Author: shirkjw19

During the spring semester of 2020, Grove City College was forced to close its doors and send students home due to COVID-19. But there were those of us who could not go home for one reason or another. We were “The Remnant.” During the months of online classes, I journaled about the events (or lack thereof) on campus. In my previous post, I included my first journal entry which detailed my dismay at being left alone on campus. Thankfully, I was not as alone as I thought.

March 20, 2020

T-minus three days until online classes begin. I probably should’ve spent much more time studying today than I did, but alas, here we are. In happier news, I won’t be as lonely as I originally thought! One of the students that’s staying made a telegram group chat for those of us staying on campus. We’ve named ourselves The Remnant. We all had lunch and got to know each other earlier today. To my surprise, there’s another student from Hawaii that’s in a similar situation to me. We had some friendly banter about which side of the island of Oahu is better. It had seemed to me that Hawaii was probably the farthest that people would be coming from, but I was mistaken. One of the students that’s staying in my dorm hails all the way from Hungary. The furthest student by far, however, is a girl from Australia. It was fun getting to know many of The Remnant and we plan on finding times to hang out in the coming weeks. After lunch, I went back to my room with the intent of studying for Spanish. While I did study for around 30 minutes, I was having trouble focusing. Eventually I gave up and resorted to videoing myself doing tricks with knives. When I got bored of that, I got on my computer and played games with a couple of friends for a while. This evening I decided to stay in my room for dinner. After eating my instant noodles, I entertained myself by taking apart some of my nerf guns and attempting to improve their performance. That brings us to the present. I’m going to go to bed earlier tonight than I have been the past few days. Hopefully getting up earlier will give me greater motivation to be productive. -Jacob

 

My bleak outlook on the future of my semester had been happily reshaped. I am a very extroverted person, so a large part of the college experience for me is hanging out with friends. Without The Remnant, I would have gone crazy being cooped up in my dorm 24/7. It is amazing how much a group of good people can shape a difficult situation for the better. 

Stay tuned for further installments of The Remnant!

 

On March 16, 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak reached a point that prompted the Grove to close its doors and move to online classes. Despite valiant efforts from the Grove City faculty to keep the Grove open, the governor of Pennsylvania issued a state-wide stay at home order that forced schools to shut down. While most students were able to make it home and continue online, what became of those of us who could not go home? We became “The Remnant” – a tightknit group of misfits from Singapore, Hungary, Nigeria, Australia, and several other countries. I live in Hawaii, which despite being in the U.S., had travel restrictions that prevented me from returning home.

Upon realizing I would be nearly alone on campus, I decided to begin journaling to keep myself busy. Here is my first entry.

March 18, 2020

Today is Wednesday. Two days ago the College informed us that all who don’t have an extremely compelling reason to stay must leave due to concerns about COVID-19. At this point, most of my friends have left campus. The feelings of loneliness have already begun to set in and I’m beginning to dread the coming weeks. I’m writing this now because I hope that perhaps writing will take my mind off things, and perhaps help me process all that’s going on. On the bright side, because I am staying and most of my friends don’t want to take all of their food home with them, they’ve left almost all of it with me. At this point I think I have enough ramen to conceivably survive for close to three weeks without leaving my hall. If nothing else, I’ll be well fed for the next few weeks. I start online classes next week and suffice to say I am not thrilled with the prospect. I’ll do my best to continue writing about my experiences (or lack thereof) as they take place. Until next time. -Jacob

 

It was shaping up to be a bleak semester, but the clouds had a silver lining. Two days later, on March 20, I received an email from one of the remaining students asking if anyone wanted to start a group chat for all those still on campus. Through this group I met some great friends that I stay in touch with to this day. I am glad I had this group to walk beside me through that semester, because I do not think I would have stayed sane without them. 

 

Stay tuned for further installments of “The Remnant!”

Grove City College is home to students from all over the world. Here on campus, I have friends not only from all over the United States, but also from Hungary, Singapore, China, and even Australia. I am from Hawaii. While not as far as Australia, Hawaii is still very out of the way of Grove City, Pennsylvania. So why, out of all the college options across the United States and around the world, did myself and many others choose Grove City College? 

The Grove has many things going for it, from a beautiful campus to one of the kindest and most driven student bodies in America. I would like to share some of the reasons I chose Grove City and what has brought me back for my sophomore year. 

Two years ago, I was working my way through my last year of high school and had begun my search for a college. I had looked at several schools and liked the sound of some of them, but nothing had quite clicked yet. Since I live in Hawaii, it was too much hassle to go visit schools, and none of the schools on the island had what I was looking for. This was when I first found the Grove. From the first picture I saw I was entranced. The Grove is a gorgeous campus. I struggle to find the words to describe how beautiful it is. Not a day will go by that you are not reminded of the beauty in God’s creation on this campus.

With my curiosity piqued by the beauty in the pictures, I began to dig deeper in research. Everything I read said that the Grove is home to one of the most motivated and driven student bodies in the world. Most of the students are strong Christians, and it shows. This carries over to the faculty as well. The Christlikeness reflected in so many of the people on campus creates an air of grace despite the rigorous academics, which makes for an unparalleled learning environment and encourages motivation.

The faculty at the Grove are amazing. They set themselves apart from many other schools in that they genuinely care about every individual student. I have yet to meet a professor that is not always willing to talk with you about class–or life in general! I have even developed great friendships with many of my professors. 

Beauty, grace, and rigorous academics are all very important to me. The beauty reminds me both of God’s glory and of the beauty of my home in Hawaii. The grace displayed by everyone gives me motivation to move forward and improve without fearing failure. The academics constantly push me to be better and to think about the world around me. All these factors come together to make an amazing college experience–one worth leaving paradise and crossing the Pacific ocean!

I could go on for many more pages talking about how much I love Grove City. This campus is truly like no other. From the students, to the faculty, to the campus itself, I cannot recommend the Grove enough. I hope your experience at Grove City is as great as mine has been so far!