Author: Emily Lyon

Hello! The following is an interview with one of the greatest friends at made at Grove City College – Savanna Davies. She studied Finance at Grove City College and served as treasurer of the Tri-Zeta Sorority. She was hired after graduation at Traveler’s Insurance and has been working there ever since. If you are interested in studying Finance at Grove City College, I believe hearing about Savanna’s story will greatly benefit you!

Tell me a little bit about you.

I am a second generation Grove City graduate from Washington State. Both my mom, Heather Davies (Scott ’90), and my dad, Rich Davies ’91 graduated from Grove City before me.

Where do you work and what is your specific title?

My degree was Finance, and I was thrilled to be hired by Travelers Insurance upon graduation as an underwriter in their construction surety unit.

What does your current job entail and what do you love about it?

Public (and some private) owners of construction projects require contractors to post a bond as a guarantee that the contractor will complete a project in a satisfactory manner and that it will be free from liens. I analyze contractors’ operational strength and grant surety bond credit, on behalf of Travelers Insurance, to contractors so that they may bid projects that require a bond to be posted. I love getting to tour construction sites, I don’t think many people consider just how much work goes into building!

What club(s) were you involved in during your time at Grove City College?

I was in the Tri-Zeta sorority at Grove City College.

How do you feel GCC prepared you for and benefited your future career?

The challenging academics at Grove City College demand students to engage in critical thought, which is of course an important trait that employers look for.  While it is tough to custom tailor a degree for the uncertain road after graduation, I was particularly pleased at the quality of my finance and economics coursework.

How available are the professors after class time if you need additional help?

My professors were very available for conversation outside of class time! Not only were my professors great about helping out with coursework, they were also happy to give advice on topics such as finding internships and my eventual career.

What does the school offer that you wished you had taken advantage of while at GCC?

I wish that I would have been more involved with homecoming activities. The magic of homecoming didn’t quite hit me until I came back for my first college homecoming.

After graduation, were there any classes you wish you had taken to help with your degree?

Knowing what I know now, I wish that I would have taken more accounting classes.

If you could change something about your college experience what would it be?

Tough question! I really had an amazing college experience and wouldn’t change a thing.

What is your best advice to give an incoming freshmen at GCC?

My best advice is to go out and meet your classmates, I assure you that many will turn into lifelong friends. In all reality, the friends I made at Grove City ended up being my favorite part about the College.

Craig Gyergyo is an associate pastor at Highpoint Church in Memphis, TN. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Craig for many years now and believe he sets a great example for anyone looking to pursue ministry as their career. He graduated in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. Please enjoy this insight from Craig!

Tell me a little bit about you, your hobbies and your family.

My wife Lisa (Keehlwetter, 2001) and I have been married for nearly 17 years. We have three daughters that range from age 12 to age 7. Our girls are homeschooled and are active in our local community. Family life is a major focus in our household, as well as ministry. Those are two of my passions! Other than that, I enjoy early morning walks, long bike rides, visits to the movie theater with my wife and curating my vinyl record collection.

What is your specific title?

Currently I serve as an associate pastor at Highpoint Church in Memphis, TN. Highpoint is a non-denominational church comprised of three campuses in the Memphis area.

What does being as associate pastor entail and what do you love about it?

I have had the opportunity to oversee college and young adult ministry, local missions, and small groups ministry during my time at Highpoint. Currently, my focus is on building a student ministry (grades 6-12) from scratch at our newest campus.

What I love about all of the roles that I have served in at Highpoint is the focus that we have on the Gospel. Simply put, we preach Christ! With this, we are seeing incredible stories of life-change emerge from our congregation. The combination of that focus and those stories generate a life-giving cycle, as well as a ton of passion, enthusiasm and fun.

What activities were you involved in at Grove City?

During my GCC years I was a member of the Alpha Omega housing group and also a four-year athlete as a part of the varsity football team. I was also active in a group called Warriors for Christ.

Looking back, I wish that I had been more involved on campus. Grove City College certainly provides a wide array of opportunities to both contribute to student life and develop as an emerging leader. At the time, I just wasn’t there. In hindsight, I can clearly see how I would have benefited from taking the initiative to be more active on campus at GCC.

How do you feel Grove City College prepared you for and benefited your future career?

Grove City College’s greatest legacy in my life is the development of a Christian worldview. I grew up nominally affiliated with the church as a result of my parents dragging me to worship and Sunday School throughout my middle school and high school years. But coming into college, I really didn’t have a sense of faith ownership – that is, I wasn’t personally committed to Christ. That all changed early on during my years at GCC and God used the environment at the college to install a new operating system in me, if you will, that was rooted in an understanding of God through the scriptures.

How available were the professors after class time if you needed additional help?

The professors were incredibly supportive and helpful to me personally. There are a few that I think of – for instance, Mrs. Barbara Stephens, Dr. Gary Smith – who had a major influence on the trajectory of my life. I feel like the faculty made a significant effort to generate a family feel on campus. Being available to help students after class time was a big part of that, I’m sure.

What does the school offer that you wished you had taken advantage of while at Grove City College?

GCC provides a faith-rich environment that is unique to pretty much anything else one will encounter in life. The opportunity to couple academic excellence and a faith focus is really, really special. I took advantage of both to a certain degree, but I left something on the table, I believe. The experience of living on a campus where such a high density of passionate Christ-followers exists…the opportunity to get involved in mission work…never ending opportunities to worship and fellowship in the context of Christian community…it really is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. I wish that I had appreciated it more at the time.

After graduation, were there any classes you wish you had taken to help with your degree? 

Not necessarily. I just wish I had taken the classes that I did take more seriously!

If you could change something about your college experience, what would it be?

People historically have a tendency to think of Grove City College as having a restrictive environment. For years, the jokes from both insiders and outsiders were about walking on the grass or curfew rules or about the campus being “a bubble.” I see Grove City College now as being an environment that actually promotes freedom – real freedom. If I were an incoming freshman, I’d want to take greater advantage of that God-given freedom to explore whom it is that Christ has purposed and called me to be.

What is your best advice to give an incoming freshmen at GCC?

Take in the beauty of the experience! The campus, the western Pennsylvania setting, the walks to the cafeteria, the late night conversations with friends in the dorms, the classes, the early morning chapel days (shout out to my father-in-law Dr. F. Stanley Keehlwetter!), the intramural sports – all of it! Grove City College is truly a special place and you only have one opportunity, one season of life to take it all in. Make the most of the time!

Julia Allan is a kind-hearted lady who resides in the North Side of Pittsburgh and works at Children’s Community Pediatrics of Bellevue. In the following interview, you will see how her studies at Grove City College have allowed her to live our her passions every day!

Tell me a little bit about you, your hobbies, your family… etc?

I graduated in 2004 and I went straight to PA (Physician’s Assistant) school for two years following my graduation. I began practicing in February of 2007, so I have been practicing for 10 years. I married a graduate from Grove City College who is now a pastor. I live on the North Side with my husband and 3 children who are the ages 6, 4, and 2 and I am expecting now with twins! The oldest, Keely, is in Pittsburgh Public School and Jay (age 4) will be joining Keely there soon. I love Pittsburgh and I am very devoted to the neighborhood that I live in. I love to be a part of the community in my neighborhood and my children’s school. Dennis (my husband) and I are involved at Pittsburgh Project and are attune to the needs of our neighbors.

Where do you work and what is your specific title?

The practice I work at is located 10 minutes away from my house, which means I care for my neighbors! It is call Children’s Community Pediatrics of Belleview and my specific title is Physician Assistant.

What does your current job entail and what do you love about it?

I basically do what a Pediatrician does. I see children from 2-3 days old to age 21. I do yearly physicals, vaccinations, developmental check-ups, and basic sickness care. I work two nine-hour days in the office and do after-hour emergency phone calls two nights a week. I love that I can be involved in my community through this job and care for my neighbors’ children.

Some view pediatrics as being monotonous, but I feel there is a variety because of the age range of my patients. Something difficult about my job is the social dynamics. There is a fair amount of poverty in the North Side and many of the children I care for are involved in the foster system or have parents with substance abuse. Because of this, my patients have developmental issues, but I love practicing in this environment and doing what I can to help them. This can be as simple as teaching basic nutrition and health care. I love understanding the dynamics of my neighborhood and doing all I can to benefit my neighbors.

What club(s) were you involved in?

I did Orientation Board all four years and I was on OB exec my Junior and Senior year as co-chair of religious committee. I also did Orchesis where I was Junior Head Choreographer and Senior Head Choreographer my last two years. My freshman year I participated in an ICO mission trip to New York City. Lastly, through the pre-health program, I did two overseas medical trips. The first was during spring break of my junior year, and the second was during the summer before my senior year. During these trips, we cared for patients in a Haitian refugee program in the Dominican Republic.

How do you feel GCC prepared you and benefited your future career?

The pre-health program at Grove City College is excellent. It really kicked my butt and taught me to work hard after I breezed through high school as valedictorian. I learned that hard work is not something to complain and lament about, but it provides the opportunity to learn something valuable. This hard work also prepared my for an intense master’s program to get my PA degree.

The people I encountered at Grove City College were remarkable. They challenged and encouraged my faith, which is the foundation of everything I do. The ICO trip and mission trips that I took opened my eyes to a greater awareness of the realities people live in. This created a discontent to the injustice and a desire to work against the injustice. My perspective was vastly shifted. The more poverty I saw, the more I wanted to help and not ignore it.

How available are the professors after class time if you need additional help?

My professors were very available to help. I went to office hours and worked through problems with them regularly. The coursework kicked my butt, but the professors seemed to want to help us succeed and learn to do our best. They met me where I was and helped me through.

What does the school offer that you wished you had taken advantage of while at GCC?

If I had had more time, I would have loved to mentor at George Junior or participate in Young Life. I have been very involved in Youth Ministry and I would have loved to have that prior experience.

After graduation, were there any classes you wish you had taken to help with your degree? 

The Molecular Biology major had many required courses and there was not much room for electives. I did a Religion minor. I would have loved to do a Psychology minor, but they did not offer it when I was there. Seeing now how psychology affects my patients, I would have loved to have more experience in psychology.

What is your best advice to give an incoming freshmen at GCC?  What did you enjoy the most and find most beneficial at GCC?

The best advice I can give is to embrace the reality you get to experience a very rich Christian Community and allow your college years to be a time when your faith really deepens. Challenge yourself to invest in activities that continue to expand your perspective and awareness of realities in the world that Christians should be involved in. Use these four years to understand how you can use your education to make things right where they are not right. Always acknowledge the great privilege it is to get an education from a Christian perspective.

Thank you, Julia! We do offer a psychology minor now, so that may be a good thing for any incoming pre-health students to look in to if they have passions like Julia!