Tim Lowrance, Author at

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Tim Lowrance — Leave a comment

My Bible Study Experience at Grove City

College is a smorgasbord of activities. But one that falls by the wayside, even at Christian schools, is the pursuit of God. A barrage of homework, friends and the enjoyment of activities often crowds out time to study the Scriptures or pray.

My encouragement to any Christian looking for well-spent years at college is this: don’t neglect Bible Study. Especially studying with others. It seems like a simple thing, but it is really important.

During my own time at Grove City College, I have experienced the various sides of community Bible study. Each of these has taught me uniquely and kept me from becoming overwhelmed with stress or the troubles of life.

College Group Study

Sophomore year, I was a member of the Orientation Board, a group of students who plans activities to welcome the freshman class. This was a stressful process, one that required us to work closely together as a team.

We held a Bible study as a part of our team meetings. I can say confidently that the perspectives, testimonies and vulnerability that this fostered between us was one of the main things that allowed our team to be effective together. It showed me that I was not alone in my failings and that others needed to learn the same things I was learning.

Many of the groups here at Grove City College provide this opportunity. Find one. It will be richly rewarding.

Roommate Study

No matter how much you like them, living with other people can be difficult. My roommates and I decided to study through several New Testament books together last year. It was hard to fit this into our schedule, and we ended up convening during the later part of a Wednesday night each week. But this was time well-spent. We all agree that it was the best part of our year together.

My encouragement is this: do not wait for a Bible study to just naturally happen. Seek it out, and even plan it yourself.

Men’s Hall Study

This year, the freshmen on my hall did just that: sought it out. They approached me, their RA, and said that they want to do a Bible study together.

I am currently leading this study. The book of Daniel has inspired us to live differently—for them as they begin their time at college and for me as I bring it to a close. Being on the leading end has really changed how I look at studying the Bible with fellow students. It takes preparation and effort, but also requires letting others lead. It has been incredible to see these new students support each other in prayer and grow in their faith together.

These are my experiences with Bible studies at Grove City College. There are many similar opportunities here, but they will only yield as much as you invest in them.

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Tim Lowrance — Leave a comment

The Free Market Cafeteria System

One of the biggest factors when choosing a college is food. “What is the cafeteria like?” asks almost every family that tours Grove City College. But what most people don’t ask is: “how responsive is the cafeteria?”

You see, though it is clearly important to go to a school that serves good food, it’s equally important to look at how it addresses the three major cafeteria issues:

“Good food” is relative. You can’t always please everybody.
Sometimes, well-intended food is just not good. Lobster Newburg cafeteria style may not always turn out as good as it was meant to be.
Duration. Just because something is good doesn’t mean students want it every two days.

How a cafeteria addresses these issues is extremely important

Here at Grove City College, I and many other students have observed the incredible responsiveness of our three cafeterias. Sure, they can’t please everybody, but good communication between students and staff allows them to please a lot of people as often as possible. Our cafeteria staff is all about learning what offerings are actually good and how often students want to have these offerings.

It’s a simple as this: my friends and I write a note on one of the response cards—something like “I like deez tacos”—and before we know it, there’s an extra meal each week where they serve tacos! I call it the free market cafeteria system.

Here are a couple examples of our free market cafeterias in action:

My friend Emily is lactose intolerant. The GeDunk cafeteria had previously offered only regular milk, but when Emily reached out to them, they began stocking almond milk as well.

Every month the cafeteria staff hosts a Food Feedback Forum—a specially prepared dinner with prizes for participants. At one forum I attended, students asked if there could be more protein options for the salad bar. The next week, the salad bar added cold meats such as turkey for salads.

Yes, we have three great cafeterias here at Grove City College. But more importantly, we have three responsive cafeterias.

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Tim Lowrance — Leave a comment

The Best Job at Grove City College

Most college students want a job for one simple reason: money. That elusive green stuff is a must-have when you’re stuck between the demands of tuition, car and for-fun expenses.

But while you’re making money, you may as well have a good time at it. And it wouldn’t be bad to learn a thing or two along the way. That’s where I come in.

I’m here to tell you about the best job on campus. No matter your major, personality or skill set, this job will make you a better person, provide a little fun, and, yes, give you some money along the way. I’ve seen it benefit dozens of students that I know here at Grove City College.

This job is the Resident Assistant position.

Resident Assistants (RAs) are often thought of as caretakers of a set of students’ living situations. But at GCC there is so much more to this job:

You get paid to have a good time.

The entire goal of being an RA is to build community on a residence hall. For me, that has involved planning times to go hiking, see movies and hang out together. I’ve turned my room into a place for late-night conversations and group games and turned a lot of the excursions and adventures that I would have done anyway into official programs for the hall. In short, I’ve been doing my job by simply having fun.

Leadership training.

It’s true, being an RA is not all fun and games. You have to know how to deal with people at their best and at their worst. But this is a good thing in disguise. See, down the road, you’re probably going to have to deal with a squabbling family, neighbors, coworkers, relatives and the like. The Resident Directors make sure to train each RA with the skills necessary to work through conflict and to influence in a positive way.

Great community.

I work with a fantastic team. Getting to know these guys, share ideas with them, and go on retreats together has been the best part of the job.

You may not think you’re the type, but with the training and support provided, I’m certain the RA position will be one of the best things that has happened to you at college.

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Tim Lowrance — Leave a comment

Dance Changed Her Life

Grove City College’s ballroom and swing dance clubs are known as a whirling good time. But for Gretchen Stockschlaeder, a business management student and swimmer, these clubs have been life-changing. In her own words, “learning to dance is powerful and I am truly a better person because I learned to dance.”

In her personal blog post on the subject, Gretchen described several things that dancing at Grove City has done for her. The following are drawn from some of those.

Dancing can boost the confidence of girls and guys alike.

For a girl, whirling around a room feels beautiful and romantic. And for a guy, a few steps on the dance floor will make him feel like a proper gentleman, perhaps even a gentleman from the 1700’s.

Dance groups are a source of joy.

It’s a place to meet new friends, learn new things and trip over your own feet. College has enough homework and stress to make a joyful time like this really valuable.

It’s an excuse to dress up.

Because who doesn’t want to wear a fancy dress or a suit coat?

It’s good practice and rather addictive.

When weddings and other formal events come around, being able to pull out some classy moves on the dance floor is a coveted skill. I’d rather be that guy than not be that guy.

From Gretchen’s story, it’s clear that she has become completely enthralled with dancing. Even though swimming and schoolwork leaves her exhausted at the end of some days, she chooses to go dancing because it’s just a part of her life.

Visit Gretchen’s blog to get the full story of How Dancing Changed My Life.

Learn more about Grove City’s Swing Dance Club in this great post.

Posted on March 15, 2016March 16, 2016 by Tim Lowrance — Leave a comment

Is He the Professor? Dr. Thompson Quizzes Someone Else’s Class

My 12:00 economics class begins in a distinctly odd way.

Before class, a professor who doesn’t belong teaches us something we don’t need to know.

Strange? It’s definitely strange. Annoying? Not at all. To be honest, we can’t get enough of it.

Who is this guy? His name is Dr. Thompson. He teaches mathematics and definitely loves his subject. I can’t think of any other reason why he would bother challenging a bunch of economics students to calculate prime numbers and solve brain-teasers.

Yep, prime numbers and brain teasers. That’s been the name of the game so far.

Here’s how this phenomenon happened…

It was the first day of classes. Monday. My classmates and I cautiously entered “Austrian Economics” about 10 minutes early. As we began to sit down, I noticed a professor up at the front. He was writing on the board. When I looked up to see what he was writing, I got a little nervous. I had signed up for a class on economic theory, but what he had just put on the board was a ginormous number. What could this mean?

Then he spoke: “Do you think this is a prime number?”

Finally one student raised his hand. “I don’t know.”

Dr. Thompson was not discouraged. He cheerfully explained to us how we could know for certain it was a prime number, going through a few simple tricks. Then he left, and our econ professor entered. We looked at each other again. That was unusual.

Next class, Dr. Thompson had another one for us. “What words can you write upside-down, and they’re still a word?” We decided to engage and came up with several of them. Dr. Thompson was pleased.

By the third class, we were eager. We tackled an unscrambling word challenge. Since then, it’s been a jolly old time in econ class. The few times Dr. Thompson’s missed, we’ve sorely missed him.

What do I conclude from this?

I like that professors here at Grove City College are so passionate about their subjects. Even more commendable is the fact that students are willing to tackle challenges outside of what they signed up for. College isn’t just about learning facts for a job. It’s about learning how to learn, in whatever form that takes.

So even though Thompson doesn’t really belong in our class, we welcome him there. He shakes up the routine and gives our brains a bit of a warm-up to do economics.

As Dr. Thompson himself put it when our professor entered: “I got them all primed for you.”

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Tim Lowrance — Leave a comment

GCC Hosts Trip to Prize-Winning Play and Panel Discussion with President McNulty

A day in Pittsburgh. A Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Dinner with GCC President McNulty.

Yes, this was a great weekend for the many students who went on Grove City College’s trip to see the play “Disgraced.”

This trip was a small part of the college’s student experience project. Through this project, faculty and staff seek to bring students in contact with theatrical productions. But beyond just viewing plays, their desire is to generate discussion and learning from the themes brought forth in the productions.

I was one of the couple dozen students who got on the bus for Pittsburgh that day.

Through the rainy drive, I had some time to think about the play we would be viewing. I heard that it would be controversial.

That it was. For those unfamiliar with Ayad Akhtar’s “Disgraced,” it tells the story of a Pakistani American named Amir. The snippet of Amir’s life shown in the play is chalked-full of conflict. Almost all of this conflict arises from misplaced tradition, prejudice and betrayal. Charlene Shaw, one of the coordinators of the event, remarked on Facebook that it was a “sharp, honest, focused snapshot in 90 minutes of the complexities of our global society.”

It left a lot of us thinking.

We got to keep thinking as we chewed on some delicious local pizza and accompanying desert.

Gathering in a large room, we sat and engaged in conversation with the panel composed of faculty members and the president. Their answers helped us make sense of the themes of the play, even extending to discussions of the PATRIOT Act, current racial issues in the business world and the history of countries that have had to integrate vastly different cultures. Many students presented their opinions and reservations about the subject.

Following this symposium, we got on the bus to drive back to campus. It was another thoughtful, “stare-out-the-window” kind of ride.

I am excited to write about such an opportunity. Viewing intriguing art forms and grappling with difficult current ideas are things that I came to college seeking. Grove City College does a fantastic job of giving students opportunities to think and engage with different ideas and worldviews.

Posted on December 7, 2015December 10, 2015 by Tim Lowrance — Leave a comment

How I Brought Bubble Soccer to my School

“You Can Get There from Here.”

Even before I became a student at Grove City College, I heard this line from one of the college’s most beloved professors: Dr. Powell. He had this crazy notion that if I cast a vision for something I want to do, whether large or small, at this school I could do it. His faith in Grove City College’s potential to bring to life even my biggest ideas intrigued me, but as a prospective student I had no clue how true it would prove to be.

It Started Out as a Bit of a Joke

Flash forward to sophomore year, when I was a member of the Student Government Association (SGA). Early in the year, SGA held a meeting for the express purpose of brainstorming. Unfortunately, my small group had more of a light brain mist going on than a brainstorm, and I needed to find something we could rally around. I remembered a video I had seen on the internet a few weeks back, a ridiculous game called bubble soccer. We had nothing better, so we pitched that.

Standing there in front of the rest of the elected students, I almost sheepishly described the game. It is played like soccer, but with each player wearing a large, inflated bubble suit. This allows for hilarious contact and crashing without injury. I was excited to tell them about a sport that many had not heard of, but I admitted that it probably wasn’t feasible at a small school like ours. I mean, state schools weren’t even trying this yet. However, the presentation received unanimous support. I was floored – did they actually want to try to do this?

Attempting Something Big

Okay. We were going to do this. I formed a team, and we started to figure out how. Since this game had been invented in Europe, only certain areas in the U.S. had it available. We finally found a small company near Philadelphia named BumpBall that was willing to drive out to us. Next, we had to convince the administration. Many meetings and emails later, we had the green light. I was so excited. My idea was actually happening.

Opening up brackets to each freshman hall, we developed the tournament as an end-of-the-year capstone to the new students’ various intramural competitions throughout the year. The buzz began to grow. We had 21 halls and nearly a hundred people on board. Once students saw our posters, they began to get excited.

Let the Games Begin

4 p.m. May 1^st arrived, and the freshmen and their fans lined the slope at the edge of the intramural fields. I started the games and watched as fantastic bouts of adrenaline and laughter ensued. Standing there with a megaphone, I thought back to the beginning of the year. How did I get here? It was then that I realized the truth in what Dr. Powell had said. If you set your mind to it, you can make your dreams a reality at Grove City College. You can get there from here.

Check out our video of the event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpk0IylusmE