Author: daviden19

Going into college with a major figured out can feel like one of the hardest decisions as a student. It makes you feel like you need to have your career figured out before you even start freshman year! I remember feeling this way. There were so many majors to choose from, and I had no idea where to begin. I had some ideas as to what my interests were but I was worried that I would be locked into whatever major I declared freshman year. I decided to declare a Communications major. I was not sure what specifically I wanted to do with the major but I felt it could generally be viewed as a “do anything” major. My hope was that maybe after taking a few classes I would have things figured out.

My first semester consisted of a few required courses and some electives, and when it came time to sign up for spring semester courses, I decided to register for Lean Launchpad, one of the classes for the Entrepreneurship major. I was curious what the entrepreneurship department was about and had considered doing something in business. I thought it might be interesting to try. Toward the end of the spring semester, through this team-oriented class, my team and I had come up with a business idea for course work and were having a lot of success in the class. Interviews were an important part of the data gathering process when we were building our business idea. I would constantly receive comments about my ability to give interviews, ask questions, and speak clearly. Since giving interviews was new to me, I was excited to hear feedback like this from professors and teacher’s assistants. Our greatest accomplishment in the class was when we qualified as finalists for the Grove City College Wolverine Venture Battle. This is an opportunity where students compete in pitching their company to a panel of judges to see who has the most viable business. We took second place and won over $6,000 as a team.

After the Wolverine Venture Battle, I realized I had the ability to be an entrepreneur. I decided, after thinking through my options seriously, that I would change my major from Communications to Entrepreneurship. This was a big change for me, since I had not considered entrepreneurship that seriously before. But I was receiving so much encouragement from friends, family, and faculty at the college that I had an entrepreneurial ability.

I am now an Entrepreneurship and Biblical and Religious Studies double major. I have loved every Entrepreneurship class I have taken so far and have learned so much in each of them. Since completing Lean Launchpad, my friend and I decided to launch the company we began in the class and are excited to see where it leads.

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.

Preparing to go to college can be daunting. But for a student with learning disabilities, thinking about all the projects, reading assignments, exams and finals can be completely overwhelming! I felt this way. I was diagnosed with dyslexia in third grade along with other learning disabilities that commonly accompany dyslexia. From elementary school through high school, I changed schools seven different times, all because my parents were trying to find the right place for my education as a student with dyslexia. I received some amazing help throughout my schooling, and I have even overcome some of the major hurdles dyslexia presents. However, I was nervous to be on my own at college to navigate completing assignments and understanding concepts in class. I was concerned that I would not be able to keep the academic success I was able to achieve in high school. Fortunately, in my senior year of high school, I became a dual enrollment student at Grove City College where I was able to meet and become familiar with the Disability Services on campus. Zach Brown, the director of Disability Services, was able to work with me to figure out what accommodations could best help my academic success. Some of these included extra time on exams, peer note-taking, and even permission to use a special recording pen that he recommended. I have utilized all of these, and they helped me tremendously.

I have access to all of these resources, and I know that they will help; however, this can only take you so far. I have been able to gain a lot of experience when it comes to completing assignments and studying for exams. I learned quickly that if you do not stay on top of things, you can make life really difficult, really fast. Here are some tips that I have learned as a student with learning disabilities to keep from becoming overwhelmed and help with learning the material instead of just trying to get it done.

1. Time management. As a student with learning disabilities, I can take longer than other students to get things like reading assignments done. That is why being careful about how you spend your time is important. Time management is a difficult but invaluable skill. It is easy to get distracted, (especially since I have ADD) but creating a plan for how you will get things done each day and sticking to it will help you in the short term so you do not have to stay up till two in the morning. Time management will also help you in the long run, by creating a valuable habit that will serve you your entire college career. I write out all of my assignments for the entire semester on a desk calendar so I can see what is coming. I then plan out what needs to be completed and when. This helps me to make wise choices and stay in control of my time.
2. Talk to your professors. I cannot stress this enough. The professors are amazing at Grove City College. They all desire to help each student achieve success and to learn well in their classes. All of my professors have been very accommodating when it comes to my learning disabilities. They want to help!

I have had a wonderful experience at Grove City College, I am in my fall semester of sophomore year and have achieved the Dean’s List academic excellence award for each semester I have completed so far. Do not be afraid to dive into learning amazing things!

• If you have any questions or would like to hear more about how I have navigated through college with learning disabilities, do not hesitate to email me. I would be happy to answer!
  • Daviden19@gcc.edu
• If you would like to learn more about Grove City College’s Disability Services, you can visit their page on Grove City College’s website: https://www.gcc.edu/Home/Experience-the-Grove/Campus-Life/Disability-Services or email them at DisabilityServices@gcc.edu.

Being a student at Grove City College is one of the things in my life that I take a lot of pride in. There are so many amazing things about the College that make it unique, from our founding principles and community to the professors that so faithfully work to promote truly educational experiences within the classroom. One of the great offerings that Grove City College provides is the opportunity for dual enrollment. High school students can take classes with the College, which helps students get ahead on college credits. I was fortunate enough to take advantage of this opportunity during my senior year of high school. Throughout the duration of my senior year, I was able to take four, three-credit courses as well as a one-credit lab. These classes ranged in topics from environmental science to a course specifically focused on the book of Romans. Before my first year of college, I was able to get some experience taking college-level courses and do a little bit of experimenting into what type of classes or majors I might be interested in. I was able to learn a lot about my study habits, and, after becoming familiar with new ones, it became clear to me what type of habits would  and would not work when it came to studying for exams and quizzes as well as working on projects.

One of the bigger reasons that I decided to do dual enrollment classes with Grove City College was to get ahead on credits so that I could potentially lighten my course load in the future if I needed it. I struggle with dyslexia as well as a few other accompanying learning disabilities which has made academics somewhat difficult. I work hard to achieve successful grades and learn the best that I can in all of my classes; however, I still struggle with those learning disabilities, and it affects my ability to work at the same pace as other students. With the credits I earned from being a dual enrollment student, I had built up a small cushion to fall back on for my first semester in case I felt like I could not maintain a typical course load.

Fast forward to my first couple weeks of class my freshman year where I utilized the cushion I had built up the year prior. As a student learning with dyslexia who was still trying to figure out what study habits worked best and what the rhythm of college life looked like, it was a huge help to be able to have a smaller course load my first semester. I was able to get settled into college life and figure out the best practices for learning without feeling like I would be behind.

I am now in my sophomore year at Grove City College, and I am currently double-majoring in Entrepreneurship and Biblical and Religious Studies and have a course load of six classes compared to my first semester freshman year I only had four. The only regret I have is that I didn’t start sooner. Dual enrollment is an amazing opportunity to get ahead on college credits as well as help create some familiarity with college-level courses. My favorite course that I took as a dual enrollment student was a course on the book of Romans taught by Dr. Bibza, and, because of that course, I made sure I took more classes taught specifically by him. I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to be a dual enrollment student. I highly encourage any high school student to take advantage of this amazing program.