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On March 16, 2020, the governor of Pennsylvania issued a state-wide stay at home order due to increasing concerns regarding COVID-19. Up until this point, Grove City College was one of the last schools still open. But with this order, the Grove was forced to shut down and move to online classes. However, there were some of us that could not go home for one reason or another. The 30 or so of us that stayed behind nicknamed ourselves The Remnant. During the time I spent marooned on campus, I journaled about what life was like.

 

When we last left off, I had survived the first day of online classes. I had also discovered that I would be putting my computer skills to great use helping my professors with the transition to online classes.

 

March 24, 2020

I slept in today, and it was lovely. Probably wasn’t a good idea in the long run as I did nothing productive throughout the morning but it was still nice. I’ve begun to develop a hobo beard. It looks the opposite of good but as I see very few people nowadays I don’t have the motivation to shave. And thus I am left in this bearded limbo of sorts. As I’ve spent more time improving with my balisong I’ve begun to notice the extremely poor quality of my current trainer. I had around twenty dollars worth of Amazon gift card balance so I decided to order a new one. I haven’t been this excited for a package in some time. At one o’clock I logged onto Teams for my video production class. My partner and I for our current project thought that the deadline for the first edit was due today, so we had effectively finished it. Much to our surprise, most of the rest of the class hadn’t even shot all their footage, much less edited it. Both Matt and I were very excited to hear this as it means we don’t really need to do anything for that class until the end of next week. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing some readings and working through some Spanish homework. -Jacob

 

It is a great feeling to be ahead of schedule on a project. Because of our happy little accident, we did not have to do any more work for that class for the rest of the week. Sadly, I do not usually have the motivation to work ahead like this. This is something I think I can stand to work on. Working ahead is a great habit to get into, especially in college. It gives you much more freedom to spend time with friends, relax, and work on hobbies. It is also a great safeguard against forgetting assignments.

 

Stay tuned for further installments of The Remnant!

On March 16, 2020, the governor of Pennsylvania issued a state-wide stay at home order. At this time, Grove City College was one of the few schools that remained open despite COVID-19. Sadly, this order finally forced the Grove to send its students home and move to online classes. But some students could not go home. We became “The Remnant,” the last bastion of students on campus. We could not go home for a variety of reasons. Personally, I live in Hawaii, which had heavy travel restrictions at the time. The other factor was a six-hour time difference between Grove City and Hawaii, meaning I would have been getting up at two in the morning for Spanish class. On the other hand, one member lived nearby, but chose to stay on-campus because one of his family members was in a high-risk group for COVID.

During my time on campus, I began journaling about what it was like to be one of 30 or so remaining students. My last installation of “The Remnant” left off on the Sunday before online classes began. 

 

March 23, 2020

My first day of online classes is officially out of the way. The test this morning went surprisingly smooth. I felt like I had an answer for everything and that my hours of studying had paid off. Time will tell whether my grade reflects this confidence. Most professors, while disgruntled, seem to be adjusting well. I’ve had several opportunities to put my tech-savviness to use helping other students and even some professors get a handle on things. After classes I put some of the finishing touches on the assembly edit of Matt and my interview project. I’m really happy with how it’s looking at this stage. I can’t wait to see how it turns out once we get all the graphics implemented. 

In order to keep myself active I’ve been doing sprints up and down my hall periodically. It feels really good to be moving around but my thighs have become increasingly sore. I must admit I’m getting tired of ramen. However, it’s cold out, and I’d rather not walk all the way to Hicks. -Jacob 

 

I had the misfortune of my first online class period being a test, but I made the most of it. My mention of using my technological skills to help some students and professors was merely a preview of what was to come. While there were many downsides to online classes, they gave me a unique outlet to put my skills to use helping others, which was a great feeling. I have found that obstacles we come across in life are usually God-given opportunities. While it may sometimes be difficult to recognize such opportunities, God will often reward us for following through on them. If you ever find yourself in such an inconvenient situation, I encourage you to find such an outlet to serve others. 

Stay tuned for further installments of The Remnant!

On March 16 2020, the governor of Pennsylvania issued a state-wide stay at home order in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Up until this point, most businesses had closed. The Grove was one of the last schools still open. Sadly, with this order from the governor, the school was finally forced to close and move to online classes. However, there were those of us that could not go home for one reason or another. The 30 or so of us still on campus nicknamed ourselves “The Remnant.” During my time with The Remnant, I journaled about what it was like for me on campus. 

In my last journal entry, The Remnant had our first game night. It was an absolute blast, despite how much I got crushed playing ping-pong with some seniors. It is now Sunday, the last day before online classes begin.

 

March 22, 2020

Today I woke up around eight o’clock with visions of great productivity and study time. However, while my mind loved this prospect, my body had other ideas. For the past few days, despite getting plenty of sleep I’ve been feeling tired and draggy throughout the late morning and afternoon. I took short naps here and there but they didn’t seem to help. Today at around 10 I decided to lay down for a nap and just see how long I would sleep. I ended up sleeping all the way until 2pm. Apparently 13 hours of sleep was the solution to my dragginess. Throughout the rest of today I felt energetic and motivated. At one point I got up from my desk, did 20 jumping jacks, sprinted up and down the length of my building around five times, did 20 push ups, and ran up and down several flights of stairs. It felt good to get moving and blow off some steam. From two until three I knocked out almost all of the test practice sheets. At three thirty I joined my church back home for a virtual service via live stream. After the service, I finished up the worksheets and studied for another few hours. Once I felt I had studied enough I played games with some friends and went to bed. Overall a great day and I’m feeling confident about my test tomorrow morning. -Jacob

 

It is not often that I feel as motivated as I was that afternoon. I am inclined to believe that the abundance of sleep and the panic of a test the next morning combined to make the perfect adrenaline rush. This also marked the first time I sprinted around my building. I lived in Memorial Hall at the time, which is a giant L shape with very long hallways. Given that I was the only one on my floor, I effectively had my own personal indoor track. Any time I needed to burn off steam or re-energize myself, I simply took off sprinting up and down the halls. While I do not necessarily recommend doing this in the dorms while they are occupied, getting outside and getting some activity can help settle your mind and makes for an excellent study break. 

Stay tuned for further installments of The Remnant!

During the spring semester of 2020, Grove City College was shut down. All classes were moved online in order to comply with a state-wide stay at home order from the governor. However, several students were unable to return home. I was among them. I could not go home due to travel restrictions to and from Hawaii. My friend Janna is from Singapore, whose borders were closed completely at the time. But not all were limited by travel problems. One of us had a high-risk family member living at home. He opted to avoid any risk of infecting them, even though his home was only a few minutes up the road. 

During my time with “The Remnant,” of students remaining on-campus, I journaled about what it was like on campus. We pick back up the day after I met The Remnant. Two days remained until online classes started.

 

March 21st, 2020

As I had hoped, I was much more productive today than I have been previously. Granted, that’s not a very high bar, but I at least got a fair bit of studying done. I attended an optional online study session for Spanish. I already went to an in-person session before the quarantine and she used the same materials, but it was still helpful to make sure I had a handle on the software. I plan to spend a lot of time tomorrow making sure I have all my vocabulary and grammar down for the test on Monday. I’ve noticed a significant improvement in my guitar playing ability. With all the free time I have I’ve been doing various drills and I’ve started learning new songs. My balisong tricks are also getting better but I have a long way to go in that department. I’ve almost run out of breakfast sandwiches so I’ll have to start leaving my room for breakfast soon. Suffice to say I’m not thrilled with that prospect. While the main dining hall has remained open during the shutdown, the quality of the food is less than ideal, and they’ve closed off most of the sections so that the selection is also significantly marred. This evening we had the first Remnant game night. We all got dinner together then headed to ketrec and played just about everything from ping-pong to cards against humanity. It was a great time getting to know everyone and sharing some laughs. Overall today was a great day. -Jacob

 

This entry touched on the other factor besides friends that got me through the worst of quarantine: hobbies. I play guitar and video games, and I learn tricks with a special type of knife called a balisong. Having a variety of hobbies to keep you occupied is great in all of college life, not just quarantine. If I could share one thing I have learned so far in college, it would be that having hobbies is important. It is good to have something you enjoy that you can come back to.

Stay tuned for further installments of The Remnant!

 

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

March 20, 2020

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

 

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

Stay tuned for further installments of The Remnant!

 

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

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

March 18, 2020

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

 

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

 

Stay tuned for further installments of “The Remnant!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Grove City College students are a notoriously driven bunch. It feels like many of us are thinking about what we will be doing post-graduation or over the summer more than anything else. Last semester saw many summer jobs and internships canceled because of the virus, and we have been hesitant to get our hopes up for more opportunities. Many of us were really disappointed and nervous to hear that the Career Fair was not going to be held in person like it usually is. Yet, the online Career Fair put on by the Career Services Office was a complete success, and I suspect there will be lots of jobs and internship positions for this upcoming summer because of it. So, here is some insight as to how it went: 

The entire event was hosted through Handshake, which is a job recruitment application for college students. Weeks in advance, the Career Services Office worked hard to advertise the event to make sure the entire student body knew about the Career Fair. This was a big help to people like myself who do not typically stop to read all the flyers around campus. Student staff wore Career Fair t-shirts, banners were up around campus, and chapel advertised months in advance. It was impossible miss the career fair. 

A few days before the event, the CSO put catalogues in our mailboxes, which listed out every company that would attend the virtual fair. I found this to be very helpful and much more effective than past Career Fairs where I would typically wander around until I stumbled upon a company that interested me. With the catalogs in the mail, I could easily see which companies might be of interest to me and sign up for interviews. Amanda Meyers, an Entrepreneurship major commented about past years, “Most booths are computer science and chemical engineer booths. There are only a couple booths suited for my major.” The new system of sorting out companies ahead of time made connecting with businesses a breeze in comparison to previous years. The use of Handshake made it easy for companies to connect with students as well. Many students had companies reach out and request to interview with them at the fair before the fair had begun. 

Each session was 30 minutes long, which gave businesses adequate time to present to students what their company was all about. The longer sessions allotted  time for students to properly connect with businesses and ask questions as well. Overall, I felt that connecting with companies was much easier through the services offered through the online Career Fair than it was at past in-person fairs. Next year might be in person, or it might be online, but the CSO’s hard work from the past year is going to open new doors even for next year’s Fair.