“I realized in life there are a lot of chapters that we go through. For me the chapters went as such: high school, the military, after that working hard to save money to move here, and now college. For me this chapter is closing, I’m already preparing to ‘write’ the next chapter. Each chapter seems longer than the other one, not by amount of years, but things that happen, things that matter, things that make me who I am.”
Daniel Peiffer is a senior Communication Studies major with a minor in Design. Over the past four years he has been involved in WSAJ, Grove City College’s radio station, and has pursued his passion for photography in his free time. While he seems like an average student, Daniel does not consider himself to be like the typical “Grover.” Daniel grew up in Israel, he does not share the same Christian faith as many students, and he did not intend on coming to Grove City College. Although these things made his transition to college more challenging, Daniel used this experience to grow as an individual.
While at the College, Daniel learned that being organized is the key to success. He noted that being unorganized and slacking will “show up in your grades” and that working hard leads to extra time to explore hobbies and to relax. He also discovered that each class, for better or worse, was a learning experience that helped him to determine his strengths and weaknesses and how to better manage them. He even spoke highly of the independent study that he took, commenting that the class helped him to “discover and learn a lot more about I want to do in the future.”
As this chapter of life closes for Daniel, a new one full of even more adventures will begin. Daniel longs to put his education to the test to pursue a career in video production and he hopes that future Grove City College students find their niche as well.
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).
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.
When I reflect on my family life, I know how strong we all are and how we always look to each other in times of need. I really appreciate the relationship I have developed with my family and look forward to continued relationship growth. My parents and I became extremely close once I started into my freshman year of college because of the distance apart from each other. While studying abroad in Italy, I found it difficult to develop the same types of relationships like I have with my family or my close friends at school. I knew that it would be challenging to be thrown into a completely new country and culture, but I did not realize how much it would impact my relationships back home. With being focused on traveling and photographing Florence, calling my parents and friends to hear about their lives was not always the easiest. I made time to try to catch up, but I also wanted to make sure I did not miss out on my time abroad.
I think something so important about intercultural relationships would be that in order for them to work, it requires an understanding of the other culture and the way they live. If we cannot grasp what they are going through in their everyday lives, how can we have an effective conversation or relate to them? My parents managed to understand what I was going through abroad and how being so far away from home impacted my faith, friendships, and lifestyle. All of which gave me a different perspective when arriving back home to the United States. The connections I made while in Italy with my Italian professors and other study abroad students are especially meaningful because we all experienced the same type of difficulties of being in a new cultural environment. If one is going into a new culture, they must be fully immersed to understand it and get the most out of the opportunities.
With studying abroad, do not be afraid of being far away from home. Meeting new people is such a fun experience and develops one’s character! Gaining relationships with people of another culture is something so special and lasting for lifelong situations.
A semester abroad in Florence, Italy left me with a perspective I have never experienced before and has provided me with lifelong thoughts. When I arrived in Europe, I was anxious for the next four months and what the Lord had in store for me. Throughout my time, I felt waves of excitement, pure joy, and love for the beautiful sights I was seeing every day. There was a constant sense of being overwhelmed by God’s creation because of how much there is to be thankful for and appreciate.
From the start, I knew my photography class was going to be my favorite. My professor, Cosimo Bargellini, lived in Florence which gave us a direct source of Italian culture, especially considering he was also a professional photographer. Our class consisted of walking around the city, learning techniques of photographing, and enjoying each other’s company. Although he was fluent in English, Cosimo was still raised in the Italian culture. This provided a slight obstacle in that I did not fully understand everything about his culture since I was raised completely different.
Our verbal communication was acknowledgeable because Cosimo taught based off his experience and practice in photography. By discussing and showing aspects like exposure levels, shutter speed, and framing a picture, the students, myself included, learned new approaches about the way we had previously known about photography. We had differences though, relating to our faith and politics. Cosimo had grown up in a Catholic church but once he was older, he decided to become a Buddhist and focus intently on the lifestyle. One day in class, Cosimo talked about how he had hope for his next life and that it would be even better than his current. I immediately asked him to explain his thoughts further and he described how he lives following the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhism obviously is different from the Christian religion that I have grown up in, but I was still able to open my mind up to hear Cosimo’s opinions about life and the afterlife. Without alternate viewpoints, we are all agreeing on the same idea and this will not generate new concepts that could ultimately benefit a community of people. I did not agree with Cosimo’s religion because of my own but I am still able to respect and understand how Cosimo thinks, something that benefits our intercultural relationship.
His view on politics also differed from my own, but I did not let that affect our bond through the lens and about the beautiful world in which we live. Italians generally criticized the ways of “greedy Americans” and the decisions we make as a country. They especially denounced our current president, Donald Trump, and his ideas for the future of the United States. I do not particularly like to argue with people about politics because most of the time I am not knowledgeable enough and think it can be pointless in that people can be set in their ways. Despite my personal feelings, I could understand Cosimo’s feelings in that he had a heart for the nature and animals on this earth. He would tell our class stories of his expeditions in the wild, surrounded by the purest form of a safari and the amazing tigers that he photographed. His passion for photography and showing emotion through his pictures is what is truly important, not how we disagree on politics.
I think my experience with Italians abroad, specifically Cosimo, was such an important life lesson for others and any future I have with other intercultural relationships. There are always going to be stereotypes about people of different cultures, race, or ideas but we must not let that stand in the way of connecting with others and learning about alternate lifestyles. In hindsight, I absolutely loved meeting people of other viewpoints. It expanded my personal knowledge and provided me with the ability to have a stronger compassion and perception of others, something that I believe can always be enhanced. Focusing on other’s actions, both verbal and nonverbal, is the best way we can comprehend how they are feeling and do our best to further unity among one another.
Cosimo Bargellini, my photography teacher during my study abroad class in Florence, Italy.
A few episodes ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Paul Schaefer, a professor of religion at Grove City College.
Something I loved about that interview was the way he talked about his students. It was clear he adores them. He talked about their joy and their eagerness to learn. He talked about the passion he has for teaching them. All of it highlighted to me how wonderful of a professor he is.
It had another effect too, though. It caused me to want to hear the student side of the story — what do his students have to say about him?
In this episode of Reel Life, I sat down with one of them to answer that question.
What do seniors in high school and a junior accounting major from Grove City College have in common? Well yes, neither is going to have to take the annoying and stressful ACT /SAT tests again… But besides that, I was thinking more along the lines that neither really knows what they want to do with their future. I can say this speaking from self-experience and observing others. It may sound cliché, but no one knows what they truly want to do with their future, and if you do not believe me ask your parents. My father has worked at the same location for the past 27 years and he comes home most days saying he does not know what he wants to do with his life. So how did we go from having a title about switching majors to this tangent about how most people do not know what they want to do with their lives? I choose to take this route because this is my current position and this lack of knowing has not only inspired me to try new things throughout my time here at Grove City College but to also have faith, so let me elaborate.
My freshman year of college I came in as a chemistry major. Seems like a good idea right? For some people this may be the perfect fit for them but for me… not so much. In choosing to go to college I had no idea what I wanted to be and in a somewhat hap hazardous way decided that since I took a year of chemistry in high school and liked it that I would go to college and become a… who knows. Throughout my first semester I was pushed and stretched mentally and the 16 credits of chemistry, physics, calculus, biblical revelations, and fitness and wellness really threw me for a loop. I was constantly working to keep up and knew that I was a chemistry major but had absolutely no clue why. A major shifting point for me was when I attended the Grove City College annual Career Fair and immediately became aware that I had no desire to do any of the jobs that an individual with a chemistry major would be equipped to do. I still remember that day vividly. I left the Career Fair freaking out wondering what I had gotten myself into. I was working harder and studying more than I had ever studied before and had no desire to be doing anything in the field of chemistry. So, I ran (literally) to my room from the Career Fair and called my parents, on the verge of tears, telling them I was ruined. I had made the biggest mistake of my life, but what I didn’t know was that this was just part of a bigger plan.
After the long phone call with my parents I decided that chemistry was not the major for me and no matter the implications of changing majors I was going to switch, but to what? I had people suggest various majors to me but what I felt in that moment drawn to (see this common trend of me making these big “in the moment” decisions to decide my future) business management. I felt that this was the “career” for me. So, I finished out my first semester as a chemistry major and in the final weeks dropped the chemistry major and added business management.
Typically when you think about college, you think about it taking up four years of your life (or longer). Although I thoroughly enjoy college and all of the rigorous work, I constantly think about being done and having a “big girl” job. With that being said, when I heard someone mention “graduating early,” I had to look into it.
I went to my academic advisor and asked if graduating early was even possible for me. Shockingly, he said yes. Both of us looked into how many credits I would have to take each semester and the required classes needed for my major. My advisor told me he thought it was a great idea to try and graduate a semester early. He mentioned the benefits of starting the job search early and bringing joy to my bank account.
Every major at Grove City College has a Status Sheet which gives the required hours for each major and a suggested four-year course plan. Looking at mine (for Marketing Management), I noticed that some semesters only had 14 or 15 credit hours listed while others had the maximum of 17. If I tried to graduate a semester early, I realized that I would most likely need to have 17 credits each semester. Even then, I still would not have enough hours to graduate. I had to look at my options.
My options would be to take online classes, which the College offers, or take over 17 credit hours during some semesters. I decided to go with the online class option. I have taken two of them so far through Grove City College, and have been delighted with the payoff. Both of my online courses were over our winter breaks, which allowed me to spend time with family and friends as well as gain credit hours. And if you decide not to graduate early, online courses are a great way to lighten your regular semester course load.
Another way I added credit hours was by completing a summer internship. I worked in the Marketing and Operations departments of a bank. I was able to earn four credits toward my major requirements through this experience which made it all the more worth while. I highly recommend internships for the work experience, but it is also extremely beneficial to receive college credit for them as well. Also, just as a side note, employers highly consider prospective employees that have done an internship. More importantly, the internships done for college credit can be checked out by the company you worked for along with your faculty sponsor at the College: win, win.
With all of that being said, it is absolutely possible to graduate a semester early. With the help of your advisor and by planning out the remainder of your semesters, obtaining that degree a little sooner than normal means substantial monetary savings as well as a jump on the job market.
Grove City College will be hosting its annual Admitted Student Day on Saturday, April 7, 2018 from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. This event is a great opportunity for accepted high school seniors to experience an entire day on Grove City’s campus with a full schedule of sessions presented by various groups. These sessions will offer information about several resources on campus such as the Office of Career Services and the Office of Student Life & Learning. In addition, students will be able to connect with each other and meet their potential classmates during mock classes and the Grover Connect Mixer hosted by the Orientation Board (OB). Meanwhile, parents will get the chance to learn about their child’s future education through seminars hosted by the Academic Resource Center and the Office of Financial Aid.
Student Experiences
I had the chance to talk with two current Grove City College students about their personal experiences at Admitted Student Day, and how it helped them before arriving to campus in the fall.
“I was already committed when I went to Admitted Student Day, but being there helped me out in so many different ways. Coming from a small high school, it was really awesome to see so many potential classmates, and be given the opportunity to meet them and interact with them through different things that OB put on throughout the day. It also gave me a picture of what it would look like to be on campus with other people. … In general, it just got me really excited to be going there and to really get a feel for what being a Grove City student would look like.”
-Rebecca Cloyd, Freshman
“My biggest thing about Admitted Student Day was meeting other students who were admitted too. It got me excited about going college with these people, and I made some friends that day who are still my friends today. I loved the community and that’s what helped me decide to come to Grove City.”
-Maddison Reapsome, Junior
Register
If you would like to attend Admitted Student Day at Grove City College, the registration tab is located at the bottom of http://www.gcc.edu/Info/Events-News/Admissions-Events/Open-Houses/Admitted-Student-Day. The website also gives a detailed schedule of events for the day and what more to expect. All in attendance will be asked to report to the Physical Learning Center at the beginning of the day. Grove City hopes to see you there!
Mark is an Entrepreneurship major at Grove City College and the founder of Té Amo Organic Tea. This socially conscious venture donates a percentage of its proceeds to plant trees in Haiti. For every tea bottle sold, Té Amo promises to plant one tree.
On this episode of Reel Life at Grove City College, I sat down with Mark to ask him about his business, the professors who inspired him, and the classes that helped him along his journey. Mark’s college experience is an adventure filled with risk and reward. By listening to his story, I hope you get the sense that college students can take many paths toward success, even toward entrepeneurial success, while still attending classes in a four year program.
