My Grove City journey began at a college fair in my hometown when my History teacher suggested I visit the Grove City booth in 1995. I added GCC to the schools I was considering, including the University of Cincinnati and General Motors Institute (now Kettering). After multiple visits, meeting Dr. Clauss, and talking with my parents, I decided on Grove City—if I was accepted. Looking back, there was no way I could have fully appreciated what a life changing decision that would be. My primary considerations in choosing Grove City were the environment, the size, and the cost. I grew up in a Christian home, attended a small-town high school, and was going to be paying (or borrowing) for college myself. Reflecting, the person I would marry, churches we’d attend, the work I would do, how we’d raise our children, and even where our oldest child would attend college all were impacted by that single decision. Because my time at Grove City would be formational in my worldview, theological grounding, career perspective and purpose, and more.
I grew up in Northwest Ohio on a (very) small farm. I have two brothers and one sister. My dad worked in a foundry and then a machine shop, and I started working with him during the summer when I was 14. I developed a curiosity and creativity around mechanical design and working with my hands to create things. Two of my uncles are engineers and enjoyed the work they did and allowed their nephew to explore AutoCAD at a young age. I was good at math and science and decided pretty early in high school I wanted to be an engineer.
Reflecting on my time at Grove City, I remember feeling driven (it was difficult and a LOT of work!), challenged (I was thinking about who I was and who God is differently than I had), and anxious for what was next. The engineering curriculum was challenging and demanding, and there wasn’t a lot of spare time. Freshman year, I played string bass in the orchestra and I joined the Tri Rhos my sophomore year. As I recall, I played intramural ultimate frisbee, football, softball, and basketball with the Rhos and served as our Chaplain senior year. I also worked as a security guard in Siberia during the school year and had two summer jobs until the summer between my junior and senior years, when I landed my first and only internship with Delphi Packard.
So there wasn’t a lot of free time, but I do remember quiet moments of reflection and prayer in Harbison some evenings and many walks around the campus enjoying the beauty of each season. Of course, whatever was left of my “spare” time vanished starting at the Graffiti dance freshman year, where I (literally) bumped into a girl from Texas, Diane Schaeffer (’01). Diane and I started dating not long after that and shared many of those walks across campus together over the next four years. We were engaged the summer before our senior year and married the September after we graduated in 2001, two weeks after 9-11. We shared time together during intervis, in the Gee, studying in the library, attending the Crimson Ball and other school dances and events together, and grew closer to each other during our time together at GCC. This year, we are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, and I’ll be forever grateful that God led us both to Grove City and to the same time and space at the 1997 Graffiti dance.
Specific classes and professors that stand out to me include Bib Rev with Dr. Thrasher, Calc II with Dr. Thompson, Fluids with Dr. Clauss, Design with Dr. Reuber, and Senior Design with Dr. Archibald. I also really enjoyed Dr. Allison’s classes, as he brought his practical experience to the coursework in a helpful and relatable way. I have no doubt that my education prepared me for my career and, more importantly, helped shape my values.
I started my professional career two days after graduation in Houston, Texas, as a Design Engineer with Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America. Today, I serve as the Vice President of Engineering for Designed Conveyor Systems, where I lead a remote team of over 100 engineers in the design and integration of automated material handling systems for the likes of Amazon, FedEx, UPS, Walmart, and others. I am most proud of our family and the values our kids live. Not perfectly, but consistently. They know what they believe and love others. On the professional side, I’m most pleased with the culture change I have been able to implement in multiple organizations and the leaders of people we have developed in the process. Which, again, goes back to knowing what we believe and loving others.
A few years ago, as our oldest son was making his own decision to attend Grove City, we realized that he would be a “legacy” student. That term, legacy, that we use for second generation Grovers is really what it’s all about. The legacy of what we do lives on in the impact we have on the lives of the people we live and work with—our families, our coworkers, and our friends. And I think that’s the real story of Grove City College for me. The legacy of that one decision to attend Grove City has had such an impact on my own life and on the lives of the people I’ve lived and worked with. Not perfectly, but thanks to the grace of God and for His Glory, the legacy is made in the day-to-day ordinary living of life over those four years on campus and in all the years since. And I believe that legacy of impact will continue in my own life and in the lives impacted by all alumni, students, and future Grovers because of who Grove City is and the ongoing commitment to independence, academic excellence, and Christian character 150 years after its founding.