Listen to the Episode Here!

On this week’s episode of the Prospective Perspective, we are excited to introduce you to Hannah Elder, a senior Accounting major here at Grove City College. Hannah is involved in many different organizations on campus and serves in a variety of leadership roles in those groups. We sit down with Hannah to get to the truth on relationships at Grove City–both friendships and romantic. Hannah gives us a glimpse into her relationship and gives us the breakdown of what relationships look like on campus. She provides an honest take on the pros and cons of dating at Grove City College and shares some words of wisdom as to how to navigate dating at a Christian college. Hannah also walks through Grove City’s different college policies, rules, and norms associated with relationships.

Zach and I had such a wonderful time getting to learn about some of the hobbies Hannah has been able to develop while on campus: from wheel throwing and pottery to painting, art, and sewing. Hannah also explains why she, a Utah native who grew up going to public schools and was interested in math, decided to move across the county to study Biblical and Religious Studies and Accounting at a small Christian college.

I think you’ll be able to tell that we had so much fun getting to sit down and have this conversation with Hannah. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

What Is 48 Hour Prayer?

It is a time when the whole campus gets together to pray for the nations. We pray for specific ministries in the US and abroad, we pray for missionaries that our campus body knows, and we pray for the unreached people who do not even know about Christ. For 48 hours in the middle of the spring semester, our campus comes together to pray. People can sign up for specific times or come when they please. We have a room dedicated to this prayer vigil, but you are more than welcome to pray anywhere! We literally have people praying around the clock so that there is no time within that 48 hours that is left without prayer. The purpose is not to show how dedicated we are to prayer but instead to intentionally set aside time to pray for our brothers and sisters.

It is a really unique time of camaraderie on campus, and I have benefited so much from it before. Unfortunately, I was not able to go last year because I was studying abroad (and then the pandemic started) which is why I am so excited for this year! Not only do I benefit from time spent in intentional prayer, but those laboring for Jesus abroad need all the encouragement and prayers they can get!

What Does 48 Hour Prayer Look Like?

The campus ministry department puts together a beautiful room with different stations. These stations feature specific organizations that they either have connections with or know need intentional or specific prayers. These organizations can be anything: orphanages, schools, organizations working with developing countries or refugees to make a livelihood, safehouses for people rescued out of trafficking, and more. Other stations might feature missionaries that our campus body may know personally. All of these stations are set up differently. Each station allows the person to pray in a bit of a different way. Prayer can be accomplished in many different ways. It can be written out, spoken, shouted, written in sand and wiped away, etc. Sometimes holding an object in your hand while you pray helps you to visualize what you are praying about.

Each of these stations offers a different way to pray. At least, that is how it was set up the last time I went. It may be different this year but that’s the beauty of it. You do not have to have a specific way you pray and you do not have to try new things but sometimes it is nice to try out something new and different.

These stations are just a sounding board. If you know someone and want to pray for them. By all means, please do! The beauty is simply found in the campus coming together to pray for the nations.

Why Is This Important For You?

I hope prayer is important to you. Even if it is not, our school is founded on prayer. We long to become more like Christ in everything we do. As a Christian college our mission is to serve the Lord while we attain a higher education. 48 Hour Prayer simply reminds us why we are here. Yes we are here for our education, but we are also here to shine the light of the gospel for Christ. Many of us will graduate college and be taken on a wildly different journey in life than we could have ever imagined. Having a good foundation in the Lord is important. And intentional prayer is one facet of having that solid foundation.

This year I am looking forward to the 48 Hour Prayer, not only because it brings our campus together, but because it also allows our purpose here as a college to really step to the forefront. When we are united in Christ, nothing can stand in our way. Physically, life goes on outside of the 48 Hour Prayer. Classes are not canceled. We do not skip meals. BUT something so much more important is going on. We are waging war against the Enemy and his Evil Ones. This is not to say that we, as Christians, are not fighting every day of our lives, however, we are fighting in a collective, united front for 48 hours. When we intentionally stop to pray and intentionally pray for specific organizations and peoples it is much harder to be led astray.

 God’s Plan For Us

So now we are on our fourth and final installment of my Shifting Perspectives Throughout the College Years series. Today I will be talking with some of our seniors who are getting ready to graduate May 2021 or have already graduated in December of 2020. The goal is to see how their perspectives on life and school have changed over the years and to see where I fit into this whole thing.

About Me

I have felt a bit lost, to be perfectly honest. By year I am a junior, but by graduation status, I am a senior. However, I have never really felt like I belong to one over the other. In actuality, it doesn’t matter when you finish school, how long it takes you, or whether or not you follow the “traditional” route after high school and attend a four-year university. The truth is, God will use you however he needs you. Whether you go to a community college, take a gap year, go to college for four years, go to graduate school, attend a university for five years, attend a trade school, start an apprenticeship, or do not finish high school, God will use you how he sees fit. But, it is rather fun to see what sorts of changes one makes throughout their time at college and what sort of outlook they have now compared to high school.

In case you have not read my other articles, since I am graduating from college in three years instead of four, I decided to write this series because I was curious to see what others’ perspectives are as they grow and change throughout their time here at Grove City College. I also thought it would interesting to see if my outlook on life aligns more closely with a typical senior’s perspective or not since I do not fit in the normal category for graduation.

On that note, let’s look at some of our senior’s responses.

First up is Emily Ferreira a Senior Psychology and English major. Her goal at the beginning of her college career was to be a professional counselor and so far she is on track to do just that! Her current plan is to work for a few years before graduate school to get a better feeling for how much further she wants to go in her education.

Next up is Shelly Qin. She graduated this December and majored in International Business and minored in Economics and Pre-Law. In an interesting turn of events, Shelly realized that she had a love for modelling. Now she models and is loving it!

Rachel Franklin is next. She is a senior Computer Science major working towards a career in data analytics. She has loved getting to experience a second family within the Grove City College community. And she had a really humble response to the question: What would you change about your college experience if you could? She said, “Nothing that I have control over.” This is a beautiful reminder that a lot of life happens outside of our control.

Next we have Emily Roesenberger who is a senior English and Secondary Ed major. She is looking at teaching high school abroad. College has provided her with so much more than she expected. She says, “To dream/think about them [experiences] is very different than the actual experience.  Like the friendships are deeper that I thought possible, I’ve had so many new experiences I never thought I could/would even have access to, things I thought I would dread have actually been some of my favorite parts of school, etc.”

Hannah Elder is next. She is a senior Accounting major. She was looking for a Christian community with tough but doable academics. Grove City College not only fit the bill but also gave her a nice balance between the two. Grove City College helped her grow and learn throughout her time at school.

Lastly, we have Sarah Robinson. She is a Business Analysis major with a concentration in Analytics. She told me part of her story about almost getting trapped in Australia when the world shut down due to COVID. However, college prepared her for such a stressful situation because she was used to getting things done in a crunch. She also had this to say: “College has been an incredible time of both personal and professional growth. Even if this last year has been nothing like anyone could have expected, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to learn with like-minded peers. Community was something I was looking for in a college and I am thrilled to say I found it. It looks different from freshman to senior year, but along the way I have build friendships with community members, faculty, classmates, and random people I introduced myself to.”

In Conclusion

I feel like this is a perfect place to wrap up. Sarah’s recollections about community and building friendships that look different from freshman to senior year is exactly what I have experienced as well. It doesn’t really matter if you “feel” ready to graduate because God will help you get there at the right time. All of these seniors that I interviewed are excited to be out in the world. I am too. Growing and changing over the last few years has prepared me to showcase my gifts for the Lord. All of these students that I interviewed are also working towards this as well. In fact, God is using them already! God is amazing and he has prepared a path specifically for each one of us; I am excited to see what he has in store for me!