Grove City College

Date: Jul 27 2016
Major: History/Histories (art history/etc.) (This Major's Salary over time)
Life at Grove City College is in serious need of reform. I regard myself as a very adaptable person, having traveled overseas multiple times and lived in a foreign country for more than six months. However, despite this, I have never been able to adapt to life at Grove City. The college looks attractive on the outside, but is miserable within. This has nothing to do with the faculty and staff; many of my professors have been extremely helpful and all-around excellent people. The students, on an individual basis, can't be blamed either. Whenever they are away from the college, they are among the friendliest and kindest people on the planet. It's only whenever you throw everyone together that things start to go wrong. If I could use two images to describe life on campus, one would be John Calvin's Geneva and the other would be Great Britain's penal settlement in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania). In regards to the first image, Grove City prides itself on its puritanical moral system. I actually have no problem with the rules in and of themselves (as those are the standards I try to live by), but I do have a problem with the rule's enforcement. There is no room for love or mercy, only harsh punishment. In the eyes of the administration, students are totally depraved sinners, whose natural tendencies need to be beaten out of them using whatever means necessary. The result is a seriously repressed student body which does not know how to enjoy life. Grove City is also like Calvin's Geneva in its narrowness of outlook. There is only one correct way of looking at the world, and that is the Biblical Worldview. Anything else is either ignored or, worse, considered heresy. The second image of Grove City College is that of Van Diemen's Land. After the American Revolution, Great Britain was forced to look for a new place to transport their unwanted prisoners. They decided eventually on the newly discovered continent of Australia, setting up the first penal colony at Sydney. South of the mainland is the island of Tasmania, once known as Van Diemen's Land after a Dutch explorer. The island was an inhospitable wilderness where the worst of the convicts were sent to abide in utter desolation and despair. (Read the book The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes for more information). Although students are not forced to attend Grove City, once there it can be difficult for them to escape. There is a daily regimen of mind numbing study to do, with little, if anything, to look forward to in the future. The exclusivity of the student culture, and the general frostiness of the people feeds emotions of isolation and loneliness. I remember several times sitting by the window, trapped in my little room while the wind would howl outside and the rain would lash against the windowpane. There were times also when I would cry myself silently to sleep. I wouldn't be able to count the number of phone calls I made to my mom trying to find some way that I could get adjusted. But there was never any answer except to keep on bearing it. I've seen the life of one of my closest friends fall apart before my very eyes because of this school. My own life nearly fell apart, but I was strong enough to be able to pull through. Of course, when I say all these things, I don't mean that every student will have the same experience. Some may have the time of their life at Grove City and perhaps even meet their future husband or wife. However, for me, whenever I'm at Grove City it will always feel like I am stranded on the far off shores of Van Diemen's Land.