Author: Taylor Starcher

Taylor Starcher | Communication Studies | Grove City College '19 | tstarch.com
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Inside Married Life: Priya Sprunk’s Perspective

Priya Sprunk was a Psychology major with a concentration in Exercise Science during her time at Grove City College. As a member of the 2017 graduating class, Priya still feels very connected with the students. She was a member of the Sigma Theta Chi sorority, and still holds close relationships with the current girls, along with alumni. About a month after graduation, Priya was married to her best friend, Nate Sprunk, who changed her formerly the last name of Graczyk. Since Nate is a current senior at The Grove, Priya was able to shed some light on their relationship while in different stages of their lives.

When asked what it is like with Nate still in school, Priya responded with:

“It is different for sure. It is a somewhat challenging dynamic when one person in a relationship works full time and one is a student full time. I sometimes wish I didn’t have to live in my college town because it makes me feel like I haven’t fully moved on from college. However, my job helps me feel like I’m making a difference, which helps. I work as an instructor for adults with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities who have graduated from high school, but still, need to develop independent living and employment skills before living on their own. I really enjoy it!”

Priya stressed how it has been hard to make time for other friends after working full time and then coming home to spend time with Nate.  However, she feels that marriage has helped both become more independent and hard-working, along with giving them the happiness of living together.

“We met about 10 years ago when I was in 7th grade and Nate was in 6th grade. We were part of the same youth group and were always close friends. I had a huge crush on him, but we didn’t start dating until the summer of 2014 before my freshman year at Grove City College. The college time together helped us grow together; I don’t even recognize the young and immature teenage couple we were four years ago. Living in a Christian environment helped me grow spiritually and make Christian friends who hold me accountable while encouraging me. Later we began to think about marriage as we started thinking about our future careers and what we wanted for our lives.  By the fall of my junior year after many discussions by ourselves, with both sets of parents, and with friends, we had decided we were ready to commit our lives to each other. We were engaged the following March,” Priya said.

Priya and Nate continue to enjoy each other’s company, build upon their relationship, and focus on God. By attending church, reading their Bibles, and praying together, their commitment to growing spiritually has shown in their actions toward others and each other. They lift one another up while practicing patience and empathy in the hard moments. Priya looks forward to their awesome future.

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Favorite Aspects of Grove City College – The Atmosphere

When looking at other colleges my senior year of high school, I thought I really liked the bigger city campuses like Pitt or Duquesne, but the more I considered walking to classes every day and the feeling of overall safety, I decided that those campuses were not for me. As much as I wanted to rebel against every aspect of Grove City College, it felt more like home with each visit, especially since a large portion of my family are alumni.

Over the past four years, I have loved the small campus. Yes, there are times that I wished I had an abundance of restaurant options or more places to visit, like Penn State, but it has challenged me to find excitement even when it seems lacking. With my love for photography, the open, quiet town and outskirts of Grove City have made for interesting subjects of my camera. Walking around the train tracks, down Pinchalong road, through the peaceful neighborhoods, over the beautiful campus, and in the quaint downtown have been a few of my favorite parts of attending this college.

With the small campus comes more personal relationships among the student body, professors, coaches, and administrative staff. In talking with students who attend larger colleges, they are always amazed that I go and sit with my advisor regularly to catch up on each other’s home life. I appreciate my relationships with everyone on this campus and how influential they will be even post-college. It is crazy to think that my freshman year roommates will be there for monumental moments in my future, as I will be with them. My faith has genuinely grown during my time here, from friends, teachers, the incorporation in classes, and the overall Christian values of the College.  Although graduation will be bittersweet, I know that the lessons and morals I have strengthened at Grove City College will always be with me.

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Rob Kunst – Balancing Football & School

Rob Kunst, a senior Finance major and Analytics minor, has played football all four years during his time at Grove City College. He began playing his junior year of high school, sparking his passion for the sport. Rob’s decision to play college football was inspired by his two uncles, alumni football players from Grove City. His dad also played football during his time at California University of Pennsylvania. “I knew playing football in college wasn’t going to be easy, and as crazy as it sounds, I think that’s why I did it. I wanted to be pushed, tested, and have an opportunity to learn lessons that can’t be taught in a classroom,” Rob explained. He specifically chose to come to Grove City College for the academic reputation, religious atmosphere, friendly culture, and strong alumni network.

Coach Chris Smith, the College’s head coach on the previous staff, recruited Rob four years ago, along with coaching his two uncles way back when. In high school, Rob played tight end and inside linebacker. He came to college as a tight end but has evolved into a tight end and wide receiver hybrid.

Rob discussed his football season schedule, as it is a year-round commitment. For pre-season, players receive an optional summer training book with detailed regimen regarding lifting, running, conditioning, and nutrition. With three years of past summer internships, Rob was challenged with fitting training into a structured 40-hour work week. He worked hard to start his days at 5:30 in the morning for training before work, a process that eventually came naturally in his day to day life.

After a rigorous routine of “eat-sleep-football” during August football camp, the season begins … but so does school. Football is six days per week, including games on Saturdays, until about mid-November. Balancing football and school is not easy, but Rob found a way to stay organized and use prioritization skills daily.

The post/off season begins with lifting after Thanksgiving, leading into the spring semester of school. After months of daily training, April brings Spring Ball, a time where the NCAA permits team practices on the field three days per week for five weeks. In addition to the training and practicing in the spring, there are also team meetings one night per week that include senior leadership training.

Head coach Andrew DiDonato has been a huge blessing for Rob; he has a positive mindset no matter the situation, takes responsibility for all of his actions, strives for a successful life, finds joy in helping others, and works effectively even with challenges. “One of the biggest lessons in faith has been that true, overflowing, and everlasting joy comes from a meaningful relationship with God. If that’s what fuels my fulfillment and happiness, then there’s nothing in this world that can take my joy away. Living this out has changed my life and strengthened my walk with Christ,” Rob said. Although Rob will not develop his football career after college, he plans to support coach DiDonato and the Grove City College football program in any way he can.

“I have already began to apply lessons to academics, my career, and relationships. I would say that the most significant impact has been on my early career. To provide some context, I came into Grove City’s football program in the pit of its 33-game losing streak. There’s nothing fun about being part of a losing streak, but the experience of working towards ending one is priceless. Living out this challenge was the closest simulation I had to turning around a failing company in the business world. With that in mind, the lessons preached by successful entrepreneurs and business influencers about building a prosperous business align closely with the lessons that we had to implement as a team to improve our success. Therefore, these skills have been highly applicable to a business setting and have already helped me to succeed in several different business/finance internships and secure a full-time position with an exceptional company in August of 2018 – before even stepping foot on Grove City’s campus as a senior. These lessons aren’t a secret, and they’re not ‘life hacks.’ They just require necessary discipline to live out and follow every day,” Rob said.

After graduation, Rob will be based in New York City and can help large companies solve complex business issues as a consultant at Protiviti, a global management consulting firm that helps its clients solve problems in areas like business process, analytics, internal audit, and technology. Rob’s goal to become a consultant stems from being a part of the transformation that is taking place within Grove City College’s football program. He wants to help companies, managers, and executives become better at what they do, along with reaching their goals. Rob is excited to have the opportunity to help and grow with Protiviti. He thanks his influential professors, coaches, internship colleagues, members of the Career Services Office, and quality friends for the constant support and compassion.

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Favorite Aspects of Grove City College – The Professors

It is normal to have professors you might not connect as well with, but when you find ones that you can really relate to, it can be extremely meaningful. I was lucky to know a few before starting college, since my parents are alumni, and create new relationships that developed further over the past four years.

Specifically, my advisor, Dr. Miller, has been a wonderful mentor, teacher, and friend to me. I do not allow myself to go to her office when I have homework to do because well, we end up talking about anything and everything for hours. I am thankful to have someone to relate to in terms of my major courses along with career aspirations; Dr. Miller knows specifically how to help me relate college classes into the real world. Her knowledge of professional and personal communication makes her the experienced, relatable professor she is to her students.  When I finished scheduling for my senior year, she said to me, “Taylor, you know that you already completed your major and do not have to take those two Communication classes in the spring with me, right?” I know that I did not “need” the classes, but I was more than happy to take them as electives since she would be my professor. She is that great.

I have appreciated professors that go out of their way to help me with classes, projects, personal issues, or future opportunities while considering my individual passions and hobbies. Professor Sweet is another example of someone that is always connecting students to different possibilities, like post-college careers or campus opportunities. His love for helping small businesses and others shows in his teaching, along with one-on-one relationships with students. Professor Sweet has helped me dive into new projects that I would have been uncomfortable with otherwise and increase my internet knowledge to advance my personal career path. I have also enjoyed having back-to-back classes with him, entertaining the class with embarrassing and funny jokes or stories that he somehow relates back to our specific class discussion.

Besides professors of classes I have, I love the overall kindness from any employee of the College. Women’s basketball coach Chelle Fuss was introduced to me from my mom’s years of involvement with the basketball team. Since then, Fuss has opened her life to me to be someone I can turn to in times of difficulty, need for advice, or to simply enjoy her company. Going to her office several times a week to talk and catch-up on each other’s activities has been such a positive addition to my time at school. Fuss also has helped me build my photography portfolio by incorporating me with the basketball team and photographing their weekly games.

With these being only a few of the awesome relationships I have formed at Grove City College, I could not be more thankful for the amazing people to educate, guide, and grow with me in my four years.

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Inside Married Life: Nate Sprunk’s Perspective

Nate Sprunk, an Exercise Science major and Psychology minor, is a quarter of the way through his senior year at Grove City College. He began his freshman year busy with his involvement on the lacrosse team and continued up until this year. His decision was primarily to focus more on school, along with his new wife, Priya.

Nate and Priya have known each other for about 10 years, meeting at middle school youth group at their church back in the day. Although, they did not start dating until the summer before Nate’s senior year of high school. They had always been great friends, but that summer they spent much more time together and grew extremely close.

“Going to school together gave us time to grow closer and build a stronger relational foundation to get married. Being at GCC was positive because it gave us a Christian environment to grow in,” Nate said. They started the conversation during Nate’s sophomore year of college, Priya’s junior year. With Priya being a year older, the decision to be married was difficult in terms of their current academic standings, but, with an abundance of advice and prayer, the couple decided to be married this previous summer.

This fall semester, with Priya as a Grove City College graduate, Nate has noticed changes in his life since the wedding. He feels that he has become more responsible and independent in his current college career and post-college plans. In living off-campus with his wife, he sees friends significantly less, which can cause strains in his relationships, but it just means working harder to maintain the ones that are truly important.

“It’s great to live together and have our own place. It’s also great to be able to support each other. However, it does make things weird with your relationships with other people because of change. My advice for people would be to make sure you’re truly ready for everything that comes with the commitment. We did marriage counseling prior to our wedding. I think that it helped us be more prepared for the transition and for what to expect,” Nate said.

Although only 21, Nate’s maturity and dedication to Priya has made their marriage fulfilled and exciting. His future plans include attending school for physical therapy to further his knowledge of subjects surrounding his college education.

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Interview Advice from Keystone Ridge Designs

The interview process can be a stressful time for anyone, especially when one is unsure of what to expect upon entering. Heather Starcher is Vice President of Keystone Ridge Designs, a company that manufacturers site furniture, and has been working in the business world for over 20 years. In her experience with interviewing, especially with students from Grove City College, she has focused on aspects that strongly affect an interview, positively or negatively. “Remember, they are hiring you to help their company. So they want to know what you bring to the table, how you can be an impact and help them succeed. They don’t want to hear from you ‘this is what I want’,” Heather said.

Followed by her few statements, employees Dave Starcher and Angela Maloney gave insight from their involvement with being both the interviewer and the interviewee.

Interview Advice from Director of Sales of Keystone Ridge Designs, Dave Starcher:

  1. Be prepared. Know the company and be prepared to ask questions that prove that you have done your research.
  2. Be yourself. Remember that you are interviewing the company just as much as they are interviewing you. Figure out if the company’s culture would be a fit for you. Ask what a typical day might look like or who are the team members with whom you would most often interact?
  3. Ask about the future. What could be worse than taking a job with a company that is about to fail?! Ask about their vision and how they foresee the future. What are they doing better than their competition to ensure success? Are there plans to spin-off other sister companies? How much are they growing?

Interview Advice from Director of Marketing of Keystone Ridge Designs, Angela Maloney:

  1. Take notes.
  2. Have good questions ready for whenever the interviewer says “What questions do you have for us?”
  3. Always ask for next steps at the end of the interview to show you are truly committed and want the job.
  4. Follow up. Thank you emails and notes help keep you top of mind and show your ability to follow through.
  5. Don’t ask about money in a first interview.
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Grove City College Homecoming 2018

Grove City College’s Homecoming weekend is a wonderful tradition of bringing back alumni, enjoying the variety of groups on campus, and celebrating the lasting culture of the college. The Saturday morning parade showcases floats created by the different sororities and fraternities, alumni class reunions, the College’s band, Homecoming court, and much more.

As a member of Sigma Theta Chi, our sorority float was representing the Mardi Gras celebration from New Orleans, after this year’s Greek life float theme “Around the World.”

 

Our brother fraternity, the Adelphikos, were crucial to the construction of the float and made the work fun. Members played live music during the parade to give a true Mardi Gras experience.

As a sorority tradition during the parade, Senior members ride on the back of a truck for their last Homecoming as college students.

As Greek groups prepare to enter into the parade route, intermingling and laughter occur among everyone. Friends took many pictures of one another, showcasing the hard work put into their amazing floats.

After the parade, people make their way to their reunion tents, campus group tents, or leisurely walking around socializing. Grove City College’s alumni enjoyed the delicious food provided by the school, along with real conversations about their meaningful and occasional embarrassing college experiences.

The majority of Greek life was located on lower campus, while groups like the Entrepreneurship Department and reunion tents were located on the “Quad” on upper campus. Later in the afternoon, the majority of people entered the stands for the Grove City College football game. With a win of 36-33 against Westminster College in the last 11 seconds, the Wolverines were just as enthusiastic as the crowd.

After another successful Homecoming weekend filled with laughter, excitement, and reuniting of alumni with current college students, the anticipation for next year awaits.

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Career Fair 2018

Grove City College hosts a Career Fair every year, which provides an awesome opportunity for students to network for potential jobs and for employers to find potential employees. It is a win-win situation for both sides in the business world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year, the college celebrated 20 years of a successful event. Last year, around 170 employers and graduate schools along with 1,200 students attended for an abundance of professional socialization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students of all years and majors attend the Career Fair. Even the freshmen who are not necessarily looking for a job; it is a great way to practice one’s elevator pitch, interview skills, and speaking ability with business people. For seniors, it can serve as the way to land a job for directly after graduation. With the event being around September every year, it can put senior students at ease for the rest of the academic year if they know they already have a job in place for post-graduation.  Even if a job is not found directly at the Career Fair, students can build relationships with business people to meet others down the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students engage with businesses to understand their company goals, meanings, and morals. With a variety of businesses showcased at the Career Fair linked to specific majors, like Accounting, Finance, Engineering, Business, Biblical and Religious Studies, and more, students have the ability to meet their potential employer or network to eventually reach another company.

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, the Career Fair is a wonderful way to look for jobs. Even if it does not specifically cater to a specific major or job interest, making connections with people can be the start of finding the perfect career. Many students can attest to the potential of Grove City College’s Career Fair with the ability to connect people and expand one’s professional circle into the real world after college.

 

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My Summer Internship – Work Relationships

This previous summer I had the opportunity to work at my parents’ business, Keystone Ridge Designs, an expertise site furniture manufacturing company.  It was a comforting image to know that before I started my senior year at Grove City College, I had an internship to add to my resume.  I mainly looked at the internship as a “check off the list” of things to do before graduation.  Although, after a summer of a great deal of hard work, knowledge gained, some family tension, and strengthened relationships, I can say that working was so much more than just an internship.

Keystone Ridge Designs has been around ever since I was born, existing as a purely family business since around 1995.  My grandpa worked hard raising his family that would soon be raising me, along with building a company ever since his early 20s.  Since then, the business has excelled in terms of profitability, customer relationships, and building its brand.

The major concept I took away from my “job” was how important family businesses are and how they function in a world full of the idea of pure profit, no matter the ethics.  I appreciated the relationships between employees and their bosses, essentially my family members, except they were personal.  I watched as my family could ask their employees specific questions about their home lives because they genuinely cared to listen.  When meaningful work relationships are developed, work becomes easier.  It is more straightforward to work together, be efficient in the tasks they do, along with authenticity in the work completed.  The employees took responsibility for their actions, whether good or bad and were not purely focused on their individual career.  The collaborative atmosphere made for better problem solving and the generation of new product ideas to grow the business.  The selflessness that came from these work relationships goes to show that it is possible to profit in a business, while still caring about the needs of each employee.

Hearing about large corporations treat their employees like they are just another person working under them is something I personally could never work for, especially after seeing the relationships at Keystone Ridge Designs.  Similar to Grove City College’s ethics about faith and education, keeping them unseparated, my family’s business functioned to serve a greater purpose.  Working hard, helping others, extending generosity, and accomplishing business in a loving manner are simply four ideologies I want in any potential company I would work with.

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Lifelong Friends at Grove City

Around second semester of freshman year, I became extremely close with a group of people at Grove City College and have remained close with them throughout my time here. They have all impacted my life tremendously and continue to bless it every day with liveliness, laughter, and an overwhelming sense of joy. In this group of friends that I belong to, we all share similar morals in how we live our lives. With all of us being Christians, we work hard to keep each other accountable for our actions and keep our eyes focused on God.

When our friend group is altogether, we act fairly similarly. We find humor in almost situation, strive to make every meeting entertaining, and accidentally (slightly purposefully) become the loudest crew in most settings.  Most people do not understand the hilarious aspects that make us cry from laughter in the middle of a quiet Student Union. However, this is because of our intimate group dynamic and the general understanding among each other.

This group of close friends from the beginning of our college career has helped to shape us into the people we are now. At the end of the day, we all know there is a greater purpose to our earthly lives. So, although we might spend our time differently, having other friends we occasionally spend our time with, or having some differing ideas, we conform in the way we care for one another and use our relationships to lift us closer to God.

I am so thankful for Grove City College because of the meaningful and lasting friendships I have found. We are called to bring as many people to Christ as possible and the only way that can be achieved is through building relationships. It means so much to me to see other people gain significant friends here and use that to spread love to even more people. Connecting the lessons learned at college help to show the significance of surrounding oneself with meaningful relationships, especially when they are pointing me closer to God.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25).