Month: April 2019

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Double Varsity Sports with Gretchen Elsey

Gretchen Elsey Competing in the High Jump
Gretchen Taking a Shot on the Basketball Court

Gretchen Elsey is a sophomore here at Grove City College, majoring in Exercise Science, while also pursuing a Nutrition minor. When Gretchen is not in the classroom, you can most likely find her on the basketball court or on the track. That is correct, Gretchen plays two different sports at the varsity level for Grove City College. Gretchen is a shooting guard for the women’s basketball team, and she does mostly high jump, with a little bit of long jump for the track and field team.

Gretchen said it takes drive and discipline to play two varsity sports at the collegiate level, but she said she would not want it any other way. When I asked Gretchen about the time she must commit to both sports she said, “Basketball is definitely much more demanding because the season is so long. Our basketball team does a lot of community service projects as well so it’s not just basketball practice every day and it’s super cool to be able to reach out to the community and form those relationships. Whereas track is a little different because I miss a large majority of the indoor season because of basketball. They both take the same level of commitment though, in both sports, the team and coaches are relying on you to show up and focus in to get 1% better each day.”

Gretchen said she had always planned on playing two varsity level sports when she decided to come to Grove City College. I asked Gretchen if she prefers one sport over the other and she said, “That’s a tough question because they are so different. Track is nice because its more individualized in a team setting and it’s scored as a team event, but it heavily relies on how the individual performs. Basketball is 100% a team sport and everyone needs one another to perform at its best.” Gretchen said she has recently excelled more in track, but that basketball has taught her a lot about being mentally tough, which she can carry over from the court to the track.

Advantages coming from playing two sports, according to Gretchen, are all the friends and connections that are made and being like a big family with your team. She also said playing two sports really teaches her how to manage and balance her time effectively. Gretchen said some disadvantages are having less time for relaxing and taking naps, and that trying to make plans can be difficult because there is often a lack of free time.

I asked Gretchen how she manages her time when she is in the heat of her sports seasons, and she said, “It can be challenging but having very little free time really makes you have to do your work in between classes or right after practice. I’ve always been bouncing around from sport to sport and keeping busy, so for me it’s still the same routine.”

I also asked Gretchen how she focuses on academics when she is in the thick of her two different schedules, and she said, “It can be hard at times especially when there are those weeks where it feels like you have absolutely everything due and five exams and no time to do any of it, but I know that in a few years I won’t have competitive sports anymore so ultimately, I’m here to focus on my academics because that will follow me after my college career.”

Gretchen Elsey is the 3rd on the team in 3-pointers, and a two-year letter winner for the women’s basketball team. When it comes to track and field, Gretchen is the 2018 Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) outdoor high jump champion, 1st Team All-PAC, she has been named PAC Rookie of the Week twice, she has been named ECAC Rookie of the Week twice, she is the 2019 PAC indoor high jump champion, and she is the indoor record holder for women’s high jump at Grove City College.

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Grove City Good Eats

Beef and Vegetables

Grove City may be small, but there is an abundance of great places to eat out when you are looking for a change from the cafeteria. I was pleasantly surprised when I came to Grove City to find amazing food in such a small area. Here are four of my favorites, two within walking distance and two within a short 10-minute drive!

Jin Sushi is a cozy, new Japanese restaurant on Broad Street across from Beans on Broad. They craft delicious sushi and authentic Japanese and Chinese cuisine with over 15 years of experience from their chefs. If you come in around lunchtime, they have sushi lunch specials: miso soup and two maki rolls for $9, or soup and three maki rolls for $12. The atmosphere is calm for a nice sit down meal, or you can get your meal to go if you are running between classes.

The Broad Street Grille is the classic Grove City comfort food restaurant, located on Broad Street across from the parking lot. Whether you are in the mood for wings, burgers or a simple sandwich, the Broad Street Grille has you covered. They will often run specials such as wing nights, and it is a lively scene with music and good times in the evenings. If you are a Grove City student and you have yet to visit the Broad Street Grille, do not miss a chance to experience the quintessential Grover restaurant.

If you have a car and are willing to drive to the Grove City Outlets, Primanti Bros. is a comfort food restaurant that has been serving western Pennsylvania since 1933. They specialize in “almost famous” sandwiches, but you can get anything from wings to pizza to salad. You can check their website for promotions and deals, and it is a popular destination for large student groups going out to eat for celebrations.

If you want to take that special someone out to a nice dinner, TimberCreek Tap & Table is a rustic chic restaurant serving everything from steak to seafood. It is a more expensive option, but the atmosphere is amazing, and the food is spectacular. TimberCreek looks like a log cabin, and the central floor is glass so you can see below into its own brewery. If you are looking to impress, TimberCreek has your back with some of the highest quality food and best atmosphere to be found in or near Grove City.

These are my four favorites, but there are even more restaurants in Grove City that I visit and enjoy. Each of them has their own unique feel and niche, and the diversity of flavor is a culinary adventure.

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ART 207 | Advanced Ceramics

Interested in taking some art electives during your time at Grove City College? If so, ART 207 might be an interesting opportunity for you. ART 207, also known as advanced ceramics, is a course for students who either have already taken a ceramics course at Grove City College or who have experience outside of the College working in the art setting with clay. Why this course requires such qualifications is due to the fact that it takes the basic concepts of both hand building and wheel throwing and elaborates and expands on technique, use of equipment, and creativity involved in each type of art production. In doing this it allows you to truly test your ceramics skills and to improve your knowledge and abilities to create different and more complex pieces of art with clay.

How this is accomplished is through the use of assignments that focus on different aspects of improvement. One example of this can be seen in the first assignment given to the wheel throwing section of the class. Students are asked to perform the basic task of producing cylinders while not focusing on the creation of the cylinder itself, but rather on the space inside the cylinder. Such an exercise takes a skill learned in Beginning Wheel Throwing (making a cylinder) and elaborates on it by providing the artist the opportunity to envision the use of the piece and its effectiveness in accomplishing its end goal of holding something. This provokes a different thought process in creating the cylinder. This assignment and various others (the hand-building and wheel throwing sections of the class receive different assignments simultaneously) provide students the ability to not just maintain and improve their ceramics skills, but to also learn new skills and thought processes when thinking of the art.

If this sounds interesting to you be sure to check out ART 207 when scheduling your next semester of classes, or during your meeting with your advisor as an incoming freshman at Grove City College!

 

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Internship Spotlight: Indie Artists to Innovate Records

Where you go to school does not limit careers you can have if you work hard enough. This is the quick version of how I went from intern-managing an indie band to having an internship with Innovate Records in Ohio.

Growing up, I always loved music and had an interest in the entertainment industry. I come from a practical Pittsburgh family who wanted me to stay close to home for college. Because of this, my dreams of working in the music industry had vanished – or so I thought. I proceeded to enroll at Grove City as an English major.

Music Marketing Course

Everything took off at the beginning of my junior year. While optimizing my schedule in the summer, I noticed Dr. Lewis’ Music Marketing course, which he only offered once before, had an open space. I immediately emailed him and he signed me into the class. During this time, students split into teams and intern-managed an assigned band. Fortunately, I love the band I worked with (Atlantic Wasteland, check them out on Spotify or wherever you stream music). We ended the semester with a 50-page marketing plan, which we presented to a panel of artists and record label representatives.

Knowing my experience was coming to an end, I asked Dr. Lewis if I could take an independent study with him in Artist Management (an independent study is when you and a professor create an in-depth mini course to look at a specific topic. I would highly recommend!). He approved, and I was able to continue learning more industry specific marketing techniques.

Relay for Life Benefit Concert featuring Atlantic Wasteland

During the course I used analytical tools, such as Spotify for Artists, to gather data on Atlantic Wasteland’s target audience. After discovering the main demographic is college students in the Pittsburgh area, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to bring a new kind of music to campus. I then paired up with my sorority, the sisters of Sigma Theta Chi, and the Pansophic fraternity to create the Relay for Life Benefit Concert featuring Atlantic Wasteland.

We spent long hours searching for local sponsors and coordinating with other bands. The set included the campus-renowned professor band, Crimson Floyd, the Pittsburgh alternative rock band, Young Lungs, and the headlining alumni band, Atlantic Wasteland. The event went well and in four days we raised $230 for The American Cancer Society.

Innovate Records Internship

While this was happening, I received surprising news from Dr. Lewis. Due to the timing of our paperwork, my independent study would not work. To make this happen he contacted Grove City alumnus Jordan Biel, who owns the Christian record label Innovate Records. He also owns its secular sister label The Cellar Records.

Currently

I am working with Sol Virani an artist under The Elite Allegiance Records. Also, I recently received acceptance to study at the Contemporary Music Center in Nashville next semester.

With this I leave you with one piece of advice: Never be afraid to ask for anything, the worst response you can hear is “no.” Which is not too bad anyway.

If you want to find out how you can pursue the music industry through Grove City College, feel free to email me any questions at Funderlichsr1@gcc.edu or talk to a Grove City Ambassador head over to the official website at http://www.gcc.edu/

Innovate Records Intern, Samantha Funderlich, with Atlantic Wasteland
Me with Atlantic Wasteland after the benefit concert.
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ART 103 | Beginning Hand Building

Whether your artistic abilities are horrible, great, or somewhere in between, ART 103 could be an intriguing option for you! This class is a three-credit art course at Grove City College where students are given the opportunity to work with clay to create artistic pieces.

The class covers the basics of creating art with clay and walks you through the process of making various types of pieces. As you become more and more accustomed to the machinery and processes, bigger, more specific projects will be given to you, allowing you to show both what you have learned while also providing an opportunity to express your artistic side and personalize pieces to be and look like whatever you want within the confines of the assignment. This course is a great option for people who have never worked with clay and also for people who may have years of experience working with this artistic medium because grades are given based on your progress and efforts rather than comparing one student’s piece to another student’s. While this class can be difficult for some, the professor (Kathy Rhoades) is very understanding, motivational, and caring towards her students and willing to help them in any way.

With this brief overview of ART 103,  a comparison can be made between this course and a normal elective. This course requires creativity rather than constant learning as in a normal course. This aspect is something that some people may look for as an elective during a busy or more difficult semester but could also be something that may not interest you. Another aspect to take into consideration is the course fee that comes with this and all other ceramics courses at Grove City College. The fee varies slightly each year but can be something that deters some students from this class over another. When considering this fee, though, it is important to also keep in mind that your textbooks for another elective may be more or even equal in price. In conclusion, this course is one that I love as it provided me a time to relax and use my creativeness to create art that I can look at and actually be proud of, which I cannot say I am able to do when drawing or painting, while being in an environment where I am surrounded by others creating themselves, inspiring my works, and that is led by a very encouraging and helpful professor.