Category: Student Spotlights

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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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Internship Opportunities: Engineer Edition

Are you a Mechanical Engineering major? Electrical Engineering major? Looking for a summer internship? There is hope for you, just talk to Shannon Stovar!

Shannon Stovar is a senior Mechanical Engineering major at Grove City College. She is from Butler, Pa. and the first person in her family to attend Grove City College.

Shannon was one of my three ‘random’ freshmen roommates and has stayed a close friend of mine throughout college. During our sophomore year, Shannon was looking for an engineering summer internship, and I knew just the person she should talk to. I immediately called my dad, Rich Bartek, who at the time was the vice president and COO of the manufacturing company, Oberg Industries. He worked there for about 14 years and loved to hire Grove City College students as interns and employees. Oberg is headquartered in Freeport, Pa., which is only about a 25-minute commute from Shannon’s hometown of Butler. My dad and I both knew Shannon was a hard worker and fast learner and he was more than happy to help her. Shortly after, Shannon applied for Oberg Industries’ mechanical engineering internship and got an offer for the summer!

Shannon excelled that summer at Oberg Industries and outshined the other interns. Oberg ended up offering her another internship for the following summer, after her junior year. She gladly accepted.

“I assisted the design engineers in a variety of tasks along with helping in other areas of the company like die maintenance and quality control. I developed 3D models and drawings for customer parts and tooling. I worked on quite a few independent projects where I was given a problem such as a component in a machine that had broken and had to come up with a solution to fix the issue,” Shannon explained to me when I asked about what she did both summers.

I followed up by asking Shannon if she liked her time with Oberg, “I really enjoyed the experience! I think one of the most important parts about a company is the people that you work with, and everyone I worked with was extremely helpful and kind. I formed close friendships with workers from all different areas of the company. I was able to work with some of the brightest engineers in the company and was really challenged by this. Oberg gave me a wide variety of tasks so that I wouldn’t get bored and they really trusted me to work independently on big projects.”

Shannon received a full-time job offer from the company this past August. Oberg was gracious and gave her roughly six months to decide if she would like to take the offer. She had obviously proven herself very worthy over the course of her two summers there. Shannon is giving herself some time to decide and taking other options into consideration as the halfway mark of her senior year quickly approaches.

Many Mechanical Engineer majors assume internships are only for business majors. “Companies like Oberg Industries are overjoyed when they receive a resume from a student coming from Grove City College,” my dad stated. “When Shannon applied we could not wait to work with her.”

This is just another example of how connections within the Grove City College community can give you great opportunities. Students need to continue to persevere and form relationships during their four years because you never know where they will land you.

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Inside Grove City College: A Transfer Student’s Perspective

 

The process of selecting a college is stressful, with its seemingly endless applications and interviews and paperwork. For transfer students, the excitement of going to college for the first time has worn off, and going through this process twice can seem overwhelming. It can be intimidating to think about leaving a school, a friend group, and familiar studies to start fresh somewhere else. However, seeking advice and learning as much as possible about potential schools is crucial.

Hannah, Larisa, Gab, Julia, and Tara have stepped in to make your transfer process as easy as possible. These ladies, all first-year Grovers, have offered to give you a peek into what it was like for them to join the Grove City College community as a transfer student. Their advice is an insider’s perspective on things like how to make friends as a transfer, how they chose their roommates, and how to get involved on campus.

Larisa Steiner, a sophomore, transferred from Indiana Wesleyan University and enjoys studying Management with an HR concentration. Finding a school with this specific field of study and a reputable business program was key in her transfer search. Also a sophomore, Hannah Kaufmann, an English major, was interested in Grove City because it aligned with her Christian values. Tara Pierce, as a junior, finds herself in the rare position of being an upperclass transfer student. She previously studied at a local community college, and enjoys the new Social Work major at Grove City. Julia Helmich will graduate in 2021 as an Elementary/Special Education major. She enjoys the on-campus preschool, where Education students are able to get hands-on work experience. Gab Capaldo, a sophomore, studies Communication and edits for The Collegian, the campus newspaper, in her free time.

Though none of these ladies would say that being a transfer student anywhere is easy, they are adjusting to life as a Grover and getting involved on campus. Intramural sports, Greek life, and Orientation Board events are just some of what they mention as ways to find friends and make connections at Grove City College.

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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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An RA’s Perspective: Katherine Nichols

Katherine Nichols, RA of MAP West

Katherine Nichols, a senior at Grove City College, balances a busy schedule between a major in Biology, a minor in French, and being a Resident Assistant (RA) for those living in Mary Anderson Pew (MAP) West. Living with primarily freshmen ladies, Katherine can offer advice from the perspective of not only a senior, but also a third-year RA.

She explains that since her first year as a sophomore RA, she has seen a few changes in the Student Life & Learning department. For example, a few Resident Directors (men and women who oversee a particular dorm) have come and gone while some have changed buildings. In her opinion, the changes that most directly affected the RAs, were amendments to Open Hours. Initially called ‘Intervisitation Hours,’ these policies govern how men and women may visit dorms for the opposite gender. When Katherine was a freshman, the guest was required both to be escorted through the building by their host and to register to the host’s room. Now, a visitor may go directly to the host’s room, but is still required to sign in – to the floor, not to the specific room. Katherine explains, “This change has given the students privacy and responsibility.”

Life as an RA comes with many unique challenges. Being assigned to a floor of residents, Katherine says, means that as many as 30 or 40 students “go to you as their first point person.” She has helped with stress and roommate conflict, offered prayer and tutoring, and has even smashed “that weird looking bug on the ceiling” in the line of duty. However, these issues are just a part of the job description. Katherine explains that the real challenge lies in finding a balance between fulfilling RA responsibilities, while also dedicating time to academic and other responsibilities. In her words, “I want to be able to take my residents out for coffee and shopping on a whim every day, and just live college like it’s camp, but I am pretty sure I would fail out of Grove City College if I did.”

While RA life comes with challenges, it also comes with unexpected blessings. Katherine says that “it’s the little things like notes, a hug, or chocolate that keeps you going.” These are reminders that the sacrifices, like staying up until 3 a.m. or hours devoted to a fun program, are worth it. In addition, it is a blessing to “represent the school well, to foster community, and to minister to your peers.” She loves the opportunity to develop relationships with 40 ladies that otherwise she might not have met. As a new student at Grove City College, the prospect of making new friends can seem overwhelming, but having a familiar, friendly face on your hall makes the transition easier.

Though part of her job is to enforce the rules, Katherine explains that the stereotype of a strict, overbearing RA is a misconception. She says, “RA’s are not out to get you. Our job is just to help make sure that Grove City is a safe, functioning, and loving community.” After helping to foster a loving community for three years, she has excellent advice to offer freshman students. For her, patience was the biggest factor in gracious dorm life, as well as the ability to “walk in the other person’s shoes.” Being able to empathize with the other person, and to understand the personalities and experiences in play, makes it much easier to effectively address any problem in dorm life. She urges new students to “get to know your roommate, suitemate, or hall-mate as best as you can – it’ll make a world of difference.”

 

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On a Track to Change Lives

Hyejin (Grace) Choi is a junior Pre-K-4 Elementary Education major at Grove City College. She is a Teacher’s Assistant, Education Ambassador, and enjoys reading in her free time. I discovered Grace in a Cross-Cultural Psychology class and quickly learned of her outstanding linguistic abilities, surplus of cultural knowledge, and desire to become a teacher.

Grace is a polyglot who speaks English, Korean, Chinese, Japanese and a little Spanish to top it off. She was born in Michigan but received the opportunity to develop these language abilities by living around the world. Because her father was a South Korean diplomat, she experienced life in China, India, Thailand and South Korea. After these travels, she ventured back to the United States on her own at to continue her education at age 16.

When it came time to select an academy, she chose Grove City College because of the great education program that is provided. She appreciates how field-oriented the department is and commented, “There are certain things that classroom lectures just can’t teach.” Looking back on the past three years there she noted, “I am not a very social person, but GCC helped me to increase my in-group pool. It made me learn humility too, and with this education, I am sure that my call was to Elementary Ed.”

With only one more year to go at Grove City College, Grace has gotten excited to see what the future has in store for her. She exclaimed, “I really enjoy teaching. I hope to be caring for each student and impact his/her life in a positive way!”

Proverbs 9:9
English: Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.
Korean: 지혜 있는 자에게 교훈을 더하라; 그가 더욱 지혜로워질 것이요. 의로운 사람을 가르치라; 그의 학식이 더하리라.
Chinese: 教 导 智 慧 人 ， 他 就 越 发 有 智 慧 。 指 示 义 人 ， 他 就 增 长 学 问 。
Japanese: 知恵のある人を教えなさい。その人は、ますます賢くなります。正しい人を教えなさい。その人は、さらに多くのことがわかるようになります。
Spanish: Instruye al sabio, y se hará más sabio; enseña al justo, y aumentará su saber.

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Student Spotlight: Alyssa Jackson

Alyssa Jackson, a Communication Studies and Visual Arts major and a Biblical and Religious Studies minor, reflected on her time at Grove City College as her junior year dwindles down. She described her college search before freshman year with how she thought she would be a music major. Alyssa even auditioned via video for Grove City’s music program, but they only accepted her as a minor. With some encouraging from her father, she decided to switch to her current major right before school started.

When asked about her involvement with groups, organizations, or extracurricular activities, Alyssa described what she does in her free time. “I’m a member and chaplain of Women of Faith, which is a campus ministry directed towards women on campus and in the community. We have weekly meetings in which I lead a devotion. I was a member of the varsity tennis team for two years and was captain my second year. Each of these leadership positions have been very different and I have learned a lot in each. I am the editor of the life section of the newspaper. Each week I have multiple tasks that need to be done in order to produce an issue of the paper each week. I work with a team of editors that I love and respect. This job definitely has its challenges, but it is something I wanted to do in the future. So I’m enjoying the experience.”

Alyssa hopes to work for a local newspaper, preferably as a reporter or a writer. Having a class with Dr. Potter in creative writing broadened her usual writing skills and taught her to express creativity in different ways. Dr. Miller’s journalism class was furthermore influential on her passion for writing. She also discussed her sense of a calling to be a wife and mother, in God’s timing. With her minor, Western Civilization with Dr. Mitchell and Biblical Ideas with Dr. Moeller have been classes that were some of the best teaching she has ever received.

“Dr. Mobley has been so helpful in planning for the future and encouraging me to be a go-getter. I also sat down and had an encouraging conversation with her about being a wife and mother. Also, with how God can use every aspect of our lives for his Glory. Dr. Miller has been in helpful in academics but is also a good friend of mine. I feel like I can talk to most anyone in the Comm Department about anything I may need,” Alyssa said.

She hopes that the Communication Studies and Visual Arts Department continues to host more exciting events that showcase the great life lessons that students learn by having the major. The application of communication is pertinent for her future job and with any relationship, before or after college. With it being a key in every single aspect of life, Alyssa discussed how it is not just an “easy, blow-off major.” “After all, if the study of communication is so easy, why is there so much miscommunication in the world?” Alyssa asked. The most important point she stressed was that the education and organization involvement she has received at Grove City College have sparked ideas that will affect her for the rest of her life.

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Community Spotlight: December Graduate

When it comes to thinking about who makes up the community of Grove City College, often the first thought is students and professors. However, there are many more components – past and present – that play a vital role in the community here. I talked with Josh McFall, a December 2017 graduate. He studied accounting and participated in many camppus activities. Here is the interview that transpired:

Can you tell me a little about your academic journey?

I started my pursuit for higher education at Kent State University Trumbull Campus in the fall of 2013 as an undecided business major, after a semester I declared my major as Business Management before changing my major to accounting.

I stayed at Kent for two years before transferring to Grove City College. Three of my siblings had attended Grove City and I wasn’t convinced that it was the place for me. One of the turning points in my decision was at my sister Lizzy’s wedding at Harbison Chapel in the fall of 2014. I got to walk around the campus with my sister’s husband Joe, who also graduated from there. During this time, I got to talk with him about my preconceived notions and what I wanted from the remainder of my college career. Ultimately, that conversation and overall experience was the first event that led to my decision to attend Grove City College and I would end up applying about eight months later.

What has been the most difficult thing about graduating mid academic year?

Leaving my fiancée, sister, and friends in a rather anti-climactic way. I am a sentimental person, so I like having solid beginnings and endings as they help me compartmentalize my feelings and emotions. Graduating and leaving campus halfway through the academic school year is rather akin to walking out of a movie theater 10 minutes before the end of a movie while your friends all stay and watch it. You miss the last semester excitement and relief you share with other seniors who are about to graduate and walk to receive their diploma in May. I felt that excitement and relief mostly alone, and there was no fanfare or send off when I left campus. The vibe was just that of another winter break, and everyone else would see each other in a month.

Mind you, this is no fault of Grove City’s. There is nothing they could do to change the way things are. I was privileged to attend a dinner for the few seniors graduating in December at President and Mrs. McNulty’s house and it was a lovely time. Also, I will be back in May to walk, but if I’m being honest that is more for my parents than myself. If I had my way, I would choose not to walk simply because I have closed that chapter of my life and I am in a new one now (like I said, solid beginnings and endings).

What do you miss the most about Grove City?

What I miss may not be something unique to only Grove City, like chapel requirements, or jokes about rings by spring, but are unique to my personal experience and how it shaped my life. I miss the shenanigans and community of my transfer hall in Hicks, while living in the room with the window right above the trash cans everyone walks by to go to dinner. And I miss bonding with the guys of Pan Sophic while being their RA, and being given the opportunity to help foster community on my hall. And I miss having to amend my plan to get engaged multiple times due to inclement weather, another fraternity’s rush event, and a marching band competition this past October (I did finally pop the question and she said yes!). This is a tiny sliver of all that I value from my time and are they exclusively things that could have happened at Grove City? No, they could have happened at any college, but they didn’t, they happened at Grove City. And for that reason, I miss and reminisce about my time there. Those buildings and grounds will always be hallowed to me, not because they had uniqueness or specialness that was intrinsic to them (though they certainly do and that does play into it), but because that is the place where I built part of who I am today. So what I miss most is basically everything, the whole chapter beginning to end. I can’t think of one thing without being reminded of five other things.

What have you done post-graduation?

I work at Schneider Downs & Co in Pittsburgh which is a public accounting firm, and I am studying for the CPA exam.

How would you describe GCC’s community in your own words?

When people look at Grove City College, diversity is not necessarily the first thing that pops into their head’s, but to assume that the community here is totally homogeneous is very far from reality, I try to avoid making blanket statements for this reason. Like any other place, the overall community is like a patchwork quilt, and each patch in the quilt is itself another patchwork quilt, all the way down to the individual level. It’s true but ironic because I did end up just making a “blanket” statement… quilt… get it?

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Student Spotlight: Patty Jo Nickoloff

Patricia Nickoloff, who goes by “Patty Jo” Nickoloff, is always found with a big smile on her face that radiates happiness. Patty Jo is a freshman here at Grove City College, belonging in the Alpha Beta Tau sorority, a member of the Newman Club, taking part in the radio show, and playing rugby in her free time. She is double majoring in Communication Studies and Visual Arts and Entrepreneurship, along with a minor in International Studies. The majors she chose were what she had prepared to do in college, but her minor was unexpected as she realized how much she loves using her majors on a more global level.

Patty Jo dreams of working for an organization or magazine that focuses on worldwide missions, where she would help nonprofits operate more efficiently. The love she had for her Public Speaking, Spanish, and Entrepreneurship and Mission of the Church classes show her overall focus on her future direction. Professor Pritchard and Doctora Tinkey are teachers that impacted her mindset to give guidance to her passions.

Freshman year has been exciting and full of fun so far for Patty Jo. She appreciates the new and different atmosphere, as well as the support from the rest of the people at the school toward the new freshmen. “Everyone just wants to help you figure it all out and the want to introduce you to everything they love about GCC,” she said.

She enjoys the Department of Communication and Visual Arts because of the steps they take to send out opportunities for the students that help to expand the skills they already have. Patty Jo loves learning about languages and cultures, so she looks forward to more of her international studies classes. Having classes that teach her to think outside the box, show how businesses work, and how to be different but relevant are great preparation for real life experiences. Having the majors she has provides a wonderful source of relatability and understanding, not just during her class times but outside in her personal life.

“I’m passionate about art in all its forms. That’s why communication is great because art is all about communicating ideas. I love the history of the world and how things came to be, that’s where the international studies comes in.  I love new ideas.  Creating new and amazing things which is why entrepreneurship is a great major as well,” Patty Jo said.

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Entrepreneurship from the Heart

Mark Sotomayor is a sophomore Entrepreneurship major at Grove City College. He is a tennis player, a member of the American Marketing Association, the Innovation Club, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. While Mark is heavily involved on campus, his creativity and hard work has placed him in a position to positively impact the environment around the world. With Grove City College’s support and standard of excellence, Mark has developed the Té Amo tea company as a means to reforest Haiti. With the catchy slogan, “Buy a Tea, Plant a Tree,” Mark has made massive strides in making his dream a reality.

Mark originally came up with the idea to sell bottled tea because he grew up drinking his grandmother’s special 30-year-old Peruvian recipe and wanted to share it with others. This past September his mother encouraged him to utilize his Grove City College entrepreneurship experience to take his tasty tea from the pitcher to the shelves. In six months, Mark and his team have been able to successfully brand Té Amo and have partnered with nine stores in which they sell!

When interviewing Mark about how he made all of this possible he commented how thankful he is to have a mother that keeps the business up and running while he focuses on his studies. He also noted the impact that the College has had on his business. “The entrepreneurship department has recently ‘stretched my entrepreneurial muscles’, so to speak, by challenging me and my team member, Ryan Budnik, to make the product better. I am more of a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ type of guy, and industry research isn’t my strong suit – so by being forced to research about the ready-to-drink tea market, I am becoming a much more well-rounded business owner/entrepreneur.” With so many people coming alongside Mark to answer questions and provide encouragement, Mark hopes to develop tea bags and eventually sell in Sheetz and Whole Foods. He exclaimed, “It will take years, but I’m pumped for the journey!”

If you have any questions about Té Amo or would like to purchase the refreshing tea, you can head to www.BuyATeaPlantATree.com.