Month: December 2020

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Grove City College Student Spotlight: Episode 4 – Tegan Truitt

Episode 4 – Tegan Truitt

Welcome to the Grove City College Student Spotlight, where we sit down with Grove City students and converse about their college experiences. On today’s episode, we sit down with Tegan Truitt. Tegan is a senior Economics and Philosophy major, the chaplain of the Adelphikos, the captain of the Ultimate Frisbee team, and co-captain of the debate team. We talk about his experience as a student in Oxford, why Grove City’s Economics program is different from other schools, fraternity life, evangelizing through Frisbee, and the story of his baptism at Grove City local church, Grace Anglican.

You can listen to this or other episodes at either of the links below on your streaming platform of choice.

Disclaimer:

This podcast is a student project and the views represented do not reflect those of Grove City College.

Listen to us online at our website

Click Here to listen to: Episode 4 – Tegan Truitt

Or check us out on Spotify

 

 

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Grove City College Student Spotlight: Episode 3 – Liam Hill

Episode 3 – Liam Hill

Welcome to the Grove City College Student Spotlight where we sit down with Grove City students and converse about their college experiences. On today’s episode we sit down with Liam Hill. Liam is a senior Psychology major, a member of the Student Government Association (SGA), and a member of the Adelphikos fraternity. We talk about what makes Grove City’s psychology program so special, what it is like to be a member of SGA, how he got his internship at George Junior Republic, and how the Grove City professors have helped cultivate a wonderful learning environment. 

You can listen to this or other episodes at either of the links below on your streaming platform of choice.

Disclaimer:

This podcast is a student project and the views represented do not reflect those of Grove City College.

Listen to us online at our website

Click Here to listen to: Episode 3 – Liam Hill

Or check us out on Spotify

 

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Grove City College Student Spotlight: Episode 2 – Aby Griffith

Episode 2: Aby Griffith

Welcome to the Grove City College Student Spotlight, where we sit down with Grove City students and converse about their college experiences. On today’s episode, we sit down with Aby Griffith. Aby is a senior Entrepreneurship major and a Marketing minor. We talk about how Aby decided to pursue entrepreneurship, how she started two businesses, why Grove City’s entrepreneurship program has helped kickstart the careers of many Grove City student’s, and how Grove City College has led to Aby’s growth spiritually and religiously.

You can listen to this or other episodes at either of the links below on your streaming platform of choice.

Disclaimer:

This podcast is a student project and the views represented do not reflect those of Grove City College.

Listen to us online at our website

Click Here to listen to: Episode 2 – Aby Griffith

Or check us out on Spotify

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Grove City College Student Spotlight: Episode 1 – Emma Schwarz

Episode 1 – Emma Schwarz

Welcome to the Grove City College Student Spotlight, where we sit down with Grove City students and converse about their college experiences. On today’s episode, we sit down with Emma Schwarz. Emma is a senior Education major and a member of the Alpha Beta Tau sorority. We talk about what makes Grove City’s education program stand out compared to other schools’ programs, how Grove City cultivates a strong spiritual life for its students, how the Grove City professors have a true connection with the students, and sorority life.

You can listen to this or other episodes at either of the links below on your streaming platform of choice.

Disclaimer:

This podcast is a student project and the views represented do not reflect those of Grove City College.

Listen to us online at our website

Click Here to listen to: Episode 1 – Emma Schwarz

Or check us out on Spotify

 

 

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Internship Spotlight – Finance

I recently interviewed my boyfriend, Dave Bereck, on his current internship. Dave loves working and sees himself as a hard worker and very driven. Currently, he is a full-time student majoring in Finance and Management but also works at a business called Treloar & Heisel. Although Treloar & Heisel provides financial services of all types, Dave specifically works in the wealth management department. He works 15 hours a week and does all sorts of work for the company. He is in charge of inputting client specific data into the company’s system, listening in on important client calls, and calling and speaking with clients to see if they would like to work with his side of the business.

Treloar & Heisel is a financial firm that provides financial services to dental and medical professionals. The niche that Treloar has is that they are dental-specific. According to Dave, there are a lot of dentists that get taught the medical side of life but do not get to learn the financial side. Most dentists get out of residency with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. The average amount of debt that a dentist leaves residency with is $450,000. At this point in their lives they are around 32 years old so they usually will be looking to buy a house soon. This only adds to the amount of debt that they have. It can be a very stressful situation to be in but that is where Treloar comes in to help. They put together a comprehensive financial plan based off of all the doctor’s financial documents and then deliver the plan to the doctor. The company bills on a flat fee rate and only asks that the doctor commit to the first year of service and then they pay on a monthly basis after that. This is so that the company can complete their fiduciary duty of making sure the doctor is in a better place than when they started.

Though it is challenging to juggle 16 credits and the internship, Dave feels that the experience that he is gaining will really help him in the future. I asked him to provide one piece of advice to anyone thinking of working while in school and he said, “It is so important that you plan out every day and that you stick to your schedule. There is not a ton of free time and little time to waste. In the end, it is all worth it though! This semester has been challenging, but I have learned about finance and will use these skills in my career. I am thankful for the opportunity.”

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Grove City Alumna: Julia

This fall, I had the opportunity to meet my boyfriend’s sister, Julia, who is also a Grove City College alumna. Julia attended Grove City College a couple of years ago and has now since has relocated to Arizona where she is enjoying life as a teacher. When I asked her about her time at Grove City College, she said that she could spend all day talking about how much she loved her college experience. Julia really loved the atmosphere of the College because she could tell there were a lot of hard-working people that surrounded her. Julia said that this only made her better because she is a competitive person and is always looking to be the best version of herself. Also, she was able to meet such great friends that she said she knows will be life-long friends. Unlike myself, Julia is an extroverted person and she had many friends in different groups on campus. Grove City College is unique because of the community of believers on campus. It is a special and refreshing place to spend your college years because the students and professors are so kind and loving. Julia spoke very highly of the campus and the community as a whole.

Currently, Julia is studying hard to get her Master’s degree in Education. It has been very busy for her because she has to take night classes for her MBA program. One thing that she emphasized is that the skills that she used at the College carried over into the real world and into her career. As a previous Grover, Julia still uses the skills that she had learned here and believes that she will continue to in the future. Julia seemed very wise and driven when she spoke with me and I think that Grove City College really helped her get to where she is today.

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College Life in Quarantine

Grove City College is blessed that we were all able to return to campus this fall and that we made it to the end! Everyone is really excited to return home and finish up the semester. We will not return until the end of January, which means that after Thanksgiving there was a week of online classes and also finals. The reason that we are n0t returning to campus after break is because it is risky to have people returning from all over the country. We have been so thankful that we have been able to stay on campus all semester!

The College only had two spikes of cases this semester. Several students tested positive for the coronavirus, and many students were placed in isolation and quarantine, just to be safe. Luckily, nobody has been super sick. When a student is tested positive, those who were around that person are immediately put into isolation. Also, those who were around the primary contact are also put into isolation as secondary contacts. When you are in isolation, you must attend classes online and must to stay in your room. You are still allowed to get food from the cafeterias, but you must take it back to your room to eat. Those who test positive are either put into a single dorm room or if those rooms are all taken, they go to a hotel near campus.

I recently talked with a few friends about their time in quarantine. All of them said that though it was not ideal, they made the best of it and were thankful that they were not super sick. My one friend said, “Being alone all day got a little bit boring, but I spent a lot of time on the phone and was able to binge watch a bunch of shows that I have always wanted to watch! I did miss going to classes in person, but online classes are very convenient and I was still able to follow the lectures. The College is very accommodating to those in isolation or quarantine and it is obvious that they want what is best for the students!”

Nobody knows how long the pandemic will last, but no matter what, Grove City College is a special place to be. This semester has been very different, but it was still a lot of fun and lots of memories were made. This semester is one to remember!

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Your First Week at GCC

Coming to college can be a very intimidating prospect. You are moving to a new place with new people. But, despite how scary it might seem, it is a truly amazing experience. In this post I will give you the rundown on what your first weeks on campus will look like, so that your transition to college life can be as smooth as possible. 

The first week on campus is most often called OB Week. OB refers to Orientation Board. OB is a team of upperclassmen that volunteer to help orient all the incoming freshmen. They organize events, put on shows, and guide students through everything they need to know about campus life. One of their other primary duties is to lead connection groups. Connection groups consist of 10 to 20 students with three OB leaders. Usually these OB leaders will create a group chat for your group. This connection group provides great opportunities to make friends. I met some of my closest friends on campus through my connection group.

Early on in OB week, you will have a meeting with the faculty that make up the department of your chosen major. This meeting is a great opportunity to meet some of your professors ahead of time and start getting to know them. This meeting is usually where you meet your academic advisor. It can also be a great way to ease any concerns you might have going into these classes. For me personally, I was terrified of writing coming into college. I had a writing for the media class with Dr. Miller that semester and was very worried I would not do well. I used this meeting as an opportunity to ask her questions about the class and she was very happy to help. It ended up being my favorite class. This exchange is a great example of one of the things that make the Grove special: the professors. I have yet to encounter a professor who is not willing to sit down and help students understand the material outside of class. Do not worry about how good your grades are the first few weeks. The transition to college from high school is difficult, and professors understand this. They genuinely care about their students and if you are struggling, they are always willing to help.

Your first week of classes will be your easiest. Most professors use the first class session to go over the syllabus and familiarize students with the class structure. Some professors do assign some homework for this session, but it is most often very light and aimed at letting you know what to expect moving forward. Another thing to keep in mind this first week is that “drop-add” is still in play. You can drop classes and add others with no penalty to your GPA. This first week is a great time to sit in on classes that might interest you and decide whether you want to add them or swap them out for one of your other classes. If you have questions or concerns about your classes, talk to your academic advisor. They are a great resource in figuring out what you want to do and what classes to take to fill your needs.

I hope this has given you some idea of what to expect coming into Grove City College. This school presents a truly amazing and unique experience to all its students. I hope you will enjoy your time here as much as I have. 

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The Remnant Part 10

On March 16, 2020, the governor of Pennsylvania issued a state-wide stay at home order. Up until this point, Grove City College was one of the few schools remaining open. Sadly, with this order, the Grove was finally forced to close its doors and move to online classes. But some students were not able to return home. The 30 or so of us stuck on campus nicknamed ourselves: The Remnant. During my time with The Remnant, I journaled about my life on campus. 

 

April 1, 2020

I apologize for the lack of updates over the past few days. I’ve been quite busy with schoolwork and spending time with The Remnant so I haven’t found the opportunity to write. We haven’t done much out of the ordinary the past few days. I’ve hit it off very well with one member of The Remnant in particular. She took an interest in my balisong skills, so I’ve been teaching her some tricks. I’ve quite enjoyed our time together as we have very similar senses of humor and tastes in music. Speaking of balisongs, I’m close to mastering a trick that has eluded me for several years due to lack of time for flipping. Now that I have the time, I’ve been able to learn the Behind the Eight Ball. It’s a fairly advanced maneuver, and I’d recommend you look it up on YouTube. My new trainer has proved very useful in learning new tricks. I’ve also become the de facto tech guy, not just for my professors, but now for the students on campus. It’s been fun helping people solve problems and helps distract me from the fact that we’re effectively trapped on campus. This evening we had a meeting with one of the RDs in which he told us that we are not allowed to leave campus unless there is something truly essential that we need. On the plus side however, he also wants to try and keep some kind of social activity going. We’ve already been doing so, but now that we have an RD we have a little more power at our disposal which means being able to possibly use the large lecture halls for movie nights. Since he’s also backed by the campus, he has some money he can use on events which means snacks for movie nights. I’m oddly looking forward to the coming weeks and what they have to offer. I hope this extra long post has made up for my absence. Until next time. -Jacob

 

This hopeful outlook marked my final journal entry. Due to increased workload from school and the time I was spending with The Remnant, I opted to stop writing. We had a few more adventures, but for the most part we fell into a steady rhythm of school and game nights. I hope you have enjoyed this series as much as I have enjoyed putting it together! It was a very unique experience and I am glad to have shared it with the world. Thank you for reading!

 

 

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College and COVID-19

In March 2020, everything seemed to get crazy. Students were sent home in the middle of March due to the coronavirus. Students, parents, teachers and employees were all panicked because it was such a strange and uncertain time. We did not end up returning until the fall of 2020. Since returning in August, things have certainly been different at Grove City College. Though it is such a different and stressful time, I learned a lot about myself and have also been able to try things that I have never tried.

As an introvert, social-distancing and not attending functions with large groups is no sacrifice for me. I prefer to hang out with a few close friends, and especially this semester, my friends and I have become closer than ever. Since many College events were cancelled this semester, there was lots of extra time (especially during the weekends) to just sit back and chill out together. Having nothing to do was actually a lot of fun! My friends and I have talked so much more this semester and we were able to form a tighter bond. The pandemic taught my friends and I that no matter what we do, we have fun! There were many movie nights and game nights this semester. We never really did simple stuff like that before, but since a lot of things were cancelled this year, we were able to just sit back and relax together.

The pandemic has also allowed me to appreciate the College’s beauty so much more. Grove City College is truly a beautiful campus and this semester I was able to appreciate its beauty more than ever. Because it is safer, I spent a lot of time outside playing games or hanging out with friends. I also have taken more walks this semester than any other semester in my college career! It is fun to get off of campus and discover new places.

Yes, college life in a pandemic is a stressful combination. Though this semester was full of changes, I was able to make the best of it by spending extra time with my friends and appreciating the College’s beauty. As students, we are thankful that we were able to be on campus this fall, despite the craziness of the world.