives in the Omicron Xi fraternity. The game was first produced in 1993 and is played on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, otherwise known as the SNES. It is fun playing on ancient technology!

Through heart pounding rounds of playing people to move up on a bracket, the excitement never ends. If you do not want to participate in the NBA Jam game or unfortunately lost, fret not. There are plenty of other rooms on the Okie hall for entertainment. Matt Demember, located in room 361, is hosting a game of Gang Beasts and other activities. Ryan Motta and Robbie Weaver plan on hosting their weekly board game night in their room 353. There are plenty of rooms to stop in and say hello! Each member of the Omicron Xi fraternity welcomes every rush to join them in hanging out. With this all said, there will also be complementary food to indulge in on the hall aside from socializing and playing video games.

In all reality, the event is not like any other. It holds value to gaining friendships and spending quality time with one another. Each active in the fraternity holds this event highly to meeting new people and expect to take their time to enjoy being with rushes. So, even if a fraternity is not for you, the Okies want to welcome all to join them for a night of amusing entertainment.

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Grove City College Internship Opportunities – CCO

As a freshman at Grove City College, I never anticipated the opportunities that would come my way during my next four years here. During my sophomore year, I started networking with Grove City alumni. Networking for me meant talking to parents of my friends at school who either are alumni or know alumni of the College. The parents of my current roommate are both alumni and knew at the time I was interested in event planning. They helped me navigate the internship world and by March of my second semester sophomore year, I was offered an internship in the Development/Events Department with a company called Coalition for Christian Outreach, otherwise known as CCO.

My boss at CCO for that summer was Allyson Sveda, Grove City College alumna of ’88. Allyson was a Business and Communication Studies major during her time at college. To say Allyson was “involved” on Grove City College’s campus would be an understatement.  She was in the Alpha Beta Tau sorority, president of Student Government Association, president of Omicron Delta Kappa, president of Association of Women Students, while also involved in Orchesis, Campus Tour Guide, and Orientation Board.

Since May 2013, Allyson has served as the Development Director within CCO. She works with a team of six people to raise funds for CCO’s mission of “transforming college students to transform the world.” The Development team is responsible for raising money for the Next Generation Fund through direct fundraising efforts, planned giving, and annual events. As the CCO grows nationally, Allyson’s department looks for new donor bases across new regions to support the campus work in those areas.

Allyson and I have maintained a close relationship even after I completed my intern summer with CCO.  I recently spoke with her and asked why she hires Grove City College students as interns. Her response was extremely genuine and compassionate toward the campus community. “Personally, I like to give a fellow Grover the opportunity to learn new skills while they discover more about their personal strengths/weaknesses, build a more robust network, and gain solid experience that can leap frog them into their next position or future career. The CCO has a great relationship on many levels with Grove City. I will give Grove City College students first chance at any summer internship slots in our Development Office,” Allyson replied.

“Have you ever seen differences between Grove City students/alumni compared to students/alumni from other colleges? If so, please describe those differences,” I asked. “I have found the students here to be willing to dig in, be concerned with the importance of the details, creative, self-starters, great communicators, immediate contributors, motivated and willing to please! Other departments have commented on the solid nature of our Department interns. It’s no surprise to me,” Allyson said.

As my own career goals have shifted over the last couple of years, Allyson has continued to help by introducing me to other alumni of Grove City College. The Marketing and Sales internship I had after my junior year happened to be under one of Allyson’s sorority sisters! Allyson is just one prime example of all the Grove City College alumni that love to help out current students of the college. The close-knit community  happens to be a very giving and generous one. There are so many opportunities out there, even at a small school like Grove City College. Be confident, get to know more people, and keep your eyes and ears out for any possibilities that may come your way.