Month: November 2020

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Students tell us their favorite thing about Grove City College

From the beautiful nature surrounding the campus, to the well structured buildings and engaging professors, there can be a lot to enjoy about Grove City College. This week I surveyed the student body and asked them to tell me their favorite thing about Grove City College, and here is what they had to say: 

Christ-Centered Education

When asked what their favorite thing about Grove City College is, many students gave a similar report, saying, “The Christ centered education.” One student shared that he loves “the way it’s shaping how I view the world through the light of Christ and the Lord of all.” 

The College is focused on incorporating Christ into every subject. If you are learning about business, you are learning about how to honor God in operating your business. If you are learning about sports, you are learning to honor God with your body. If you are learning about education, you are learning to honor God in the education field. Everything we learn points us back to our relationship with Christ. 

Trees

Another classic campus favorite is the autumn trees on campus, which explains why some students answered, “The trees.”

Maybe you do not wander around thinking about how great trees are, but when you walk on to Grove City College’s campus in the fall, noticing the trees is absolutely unavoidable. These trees are nothing less than stunning. As someone who comes from the west coast, seeing such brightly covered trees is my new favorite part of fall. Another student gave a shout out to the campus trees when they said, “The fall trees are beautiful.” 

 

Professors

“Professors,” answered more than a couple of the students surveyed. Another student responded, “The people and professors.”

When you are thinking about attending college, considering the quality of professors should be at the top of your list for college qualifications. Trust me, good teachers make a world of difference when it comes to what you will take away from a course. As we can see here, the professors on campus are truly beloved.

Another student made a remark about how the professors at Grove City do more than just teach, saying, “The quality professors. They always genuinely care about students.” 

 

Community

“Generally friendly people,” replied one student. 

“The people!” exclaimed another. 

 

It is pretty obvious that our community is another favorite aspect of Grove City. One of the core values of the College is community, and that core value is lived out in the lives of the students on campus. Students here actively encourage one another and help others out. I once dropped my I.D. card in a parking lot three miles away from campus, and another student took the time to pick it up and walk it back to me. If that is not an excellent community, I am not sure what is. 

Deep friendships and community can make the world of difference on whether or not you enjoy your college experience. Students here have certainly found that the friendships, mentorships, and community runs deep. One student says their favorite thing about campus is, “The great friendships I’ve made while here.”

Nearly half of the students surveyed agreed that community is probably their all time favorite thing about school. So, if you are worried or nervous about making friends, do not sweat it. Odds are, if you are coming to Grove City College, you will make lifelong friends.

 

Lighting up the Star

One Grove City College student reminds us about a favorite campus tradition when she writes, “Lighting up the star in December.” This is such a fun tradition at Grove City College that we hope we get to see this year. Each year when we come back from Thanksgiving break, the school is fully decorated for Christmas. There are trees in most buildings, the outside trees have twinkle lights, and the chapel is so beautifully decorated to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Best of all, each year there is an annual star lighting ceremony, when the big star above our science building is illuminated for the rest of the holiday season. 

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Dorm Plants

You might not be able to have pets on campus, but one thing you can keep in your dorm while you live on campus is a plant. If you have never been good at taking care of plants but you are looking into trying it out, or just want something to spruce up your room, give it a try! Taking care of plants is really simple and fun. Here are some tips for taking care of houseplants at Grove City College. 

 

  1. Pick out a sturdy plant. My roommates and I have always enjoyed having plants – in total we have around eight pots of various plants. While we have grown some plants from seeds (such as Alaskan poppies), it is really tough and takes constant attention. Some good plants to start with are succulents such as Christmas Cacti or Aloe Vera. Having a sturdy plant that is able to bounce back really helps. 
  2. Get creative on your watering methods. If you are bad at remembering to water your plants, do an internet search on self-watering plant pots. Using a net and some old rope, all you need to do is put water at the bottom of the pot once a month, rather than every other day. I used this method for my plants last year, and it worked perfectly. It was also great for when I had to send my plants home with friends over breaks, so they did not need to worry about killing my plant. Which leads me to the next piece of advice… 
  3. If you live far from campus, keeping plants on campus can be tough. I grew up on the west coast, which means my plants coming home with me over break is not an easy option. Start checking around with staff and friends on campus to see if anyone around campus is willing to watch your plants for a couple of weeks. For this reason, it is good to have low maintenance plants, so that your friends are not concerned about killing them while they take care of them. Another good solution is to look into air plants, which do not require water or soil, making them easy to take on the plane. 
  4. If you do not want to pay an arm and a leg for good plant pots, but do not want to stick with the basic plastic ones, there are lots of other solutions. In the past we have used cute salsa jars or mugs. Another good solution is going for a simple terracotta pot and decorating it yourself. 

Just remember – the weather in Pennsylvania gets pretty cold in the winter, and the heaters crank up around then too. I have noticed this can be a challenge for my plants. Even though I would love to start growing a palm tree in the room, it is simply not practical. Also, be mindful of your roommates and how much space the plants take up. With all of that said, I hope you have fun starting your college dorm garden!

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Halls and Doors: the Hubs of College Culture

When I first came to campus, I had no clue that dorm hallways were going to be pivotal to my time as a student. It sounds crazy, but it is true. So much time is spent in transition – walking up and down hallways, heading to your room, visiting someone else’s room, going to the bathroom. Thankfully, for me, these hallways are like campus cultural hubs – which makes for really interesting walks. Most hallways on campus have themes and are decorated, and some students do really interesting things in their halls like open up shops on their doors or sell art. With that said, here are some of my favorite hallways/door events from campus: 

  1. Sticker Shops. As I mentioned above, some students turn their doors into little pop-up shops. One door last year used to sell stickers we could buy for our laptops. There were lots of plant and “feel good” stickers on it. The stickers were super cheap and convenient; just drop in a dollar on the way to class and slap a sticker on your laptop or water bottle. 
  2. Hobby Sales. I have seen a few of these around campus. Some people make paintings and art you can use to decorate your room, and many of the pieces are impressive. Others I have seen have made crochet hearts, pot holders, and some homemade patches to put on backpacks. It is a fun and easy way to make extra cash on campus, and I think it adds to the fun of my afternoon walks through the dorms. 
  3. Celebration doors. These doors are always fun to look at, and they usually are the result of life events. When a girl in the hall gets engaged, all her friends decorate her door with congratulations cards and cute sayings and balloons. On birthdays, people cover their friend’s door in streamers and birthday wishes, often taping candy or gifts to the front of the door. Or maybe someone has joined a sorority – it is likely her door and the entire wall surrounding the door are going to be covered in Greek lettering and glitter. 
  4. Holiday decoration contests. While I am not sure if there will be door decorating contests this year with our extended breaks, I know last year’s Christmas door contest was so fun. Some completely covered their doors in wrapping paper, while others made their door look like a massive chimney with Santa hopping in. My personal favorites were the doors that were decorated to look like paper Christmas trees. 

When you arrive at college, remember to look up as you are walking around your hall. It is one of the best ways to get a feel for the culture of the people around you. Who knows–you may end up finding a good deal on some stickers or potholders!

 

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Building Lore at the Grove

 

Grove City College is home to many different buildings, some old, some new. But something they all share is lore. Grove City has had students living within its walls for well over a century. Every building, old or new, has its fair share of stories and legends passed down through generations of students. Today I would like to share a couple of my personal favorite stories, along with an explanation about the buildings where they took place.

 

The SAC Tunnels

The centerpiece of upper campus is the Breen Student Union, more commonly called the SAC. SAC refers to the building’s old name – “Student Activity Center.” It is built in the same style as most of the other buildings on campus, with red brick and grand gables. Inside, it is home to the GeDunk café, the campus bookstore, the offices of Student Life and Learning, and the mailroom. It is a bustling hub of student activity both day and night. But, below the SAC, lie the fabled SAC tunnels. While in reality they are simply storage for the GeDunk and used for transporting mail, there are rumors of students that broke into the tunnels and explored them. The tales tell us that the tunnels are not just below the SAC, but that there is also an abandoned section extending all the way to lower campus. While these rumors hold little truth, they still are spread to freshmen by mischievous upperclassmen. As with any tall tale, they get more absurd with every retelling.

 

The Great Escape from STEM 

The newest and fanciest building on campus is the STEM (“Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math”) building. As the name suggests, this building is home to many of the Grove’s STEM programs. But even this building has seen some shenanigans. One of the events that takes place on campus each semester is Humans vs. Zombies (HvZ). It is effectively a campus-wide, 24/7, week-long game of infection tag with Nerf blasters. The zombies try to “turn” all the humans by tagging them, while the humans try to defend themselves by stunning the zombies with their Nerf blasters. Participants play the game even while on their way to and from class, giving zombies opportunities to ambush humans. One such ambush took place towards the end of HvZ week one year. One of the last surviving humans had snuck into STEM. Shortly thereafter, zombies surrounded the building waiting for him to come outside. Due to concerns of safety and privacy, there are certain safe-zones for the humans – one of these is STEM. He was safe inside, but could not leave for fear of being tagged. However, one of the professors noticed his predicament. The professor had seen what was going on, and after the game was explained to him by the student, he hatched a plan. He helped the student climb into a large box that had been used to carry some equipment inside the building. He then loaded it onto a dolly and wheeled it outside. Despite the game, the zombies saw the professor wheeling the seemingly heavy box and offered to help him. He told them it needed to be taken to the dorm building where the student lived. The zombies, none the wiser, wheeled their cargo up to the student’s dorm where they left it. They returned to lie in wait for their target, who unbeknownst to them, was now safely situated in his room. 

 

I hope you enjoyed this little peak into some of the stories of the Grove. Perhaps you’ll create some stories of your own during your time here. 

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Are You Ready to “Adult”?

Laundry, cooking, cleaning, credit cards, savings accounts, student loans, bills, rent, car payments, insurance…it is all coming for you! For the past 20ish years, your parents have probably handled most of that for you. College will likely be the first time you are “on your own” and you will have to figure out things like laundry, cleaning a bathroom, and managing your time – but that is just step one. After you graduate, things are really going to change because you will officially have to “adult.” It can be overwhelming, but over time things become easier to figure out. It is important that you utilize the time you have at college to learn the most you can about how to be on your own. Trust me, graduation comes more quickly than you think! The important thing is that you are prepared to graduate and know life’s basics.

There is a course at Grove City College, taught by Dr. Wayne Biddle and Dr. Scott Powell, called “Seminar in Life Management.” Every college student who wants to learn how to “adult” once they are out of college should take this course. The course covers everything from saving, to investing, to paying off loans, to buying or renting a house. I had no idea how insurance (auto, homeowners, health, etc.) worked until I learned about it in class. In addition, I had no clue what a 401K was or when/how to save for retirement. With time, all of my questions were answered! Every day you learn something new that you will be useful once you are out on your own. “Seminar in Life Management” is only one credit, so if you have not met your elective quota, I highly recommend it. It is a great way to utilize your electives and your time. Grove City College excels at preparing students for post-graduation life. Thanks to the College and this course, I feel prepared to enter the “real world” in May.

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Grove City College: A Parent’s Perspective

grove city college logo

Parents play a big role in where their children are going to attend college. Even if the parent allows the child to choose a college on his own, usually, parents still have a lot of influence on the child’s decision. If given the option between Grove City College and a big party school, most parents would feel more comfortable with their child attending GCC. I recently talked with my mom about what her initial thought of Grove City College were, and how they have changed from the time I was an incoming student to a senior.

Grove City College provides quality, Christian, education at a low cost. Right away, all three of those qualities appeal to many parents, including my own mom. My mom said that “I always heard that the reputation of Grove City was top-notch. It is one of those schools that people know is high-quality and also a great value. It is important, as a Christian, to attend a Christian college so that you do not go off the wrong track during your college years. The more I began to research about Grove City College, the more confident I was that it was somewhere that would provide a wonderful education, while also being safe, conservative, and faith-based.”

My mom recalled that as soon as we toured Grove City College, she knew that she would feel comfortable sending me here. She said that “The campus was beautiful, small, and safe. I knew that I would not have to worry about you there.”

Lastly, I asked my mom for some last thoughts about Grove City College, now that I am a senior. She said that “Grove City College has provided a top-notch, quality, and outstanding education. Not only that, but the values of the college are clear and demonstrated inside and outside of the classroom. Especially since the coronavirus pandemic began, I am more and more confident in the quality and dedication of the school. It is extremely impressive that the college was able to go to such great lengths to ensure safety for students during this terrible time. The college does not settle. I am so happy that you chose to attend a small school in the middle of nowhere, because there is no better place to be during a pandemic! The college was blessed this semester with a low number of coronavirus cases, and I know that is because of the hard work and dedication of the college to continue to stay open for the students. Overall, as a parent, there is no other college that I would have wanted you to attend!”

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Dealing with Roommate Conflict

Not knowing who your roommate will be as you begin college can be a little nerve-wracking. You could be living with someone you do not know anything about, or who is from a completely different state or country, or who has completely different expectations for sleep cycles or cleanliness. It can be tough. This week I interviewed a couple of people and asked them about what their experience has been with their roommate, and asked for tips on how to deal with roommate conflict. 

I started by asking how they went about dealing with roommate conflict. H replied, “Well, my roommate S normally does it for everybody else. But, one thing I noticed she does a lot is when she has a hard conversation with one of our roommates, and she says something that could be taken the wrong way, she always goes back and does something nice for them. For example, sometimes when I’ve had a tough conversation with my roommates and I felt like it went badly I will leave them a nice note and try to encourage them or make things right.” 

M had a similar thought, saying, “Yeah, I think it is best to try to restore the relationship, but still be sure to deal with things. I really don’t enjoy confrontation, and I think sometimes people try to not deal with things or push it under a table, but it just does not go well.” 

J thought it was good to bring up the conflict early on, saying, “You bring up the problem early before it becomes a big problem and try to talk it out respectfully.” 

“So,” I asked, “Is there ever a good time to ignore problems with a roommate?”

H replied, “Don’t ignore your problems with other people, actually address them. I think people do that a lot – it’s not a very big social norm (to address problems), especially coming out of high school. People don’t deal with problems they have with others in high school. They don’t talk to people they are having problems with. Before I came, I had maybe had those types of conversations about three times. But when I first arrived I needed to have those conversations like three times within the first week of school.”

J wanted to add more clarification – “If it’s something you are sure you can deal with and it’s just irking you, but not really ruining you… If you know you can live with it, and it’s just inconvenient then you could probably ignore it.” 

Continuing the thought, I asked the group, “Why do you think that is important to address problems with roommates?”

“So you’re not building up any sort of weird emotion with your roommate. You don’t want things to get stuck under a table and have it be tense in the room,” H said, with a look of remembrance on her face. 

J added, “I think it’s a good thing to do early because it kind of builds up some respect between you and your roommates and it keeps it open for more conversation.”

Roommate conflict can be a tough issue when you share a small dorm space with people, but hopefully this tips help give you a hint on how to deal with roommate issue in the future. I have had some amazing roommates throughout the years, and all of them have become life-long friends. Whatever the circumstances, aim for peace.

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Marketing Electives: Advertising

Marketing majors have the option to take different electives that apply toward your degree. There are core marketing classes that everyone must take, and there are others that you can choose from, which are “marketing major electives.” I like having the option between different courses because I can choose to take electives that I am interested in learning more about. This semester, I chose to take an advertising course taught by Dr. Scott Powell. I have taken every one of Dr. Powell’s classes because he is an incredibly intelligent marketing professor and I learn a ton about marketing from his classes. Dr. Powell’s classes are wonderful and I highly recommend his courses, especially if you are a marketing major.

Last year, I began thinking about a possible career in advertising. Advertising has always been interesting to me, but I had no idea what kind of career I could go into with it. I signed up for this course because I wanted to learn about advertising more so that I knew if it was a career of possible interest for me. As all of Dr. Powell’s classes are, this course is phenomenal and very relevant.

My favorite part of this course is that we spend a ton of time watching, analyzing, and discussing different commercials. I never paid attention to “good” commercials and “bad” commercials until I began to study them in class. It is amazing how much thought and work goes into creating a commercial, and I never realized how complex the industry was until I began to study it. Many people tend to think that advertisers are all super creative and artistic, but advertising is SO much more than the average person realizes. There are many different careers within the field, and most of the careers do not require any artistic or creative skills. If you are interested in a career in advertising, or if you want to learn more about it, I highly recommend this course. Though it is challenging, it is extremely interesting and it is guaranteed that you will learn a lot!

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The Average Grade Breakdown

I remember being a senior in high school and wondering how different college would be from high school. Often, I wondered how much more difficult it would be, what the classes would be like, and how the grading system would work for each class. It was terrifying to come to college because I did not know what to expect. I was especially nervous about the academics. After the first day of classes my freshman year, I was much more confident and comfortable about how I would perform academically because there were no major shocks or surprises about what homework and tests would look like in my classes.

Based on my own experience in Marketing classes, the college grading system is not much different than in high school. On the first day of class, each professor will hand out a syllabus that breaks down every point and how your grade will be impacted by different assignments and exams. Typically, the grading systems in the classes that I have taken have been divided up based on a points system. For example, many professors score their entire courses out of 1,000 points, and the syllabus breaks down where every point comes from.

Usually there are two exams – a midterm and a final – but some classes may have three or even four exams. I have never taken a class that had more than four total exams. Exams are usually the biggest chunk of your grade. Most exams that I have taken were worth about 15-25% of my total grade. Besides exams, a large amount of points typically come from group/individual projects. Marketing courses tend to be heavy on group work. Many classes have quizzes once or even twice a week. If you are lucky, occasionally a class will give participation points. Participation points can be a huge help to your grade because they are fairly easy points, as long as you have good attendance and are active in class discussions. One other large chunk of your grade usually comes from papers, with most classes assigning at least one paper. Extra credit is pretty rare, but occasionally a professor offers bonus points for an extra assignment or guest lecture attendance.

Very few classes that I have taken have offered any kind of points for homework, but some classes do assign homework and reward you with points if you complete it. Overall, the college grading system is nothing to worry about and it is quite similar to high school. The important thing to remember is to try your hardest on every assignment.

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Marketing Electives: Retail Management

Marketing majors have the option to take different electives that apply toward your degree. There are core Marketing classes that everyone must take, and there are others that you can choose from, which are called “Marketing major electives.” I like having the option of different courses because I can choose to take electives that interest me. Last semester, I chose the marketing elective  “Retail Management” taught by Dr. Scott Powell. I have taken every one of Dr. Powell’s classes because he is an incredibly intelligent Marketing professor and I learn so much from his classes. I highly recommend Dr. Powell’s classes, especially if you are a Marketing major.

Particularly, Retail Management was one of my favorite courses that I took at Grove City College. Even if you are not interested in going into retail or working within marketing in retail, there are principles and topics taught in the class that can be used in any area of marketing and in any career that you choose within marketing. In Retail Management, we learned about how to create a successful in-store experience and studied elements such as store layout, smell, sight, colors, temperature, and music. All of those elements make up either a positive or negative experience in a brick and mortar store.

In the class, there were several group presentations that expanded upon the topics that we covered in class. The presentations were all about the same business (that we were able to choose), but each presentation discussed different areas of retail management. My group chose Bath and Body Works as our business, which we studied the entire semester. Every one of our presentations was an evaluation of Bath and Body Works based on what we learned in class. The different projects and presentations helped me to master the material and understand how to apply the material to the real world. As a Marketing major, it is important that you are comfortable with working in groups and giving presentations. Retail Management helped me to feel more confident with my presentation skills. I highly recommend Retail Management to anyone who is thinking about a career in marketing or management.