Category: English

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Putting the Professors in the Hot Seat

When you come to visit Grove City College, you may meet some wonderful people who say they will be there for you for the duration of your studies at Grove City College – and they are not kidding. They will tell you they are here to make sure you grow as an individual in both your spiritual and academic life. They will tell you all the cool things you have the opportunity to learn about and they will say they have been praying for you. Who are these people? None other than the professors.

To better explain why these professors are so fantastic, I have critically reviewed some I have had over the years to show you how each one is different and challenging, but always acting with your best interest in mind. Warning: this is going to be a long post.

Hot Seat #1: Dr. Messer – English

My first experience with Dr. Messer started at 9 a.m. on the first day of classes. Side note, Dr. Messer is the head of the English Department and winner of the Professor of the Year Award in 2015 (intimidating). I was in the required Writing 101 class all freshmen have to take, and I was extremely nervous to be in my first college class AND have it be a subject I am not the best at. Dr. Messer seemed pretty cool in his introduction of himself in front of all 13 IMG_0971(2)students, but what got me was he said it was required for all of us come to his office for 15 minutes before the week was over. I thought that was a little weird and out of my way – why would a professor want to see his students so early in the semester? Oh, little naive me. Upon meeting Dr. Messer in person in his office, I came to realize he requested those 15 minutes because he wanted to know who I was so he could better understand why my writing and class performance was the way it was.

The remainder of the semester I was continually impressed by Dr. Messer. Since he had met me before and knew a little bit more about my hometown and family, I felt extremely comfortable going back during his office hours to ask more questions. I knew I was not the strongest writer, and I blatantly said that during my meeting – so it was no surprise when I knocked on his door two weeks later asking for help on my persuasive essay. It is hard to put into words how helpful Dr. Messer was in a class I felt extremely like a fish out of water in. The best part about him as an instructor was he knew his faults. This was his first semester teaching Writing 101 so he was honest with us and said, “I am new to this too.” One of our assignments entailed writing on a topic within our major of study using library book resources. Do you know how many books are written by entrepreneurs? Not very many. As an Entrepreneurship major, this task was difficult so I said to him one class, “What would you like me to do? There are no entrepreneurship encyclopedias to look at.” He accommodated yet challenged me by saying, “Base your research on what you can find, but I have never studied entrepreneurship so impress me.” I did.

To this day, I see Dr. Messer around and he always says hi to me and asks me how I am doing – he still remembers my name a year and a half later.

Hot Seat #2: Professor English – Entrepreneurship

I met Yvonne English on Junior Crimson day a long time ago when the academic departments had open houses. I already knew I wanted to be an Entrepreneurship major but I had no idea what kind of academics that involved or what kind of professors I would have to deal with. I walked into the Entrepreneurship suite and my dad (to this day) said my face lit up. I was star-struck and high on cloud nine. What brought me back down to the real world was IMG_0957Professor English. She warmly welcomed me, offered me a free t-shirt (bonus!), and asked me my name, why I was into entrepreneurship, and all that typical small talk. Once she started explaining the program, she sold me on Grove City.

Fast forward to today, Professor English and I are buddies. I have had several classes with her and in each one she pushes me a little bit further outside of my comfort zone. She in no way, shape, or form babies her students. As Entrepreneurship majors, we have to know the material because it is real life, and if we fail on an idea in the real world there is no professor to hug us and say we can have a curve on our grade. Professor English takes tough love to a whole new level because she wants her students to succeed. Before she was a professor, English worked with several startups and accelerators so the topics she is teaching us in class she knows from experience.

I always go say good morning to her in her office – I feel like the day is not complete until I see her. This past semester I had another professor in a generic, required course that was really pushing my buttons and I would tell English about him when I would visit her. One morning, this professor and I just had a breaking point. I acted disrespectfully towards him and felt very bad about it, but did not know what to do. So when I wandered into English’s office I told her what was going on, and honestly, shed a tear or two because I was so upset at what happened. She handed me a tissue box and said, “I will help you write your apology email.”

I have stories upon stories of the nice things English has done for me (like buying me donuts or taking me to Rome in the summer) but that would be an entire blog post in and of itself.

Hot Seat #3: Dr. Tedford – Orchestra

My sister, Maddie, graduated last May as an early education major and during her time on campus she was the principle cellist of the orchestra. I met Dr. Tedford through Maddie. I was a timpanist (the big drums in the back of the orchestra) for all four years of high school and Maddie wanted me to play with her so she introduced me to Dr. IMG_0279Tedford in hopes he would win me over. But I am stubborn and refused to join. The story does not end there, Maddie and her roommate, Abby, were babysitters for Dr. Tedford’s two (now three) little kids. Naturally, the two got attached and Dr. Tedford created a strong bond with Maddie and Abby. So strong, in fact, when Maddie comes up to the area now to visit her boyfriend she will stay in the Tedford home. Whether they are there or not they always welcome Maddie for a visit.

What does this have to do with me? Maddie, naturally, would talk about me with Dr. Tedford and the subject of my photography came up in conversation. Dr. Tedford at the time was looking for a photographer to take photos of the orchestra so he emailed me asking if I was available for about an hour to take photos of the orchestra. I, of course, accepted. As time passed and he continued to ask me to take pictures he was so impressed with my work he hired me as the music department photographer for the band and orchestra. I have a special place in my heart for the orchestra because of Maddie and my past life as a timpanist so I have had an absolute blast being Dr. Tedford’s music photographer.

Maybe other school’s music conductors would do the same sort of thing to hire a student as a photographer – but Dr. Tedford is different. Every time I see him during rehearsal, he asks me how Maddie is doing, how my parents are, and if I am ready to listen to some music. The established relationship makes my job even better.

I believe majority of what makes my college experience great is the people I have come to know and love. These “people” include the amazing professors who have taken me under their wing and make it their goal to help me grow as a student.

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Passions & Pathways: Career Spotlight on Abby Genzink

A liberal arts education at Grove City College allows you to explore your interests with both breadth and depth. In this series, you will meet GCC students who are discovering their passions, pursuing their interests, and customizing their education as they pursue their desired careers.

Coming into college, Abby Genzink (’16) knew that she wanted to pursue a career in international development. Her passion for faith and relationships led her to become interested in community and international development.

Abby G

Specifically, Abby’s passion for international development grew out of her heart for restoring human dignity and respect.

“I love watching people be dignified and watching people be respected and there are so many places around the world where that is not happening,” she explains.

Abby finds joy in connecting people with others who are unlike them and she describes this process as building bridges.

“I’m so passionate about development and bringing dignity to people, especially in regards to providing for themselves and their families, and along with that, teaching people how we can partner with people who are in poverty in ways that we aren’t, because we also have issues that they can teach us,” she explains.

As she considered her interests and options, Abby decided to pursue a double major in English and Communication Studies in order to gain an interdisciplinary approach to international development.

“I’ve always loved literature, but I also loved how literature could help me to understand culture in a different way,” she says.

In addition to learning in her English classes, Abby’s communication classes have given her the opportunity to learn more about international development through various projects.

“For my Research Methods project, I did a study on how conflict affects poverty. I feel like I learned so much from that. I feel like I’ve gotten, in my own way, a focus in international development through my comm major. Communication has given me the skills but it has also given me freedom to learn more about development through a communication lens,” she says.

Several experiences outside of class have also encouraged Abby’s interest in community and international development. During her sophomore year, Abby had a service learning internship with Olde Town Grove City, where she learned more about issues in community development. This past summer, Abby was able to experience international development through a service trip to Armenia with the Red Box Missions program at GCC.

In Armenia, Abby partnered with the United Methodist Committee on Relief, where she visited several of their programs and partnerships. She visited many places such as a farm, a refugee center, and a school, and Abby wrote stories about each for the organization’s website.

For the second half of her trip, Abby worked on a variety of projects for a small nonprofit in the city of Ejmiatsin which teaches classes for Armenian children about government, justice, their rights as citizens, and practical skills for trade. Abby explains that teaching children is an important aspect of development. “Part of what they say about development is that you need to teach children from the very start so that they are equipped to have minds that are creative and problem solve and understand that they deserve to be respected,” she says.

As a result of her wide variety of learning experiences at Grove City College, Abby has found a niche for herself in communications within the field of international development.

“The more that I’ve learned about myself, the more I’ve learned that I want to do communications within that field….in international development, you need doctors, you need economists, and you need people doing communications and I feel like that is where I fit in,” she says.

Reflecting on her experiences so far, Abby recognizes the importance of taking initiative when it comes to pursuing your passions.

“If I had it in my head that I was looking for the opportunities, I always found them…My professors were really good about partnering with me and helping me find the things that would be geared toward what I wanted to do and would prepare me for my future.”

Posted on by — Leave a comment

2 Cups Creativity, 1 Cup Opportunity, and a Hearty Pinch of Determination

Good chefs follow recipes. Great chefs create their own.

When it comes to finding your calling, there’s not always a recipe for success. As 2002 alumna Anna Watson Carl can attest, sometimes you have to start from scratch. Though she now enjoys a successful career in food and journalism, it’s been quite a journey for Carl—one full of excitement, uncertainty, and a few tossed crepes.

As her passport will reveal, Carl’s world has certainly gotten bigger since graduating from the Grove. Still, she was glad to return to her alma mater to kick off this year’s Communication Pathways speaker series hosted by the Department of Communication & Visual Arts. As Carl whet the appetite of every foodie and aspiring creative professional in the room, her story proved to be one worth sharing.

AWC edited 2
Photo courtesy of Nate Poekert

Before she could even spell crème brûlée, Carl learned to see cooking as a “way of life.” Back in the seventies, her mother bought a yellow table that became the hub of family life in the Watson household, where little Anna developed a homegrown appreciation for good food, conversation, and hospitality. At the ripe young age of ten, she tried her hand at chefery, whipping up an impressive four-course Valentine’s Day dinner for her parents that “birthed a lifelong passion for dinner parties.” This culinary curiosity didn’t come to full boil, however, until her college years.

When she joined the Grover fold in the late ’90s, Carl’s knack for writing led her to enroll as an English major. But when junior year rolled around, this southern-bred belle’s wanderlust whisked her away to France where she “fell head over heels in love with food.” While abroad, Carl’s eyes were opened to a vivid world of new flavors, fresh ingredients, and rich food culture in which “each meal was treated as an occasion to be relished—never rushed.” She also gained independence and an ability to thrive in uncertainty, both of which would come in handy down the road.

AWC edited 1
Photo courtesy of Nate Poekert

After returning to the Grove with a kindled passion for food, Carl picked up a French major and Communication Studies minor with hopes of pursuing some sort of creative career that combined cooking and writing. Through an independent study with Professor Betsy Craig, Carl took advantage of the opportunity to explore cuisine as woven through the cultures of Belize, France, and Portugal. She also started a restaurant review column in The Collegian and leveraged her work to land food writing jobs right out of college. The next few years brought a smorgasbord of formative experiences, from working in restaurant kitchens to starting her own catering company, writing restaurant reviews, editing cookbooks, hosting dinner parties, and eventually moving back to France to earn her Grande Diplome Culinaire in professional culinary studies.

Though a self-proclaimed Francophile with a weak immunity to the travel bug, Carl eventually “put down roots” in New York City, where she’s been soaking up the metropolitan excitement since 2007. After starting her blog The Yellow Table in 2011 as a platform to share recipes, inspire gatherings, and nourish stomach and soul, Carl set out to write a cookbook. But as a “medium-size blogger” without an established following, did she stand a chance? Maybe not in the opinion of the agents and publishers she first called up. But that didn’t stop Carl.

In a leap of faith, she began developing content with a small team of designers and wrote a blog series called “The Cookbook Diaries” to document the publication process and garner support. After daringly deciding to self-publish, she launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise $50,000 for the first print run. Knowing this “would require some unconventional tactics,” Carl set out on a month-long road trip, partnering with Whole Foods Market, Volkswagen, and GoPro to throw dinner parties in the homes of fellow bloggers and designers in eight cities across the country, from Raleigh to Seattle. When she reached the finish line, Carl surpassed her $50,000 goal by close to $16,000. Stunned but grateful, she realized afresh that seeking the impossible can be a worthwhile endeavor. “All you need is some creativity and elbow grease—and the courage to begin.”

AWC edited 3Since publishing The Yellow Table cookbook in 2014, Carl has continued to let her creative juices flow, generating recipes for Delish and sharing her insight on hospitality through her latest project, The Yellow Table Supper Club. Now living in Brooklyn with her husband Brandon, two cats, and a baby on the way, Carl hopes to keep making memories around the Yellow Table as she inspires others to do the same.

“Cooking is deeply important to me, but it’s community that I crave,” says Carl. It’s no wonder, then, that Grove City was the right choice. Though a cosmopolite at heart, Carl is thankful to have been a part of Grove City’s unique community, affirming that it was “a wonderful, wonderful place to grow in my faith and develop key friendships” with people of “real depth and sincerity” before taking on the real world full throttle.

For current Grovers who have yet to do so, Carl’s advice was encouraging: “You don’t need to have your whole future planned … Instead, try out different things to see what you like (and don’t like), ask questions, work hard, build relationships, find mentors, travel, and don’t be afraid to take risks.” Even if a dream seems too grand, Carl says, “sometimes when you stick with it long enough, doors will end up opening.”

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

The Woman Behind ProfilePasser

Entrepreneur, semi-professional soccer player, budding author and 2014 GCC alum – Sam Weber is all of these and more.

Now, living the start-up life in San Francisco, she’s eager to share the lessons of her journey with college students. After speaking to classes at the University of San Francisco and Westmont College, Weber flew home to Pittsburgh for Grove City’s homecoming weekend, when Dr. Powell’s marketing students had the privilege of hearing her story. Weber confirmed what the students have learned in class—the best innovations result from entrepreneurs who addressing their own pain points.

Having started her soccer career at the ripe age of three, Weber is intimately acquainted with the competitive athletic system. When she reached high school, she and her teammates experienced the frustrations and flaws of the college recruiting process. At tournaments, parents would pass out stacks of players’ profiles to any college coaches that happened to walk by. Of course, these same coaches would often be inundated with emails, making the communication pathway clogged, untargeted and inefficient.

Samantha Weber

Weber had long hoped to address this problem that was so close to her heart. While a sophomore English major at Grove City, the soccer player put her plan into action. What resulted was ProfilePasser, an app that dramatically streamlines the recruiting process for both players and coaches.

Weber remembers several Grove City courses being particularly helpful to her in the development of her company—particularly Content Marketing, Principles of Marketing and Accounting. Additionally, the young entrepreneur was blessed to participate in Startup Weekend, where her idea for ProfilePasser placed third, winning her $25,000 in funding from Alphalab, Pittsburgh’s startup accelerator.

Balancing a business, a full course load and varsity soccer was difficult, but Weber was up for the challenge. During her senior year, Weber got an email about the Inc. Magazine Coolest College Startup in America competition. Weber set it aside, believing that her app was not good enough to place, and “some kid from Harvard” would win. But when she decided to enter, ProfilePasser made it to the final four of the March Madness style competition—a remarkable achievement.

in a hero's steps

Even while Weber juggled many demands on her attention, she was planning another important task to accomplish after graduation—writing a book. Several years ago, her brother died in a tragic hiking accident outside his Air Force base in Northern Italy. In a Hero’s Steps was inspired by Weber’s desire to trace Zach’s footsteps through Europe and chronicle his short life of 21 years. She finished the first draft of the book last year.

ProfilePasser is not profitable yet, so Weber is paying the bills by working as a product manager for a small startup in San Francisco. However, her app certainly has the potential to grow. Just last year, Weber made the difficult decision to decline an acquisition offer from European sports tech company YouFoot, feeling that the company’s vision did not mesh with her hopes for ProfilePasser. Recently, she partnered with a programmer from her church to take ProfilePasser to the next level. The young entrepreneur hopes to give back to the San Francisco community by giving away subscriptions for her app to America Scores, a non-profit inspiring American youth to lead healthier lives through soccer.

To the students who asked for her top advice, Weber shared that a great team really matters in a start-up. Picking the right people with whom to work—colleagues with a strong work ethic who share your vision—is key to success.

Learn more about Grove City’s entrepreneurship program here.