Using Music to Make Connections at Grove City College
Grove City College is a place that brings a lot of like-minded people together. A lot of us here come from similar backgrounds. It was honestly a bit of a culture shock when I arrived here. A lot of people come from homeschooled or private Christian school backgrounds, but not me. I come from a public school in a suburban area. While there were plenty of things that set me apart from my peers here, I don’t think anything was as dividing as my music tastes.
I grew up listening to Metallica and Anthrax CDs with my dad. I got into thrash metal more in high school, and eventually everything spiraled to my multi-genre love of most things metal. In high school I was singing in rock bands that would play across my town. Recently, I got back my love for drumming and started a new project playing Alternative metal. Things at Grove City, however, have been interesting, and have shown me just how awesome the people here are.
When most people think of metal music, they think of the stereotypical group of guys wearing all black, playing notes on instruments that should never be strung together, and screaming about horrendous actions. It’s honestly comedic to me, as it’s not the case, but it is something people still think about. When I came to Grove City, I was obviously here for a degree, but also, I wanted to meet new people and start a band.
In my endeavors, I realized very quickly that my taste in music, while slightly popular at my high school, was not a common characteristic of the Grover. Most people at the Grove simply haven’t been exposed to the heavier side of music. While I can appreciate and sometimes enjoy the pop, worship, and country music that’s popular here, it’s still not my favorite. It’s not something I can listen to and get too much out of. There are a few popular songs that live on my playlist, but only a few.
Something I learned about college life here at The Grove is that people are always willing to try new things. After a long, basically two semester long search, I found more musicians like me who liked heavier music and we formed a band. We’d practice a few nights a week in hopes of getting good enough to land a show. After much waiting, lo and behold, we did. Our first event we played for was an even put on by a couple of Greek groups on campus called Battle of the Bands. A fun and lighthearted event where different campus bands would “fight” to see who was the best. We played two metal songs for this crowd of students in the rec center, and everyone went ABSOLUTELY WILD! We ended up winning the event for audience’s choice because of our proficiency and audience interactions.
While I was walking off stage after throwing my drumsticks into the crowd, I realized that important lesson. No matter how unorthodox my music taste, the people at The Grove still had fun, and loved what me and my band did. It may not have been everyone’s taste in music, but, just like how I’m not a huge fan of pop and country music, it didn’t matter. Everyone at college wants to try new things, and that’s the takeaway everyone needs to see. College isn’t about fitting in, and it isn’t about rewriting yourself. It’s about finding YOUR people and just having fun while pursuing your degree. I found my people through music. I’m sure everyone else has something they can share with others too.
