Month: December 2021

One thing Grove City College is known for is its rigorous academics; and along with a high-end education comes many, many hours of studying. It can be easy to get burned out if you are not careful to split up your studying in manageable chunks. Thankfully, though, there are many different ways to study at Grove City, which helps to keep things from getting boring.

Of course, one way to keep things fresh is by using different study habits. This can look like studying on your own or in groups, taking hand-written notes or using digital note-taking software (like OneNote), making flashcards, or reviewing homework assignments. Using different creative study methods is a great way to get through the grunt work of studying for tests or preparing for projects.

Another way to keep things from getting too stale is by switching up where you study, and there are so many places students can study on campus. Different locations can also be good for different study methods. Here is a list of some of the many places students can utilize on campus:

Dorm room: If you are able to work things out with your roommate, your dorm can be a great place to study on your own. Depending on the noise level on your hall or outside your room, it can be a great place to focus. Also, if you keep all your books at your desk, you have all your necessary study materials right at your fingertips.

Henry Buhl Library: This is another great place to study as you can get almost any book you could need. The library is currently undergoing a massive renovation, and by the beginning of next fall, it will have rooms for group work and quiet spaces for individual work, as well as a café if you need a pick-me-up.

The Student Union: As this is an area with more commotion, this is the perfect place to get work done while chatting with friends and running into people as they go about their day. One of the three main cafeterias is here, so if you are studying during meal hours, you can use a meal swipe to get some food for your study session, or you can purchase other food and beverage items from their retail menu if they are not offering something you are craving at the time being.

While these are only three of the main study locations on campus, there are many other places students can get their work done, and each place has its own unique feel to it.

Living as a student at Grove City College, there is certainly no shortage of campus activities to attend. From sports events, to the performing arts, to guest speakers, it is hard to go a week without seeing advertisements for some sort of event.

One thing that is fun about going to Grove City is the ability to host large, campus-wide events as students. While most of the of events listed above need to be planned by large organizations on campus, there are still many other large events on campus that students get together to organize and facilitate. Some of these, to name a few, are campus-wide dances, cookouts, and game nights.

This year, I got the chance to help my fraternity organize a campus-wide Spikeball tournament. Because we threw the same event last year, it was not too difficult to get approval from the school. We submitted a request form to reserve the soccer field for the event, but because in Grove City it is difficult to trust the weather, we reserved the IM basketball courts as a backup location. Thankfully, we were able to hold the tournament outside.

We made posters to promote the event and hung them all over campus. Because the event was on a Saturday, we sat in the Student Union the week leading up to it getting teams of two on the roster. We still had it, though, so that people could show up the night of the event and sign up then if they did not get a chance to stop by the sign-up booth beforehand.

The fraternity wanted to make it a charity event, so we spent a bit of time at the beginning of the semester discussing what cause we wanted to support. One of our alumni that graduated in the ’80s suffered from ALS, and because we know some of his kids who are on campus now, we wanted to donate all the proceeds to an organization that helped the family through the process.

Getting to host events on campus that build community is so fun as a student, and it is even more rewarding when you know that people in need are going to benefit from it.

One of Grove City College’s five core values is community. In my time at Grove City, there have been so many opportunities to build community with fellow students. Freshmen move in a few days earlier than returning students and, in this time, have the opportunity to partake in activities organized by the Orientation Board. This was certainly one of the most fun parts of college as it almost felt like a mini-summer camp structured around getting students ready for classes, turning any potential fears or anxiety into excitement for the semester ahead, and making connections with classmates. Throughout the semester, various groups on campus hold campus-wide events, like cookouts, dances, athletic competitions, and more. One of the times that the power of Grove City’s community really shines is during Homecoming, when hundreds of alumni pack campus to reunite with old friends and meet current students.

All of these large, exciting events are examples of some of the ways the College intentionally builds community, but one of the ways community is built on campus is much less flashy and more mundane: connecting over mealtime.

In the thick of the semester, it can become difficult to find large chunks of free time to hang out with friends, especially at a school with such rigorous academics. To compensate, many students on campus take advantage of mealtimes, using them as windows of availability to hang out and connect with friends. While eating with people who share the same schedule as you is often a routine way of getting meals, students will also intentionally make plans to find a window of time to eat with friends they might not otherwise see. Furthermore, the dining halls are set up to foster this kind of community, with lots of booths, four- to eight-seater tables, and long tables for larger groups. Some of my favorite college memories have been made around the dinner table. I am so grateful I get to attend a school with peers that value community so highly.

During the fall semester of my junior year of college, I had the opportunity to take a class on campus that got me certified as an Excel Specialist. I liked it so much that I signed up to take the advanced version of the class in the spring, which got me certified as an Excel Expert. The main reason I took the classes was to help boost my resume as a business major. Many employers today value prospects that are proficient in Excel, and I wanted to try to set my self up as best as possible for graduation. What I did not realize was that, because I took these classes, I was now going to be able to make money on campus as a student.

When I took the Excel class, the Teacher’s Assistant was one of my friends. She graduated in the spring, though, so the instructor needed to find a new assistant to help with grading. My friend recommended that I be the new TA, and after talking through the expectations with the instructor, I decided to accept the offer. I am so glad I did, because the experience has been great.

Because I have a light course load this semester, I have enough time to be able to do the work that is required of me without feeling overwhelmed. Because the class is all online, there is really not a lot of work for me to do as most assignments are graded automatically by the course’s software. All I need to do is grade a couple of the longer, more intensive assignments when the students have them, but it does not take more than two to four hours per week.

This low commitment position has been great for two reasons. It helps keep me sharp on my knowledge of Excel so that I can still be up to date on the software when I graduate, and because it is a paid position, it gives me spending money that I can use throughout the week.

If you get to college and end up really liking one of your classes, I would recommend reaching out to the instructor to see if they need a TA so that you can get paid for staying up to date on a subject that you find to be interesting.

One of my favorite parts of college is having the ability to take electives. For general elective hours, you can really take any class you want, but Grove City College has a long list of classes that would not normally be considered “academic.” This means that, essentially, you can get credit for having fun. These classes are usually only one or two credits, but they are a great way to fill time if you need to meet your general elective requirement. Some examples of classes like these that students can take are bowling, ballroom dancing, tennis, and racquetball.

I am currently in my last semester of college and only needed nine more credits to fulfill the requirement for my degree. In order to live on campus as a full-time student, though, I had to enroll in a minimum 12 credits. I saw this as an opportunity to take some fun, one-credit courses so I could meet the minimum credit requirement without overwhelming myself.

One of the classes I decided to enroll in is a beginner piano class. I have played the violin since second grade, so I am already very familiar with sheet music and general music theory. Since I have not had to learn any of the difficult, conceptual parts of music theory, the class has been a fun way to simply pick up the basics of a new instrument that I otherwise probably would have not had the time or motivation to learn.

Because the class is only one credit, we only meet once a week. This also means that the coursework for the class is minimal. Our instructor gives us a couple pieces to practice each week, and at the beginning of every class, she checks up on our progress to make sure we are keeping up with the material. Thankfully, the pianos in the classroom all have headsets, so nobody needs to worry about how they sound in comparison to their peers. The class is really just a way to improve on your own personal skills in a judgment-free zone.

This is just one example of a leisurely elective I have taken in my time here at the Grove, but thankfully, I have been lucky enough to have a couple classes like this. If you ever get in a bind trying to fill time in your schedule once you get to college, do not forget to search for fun learning opportunities like this one!

I had the opportunity to interview Grove City College’s Disability Services Coordinator, Zach Brown. In this interview, we discussed how Mr. Brown came to be the Academic Resource Center’s Disability Services Coordinator, what services are offered, and even what students should do if they feel that they would like to have access to these services. I make a few comments throughout the podcast about my own experience with Disability Services and the blessing that they have been to me throughout my time at Grove City College. I hope that this interview is informative, helpful, and even encouraging to those listening.

Click the picture to listen!

 

During the summer of 2021, I had the amazing opportunity to work for my local State Representative, Rob Mercuri of Pennsylvania’s 28^th legislative district. When Rep. Mercuri approached me during the previous winter about interning at his office, I jumped at the chance to learn from this experience. I was even able to apply to get credit towards my major with my internship.

I started the internship in June of 2021. I  learned how to use the systems to track data, how to record constituent complaints and suggestions, and how to reply to constituent inquiries. It was interesting to see over the course of my time at Rep. Mercuri’s office the different viewpoints on the same issue. The office is located in an area where I have spent a lot of time, and I had not considered the different opinions and viewpoints of all the people that live in District 28. Through responding to constituents, I was able to learn a lot about current events, local government, and the happenings at the country’s capital.

Throughout my internship, I worked on many projects, one of which was called the New Resident’s Guide. This guide was to be sent out to constituents who had recently moved into the district and consisted of hotline numbers, school districts, places of worship, emergency services, and many other items with their contact information. I worked on this project from start to finish utilizing many different platforms to create a booklet for new constituents. We were able to send out these guides to over 180 new constituents when it was finished. I also had the opportunity to go to the state capitol in Harrisburg, PA. I got a tour of the capitol, met with Rep. Mercuri’s Harrisburg office staff, and sat in the balcony on the House Floor to be recognized by the Speaker of the House. Towards the end of my visit, I got a glimpse of a protest inside the capitol building rotunda. It was interesting to be exposed to that since I had never seen one in person before.

I learned a lot through this internship that I will be looking back to throughout my time at college as well as after school. Internships are an amazing way to get workplace experience and also to figure what careers you may have an interest in. Many companies offer internships, and Grove City College is eager to work with you to help you find them. I am so thankful for the opportunity to work for Rep. Mercuri and get college credits at Grove City for my work.

Every year, Grove City College hosts a Career Fair where companies come to our campus and meet with students to tell them about potential jobs and internships to apply for. I was able to attend the 2021 Career Fair this past week, and it was a great experience in learning how to develop a resume as well as how to talk with potential employers. Even if I was not sure what I was interested in, I tried to get as much information as possible if I wanted to look into those companies later. I highly encourage college students as well as high school students to take advantage of any internship opportunities available to them.

 

As a student at Grove City College, I have many opportunities to get plugged into different clubs and organizations on campus, all of which provide amazing opportunities. However, the best experience I have had so far is with Orientation Board. Orientation Board is an organization on campus that has the mission of creating a welcoming and exciting orientation process for incoming freshmen students when they arrive on campus. One of the many jobs that the Orientation Board has is assisting freshmen and their families with their belongings on move-in day. As a freshman who experienced this amazing service, I thoroughly appreciated the move-in-day process with the help of the Orientation Board members.

Within the organization itself, members are divided up into different committees. Each committee orients itself towards specific kinds of tasks, for instance, OBP (Orientation Board Publicity) is in charge of jobs like updating our social media page as well as being photographers to document the events from that year. Personally, I was on the Religion Committee. These committees help plan events like our annual service project and Sunrise Service, and we also host a prayer walk for all of the Orientation Board to pray over each building on campus before freshmen arrive.

This year was my first time as a member of the Orientation Board, and I was excited to be a part of an amazing group of people who had hearts to serve incoming students. As a member of the Religion Committee, we are each given events or tasks that we will be in charge of setting up or carrying out throughout our time welcoming freshmen on campus. I worked with another person on orchestrating our annual Sunrise Service. This event featured a morning worship service as well as a senior Orientation Board member as a speaker to bring a message of encouragement to freshman students. This was personally my favorite event to attend as a freshman, and I was delighted to help make it a wonderful experience for new students. The process of setting up and preparing for this event was a challenging but wonderful experience. I gained experience in the delegation of tasks, communication with team members and faculty on campus, as well as problem-solving to make this event run as smoothly as possible. The event turned out great and provided the freshmen an opportunity to turn their gaze towards Jesus in the midst of one of the biggest transitions in their lives.

The students who make up Orientation Board are some of the most amazing people I know. They are all great leaders with servant hearts that desire to give incoming freshmen the best Grove City College arrival they can. I plan to join Orientation Board again next year for another Christ-minded, servant-hearted, and leadership-building experience. Although Orientation Board facilitates an entire event dedicated to helping students find clubs and organizations to join on campus, any student wondering what organization to join should take a serious look at OB.

The transition from high school into freshman year of college has the natural potential to be challenging in many ways. For freshmen in 2020-21, the pandemic certainly contributed to the challenges, but could it have been possible that the pandemic might have actually added to students’ college experiences as well?

For Rachel Goetz, a sophomore entrepreneurship major with a minor in sales, the pandemic certainly presented its own challenges, but also provided her with a unique experience at Grove City College. Online classes with people she had never met, mandated masks anywhere but her room, a lack of social events that could take place, the looming risk of a two-week quarantine, and contact tracing lists a couple hundred people too long were all minor pieces of life at Grove City College during a time which sometimes sounded impossible to enjoy. For Rachel, though, there was joy amidst it all. She experienced community that, arguably, was more intentional to creatively find ways to invest in one another than in past years, and that was all Rachel hoped for entering into her freshman year of college.

I guess the idea that “people appreciate more of what they did not know they had” became a very real thing for the Grove City College community. When asked how she would describe the Grove City College community, Rachel said, “Impactful…everyone has good intentions of building relationships more.” She commented on not only the community of friends she found within her peers, but also the professors’ intentionality in wanting to get to know their students outside of the classroom. “Professors want to get to know you and will take the time to do so,” is how Rachel put it. Although the pandemic complicated the church scene, Rachel also found community members within local churches that were excited to creatively invest in her as a student and sister in Christ. In whatever fashion you experienced the pandemic, it is not hard to understand the challenges that arose because of it, but Rachel said, “Coming to Grove City College has meant to me that I get to grow in my faith spiritually and find life-long friends who will help me do that,” and that is seemingly what she continues to find, even amidst a world-wide pandemic.

Rachel’s advice to incoming freshmen is this: “You’re here for school, but don’t let that become your entire experience. Live without regrets…. You have your entire life to work.” See an attractive opportunity? Try it out! Meet a new person? Grab a meal! Find an adventure? Go for it! College will provide you with plenty to do…take advantage of that! You only regret what you do not try…isn’t that what they say?

High school concludes and the next step is seemingly college for many, although not the case for everybody. Some might be forced into this next step, some may choose this next step, some may see no other option, if the future is to hold what they have in store. Senior management major Joey Astrab certainly saw the advantages in going to college in order to get a good job, but also saw college as an experience he did not want to miss. “A little bit of everything” – a necessary next step, a means to an end, and an experience that leads into the next stage of life – is Joey’s idea of college.

It comes as no surprise that Joey’s idea of college is “a little bit of everything,” because Joey does “a little bit of everything” as well. A college athlete, a Beta Sigma fraternity brother, a member of the homecoming committee, a member of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAC), and a management major student at Grove City College, Joey set expectations for himself prior to coming to college that have benefited him well. Joey said his expectations were set for him, in a way, which were to “get good grades, get involved, stay on top of things, and learn as much as I can,” while also “making new friends and finding out what I want to do with my life.” While Joey set high expectations for himself to do his best in all he was involved in, he recognized that life is not all about school, and there is value in not making college all about school. His biggest piece of advice to any incoming college student was to “make the most of your experience and don’t make your life about school… Get involved in things outside of school. It’ll give you a mental break, distract you from school, and teaches you skills you can’t learn in the classroom.”

Although it makes sense to step into college expecting that it will lead to finding a vocation, college does not necessarily just hand you the future. While it is common for some people to have a grasp on their future plans, it is not particularly common for everybody to have that grasp… even as a senior in college. Joey is actively becoming closer to future plans, but has nothing solidified and is open to finding anything that he enjoys doing. It is not just about money for Joey. What college has provided Joey with is this: the knowledge necessary to pursue many careers, interpersonal skills, lifelong friends, and memories worth a lifetime.