Tag: warriors

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10 Reasons I am Grateful to be a Grover

1. I have a new home-away-from-home, and it’s beautiful!

Seriously, have you seen this campus? If you have not, you need to! Here are a few pictures to hold you over until you can come visit us.

2. So many amazing people have been Grovers.

All it takes to be impressed by past Grovers is a quick perusal of the alumni achievement award winners. Find them here: alumni.gcc.edu 

These stories just scratch the surface. Countless entrepreneurs, business executives, authors, lawyers, and engineers have used their Grove City degree to make an impact.

3. So many amazing people ARE Grovers!

Did you catch that subtle difference? Hint: I put it in all caps to help you out. 

I could go on for hours about the phenomenal people I have met here, but I will save some time, and let you find out for yourself.

4. As a Grover, I have the privilege to learn from some of the best professors around.

I couldn’t imagine going to college without these professors. The faculty here is more caring and understanding than I expected college professors to be. They really are here to help their students learn and grow as people. Not only are the profs incredibly intelligent, knowledgeable, and helpful, they are also fun and enthusiastic about their respective areas of expertise. Fun story: I once had a professor jump off of a table because he was so excited about Vivaldi. That is the kind of passion you find at Grove City.

If you want to find out more about our outstanding faculty, check out some of the faculty feature blog posts or this link: Faculty Directory

5. Being a Grover means I am challenged everyday.

Grove City College prides itself on rigorous academics, and there is a reason for that. The nature of the curriculum ensures that you will not be able to get away with sleeping in class. But why would you want to do that anyway? You will learn so much (even in the humanities core) that your tuition dollars will be well worth it.

6. It has taught me what it means to live, learn, and worship in community.

Because Grove City is a relatively small school, students have the opportunity to a much larger proportion of the student body than at a larger college or university. I personally know the majority of people in my major, but I have also had the opportunity to meet people outside of my major through core classes that all students are required to take.

Not only do Grovers live and learn in community, we also worship together, both during weekly chapel services and on Thursday night Warriors services. Warriors is a student-led worship service held in the chapel. If you want to read more about it, check out this student blog:

7. I understand things that only Grovers get.

King McNulty. Shoe in the door. The swim test. The scooter gang.

Hierarchy of people at Grove City:   1. Jesus    2. Ronald Reagan    3. C.S. Lewis    4. President McNulty

These might not make a lot of sense to you right now, but Grovers get it.

8. By the time I graduate, I’ll have spent four years in a community that strives to glorify God in all things.

Yes, even sports.

9. I get to learn from the unique successes and failures of Grovers who have gone before me and come back to campus just because they care.

I can’t count the number of alums who have come back to speak on campus. Their stories are always inspiring, informative, and insightful. The best part is that they come back because they love the College and they care about the students.

10. Most of all (as you may have guessed already), I am grateful to be a Grover because of all the wonderful people here.

Considering five of my points have been about people, this should not be a surprise. These ten points can be summed up as follows: You will not find people like those at Grove City College anywhere else!

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Brought to Tears My First Night at Grove City College: The Warriors Experience

If you’ve never visited Grove, you might not know about the every-Thursday-night, student-run worship tradition here. It’s called Warriors, and it brought me to tears the first time I experienced it.

I come from the greater New York City area. I grew up going to a very secular public school where most of my teachers wouldn’t even mention God. When they did, it usually wasn’t positive. It was often derogatory, in fact. People have asked me since if it was tough going through a school career like that, but honestly, it wasn’t. It was a bit annoying at times, but for the most part, it was so normal that I never really thought about it. I thought that was just ‘the way things were.’

All that changed when I visited Grove City for the first time and the girls I was staying with on my over-night brought me to Warriors.

Like I mentioned, every Thursday night, students flock to worship together at Warriors. It’s run by students, for students. Well over a hundred come every week. From 9 to 10 p.m., we turn off all the lights in the on-campus chapel, and just sing worship songs for an hour. It’s a beautiful and overwhelming experience.

When I went there during my first visit to Grove City, I didn’t know what to expect, but I certainly wasn’t expecting what it turned out to be. I went to a small church in New York.  I’d never seen so many people come together in worship before, especially not so many young people, and all by their own choice. Looking around at what could have been hundreds of eager faces in the dim-lit chapel made tears come to my eyes before we even started singing. And then, when the first song came on, I lost it. All of those individual faces turned into one, powerful voice. Goosebumps raced through me. To put it plainly, I was changed.

I came into that service feeling so many things at once. I was a highschooler in the midst of my college search, getting ready to make a huge decision, and I felt like I had a lot on my plate. Going to Warriors melted all of that away for me. Looking back, what it left in my anxiety’s place was a huge sense of gratitude. I felt so grateful that a place like this existed—and that it existed in a college I could call home if I wanted to.

It’s hard to choose the ‘one moment’ I knew I wanted to be at Grove City College, but if I had to, this experience would probably be it. It still gives me chills to think back on. Now as a junior, I still try go to Warriors every Thursday, no matter how full my schedule is. Even though I’m at a school where my professors pray before class and I see Bible study groups on the grass when I walk out of buildings, I can remember my public school in New York. I think back at its antagonism and how out-of-the-ordinary Christianity was to people there. I can’t help but be filled with gratitude at the contrast. I can’t help but cherish my first Warriors experience—my first time seeing what a prayerful, thriving church looks like.

So the point of all of that is to say this: If you get a chance to visit Grove City at some point, I hope you’ll make time to go to Warriors. Try to visit on a Thursday night. You won’t regret it. And if you’re used to big churches and faithful Christians being around you at all times, cherish that. Whether you go to school here or not, surround yourself with that. It is beyond important, and not something that ever ought to be taken for granted.

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What is the Spiritual Atmosphere Like on Grove City’s Campus?

One of the main questions prospective students ask the Office of Admissions at Grove City College is, “What is the spiritual atmosphere like on campus?” According to Jenny Moyer, a sophomore sociology and business major, “it depends what you make of it.” She went on to say that “it has the opportunity to be as much as you want, but it is up to you.”

One’s spiritual walk with the Lord looks different to each and every person. You might find your greatest worship and enjoyment of the Lord through Bible studies, church services, mentorship, mission trips or worship nights. In the paragraphs below, I have highlighted some of the main areas of Grove City’s spiritual atmosphere and share a little bit of my journey. I hope it gives you a glimpse into what it would be like to be a student at GCC.

Bible Study

In terms of Bible studies on campus, there are a lot of different options to get involved. There are Greek Group Bible studies, Bible studies through Campus Ministries who help facilitate the creation of groups based on an individuals’ schedule, and of course, Bible studies that you can get involved in within the local church community.

chapel
Picture provided by Grove City College

Church

Just within walking distance from the college, there are many local churches. These include, but are not limited to, East Main Presbyterian, Christ Presbyterian Church located in the YMCA, Grace United Methodist Church and Tower Presbyterian Church.

Churches that are within a 20 minute drive that many students attend are Sandy Lake Wesleyan, Grove City Alliance Church and Gateway Evangelical Presbyterian Church. For more information on different denominations, times and locations, please see the Local Churches page on the Grove City College website. 

ICO: Inter City Outreach

In regards to mission trips, many students are involved in ICO’s. ICO stands for “Inner City Outreach” and are organized by Grove City students and take place over various breaks, like Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. Each ICO team partners with a local church or ministry in the area that needs volunteers. Grove City has ICO’s going all over the world ranging from Jamaica, to California and even to Guatemala. Each individual team member of the ICO is responsible for raising the adequate amount of support by sending out support letters to family and friends, bake sales and more. Typically the cost of an international ICO trip ranges from $1,000 -$3,500, while local trips cost less than a few hundred dollars.

 

ICO's

Warriors

Every Thursday night, Grove City College hosts Warriors at 9 p.m. in Harbison Chapel. Warriors is a group of students who are enthusiastic to share their talents for the glory of God. Within the dimly lit chapel, students are welcome to come in and out during the worship time, sing or just sit and listen to the voices that are raised up to God. The group also hosts Extreme Warriors for those who like to start their week off right on Monday mornings in the Chapel.

My Journey

I personally have participated in a mentoring program with one of the seniors on campus. We get dinner every Tuesday evening and it has been an incredible time to just be filled and be reminded, especially during stressful times, to look at the my life in perspective of eternity. I also attend Warriors every Thursday night. I genuinely appreciate the dimly lit chapel where I can worship the Lord in my own way without feeling like people are looking at me. I also attend the Grove City Alliance Church every Sunday and was part of the worship team last semester.

So, for me, to answer your question of what Grove City College’s spiritual atmosphere is like, I would agree with the statement “you will seek [the Lord] and find Him, when you seek Him with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). Basically, it is not difficult to find the opportunities to grow in your faith. There are a ton of different opportunities at Grove City, but it is up to you to pursue them if that is what you desire.