If you go to Grove City College, you know you are a part of something pretty special. With a community of under 2,500 students, you tend to always know what's going on. There are a lot of qualities that most of us here share.
1. Ring by spring is your lifestyle -- or the exact opposite.
There are a few token things that people think of when they hear of Grove City College, and the phrase, "ring by spring," tends to be one of the first ones they mention. Whether you love or hate the idea of ring by spring, it definitely affects your view of many things around campus, including the classic Grover couple.
2. You can't empathize with the concept of a large class size.
The closest you will ever get to being in a thousand person lecture hall is going to chapel. You can't empathize with having a large class size because your largest class is about 50 people sitting in a comparatively small lecture room for general bio.
3. You get sick at the sight of a generic "Thank You" grocery bag.
You know there's a definite difference between a "sack lunch" and a "SAC lunch." Whether you love or hate getting food from the GeDunk, we can all agree it isn't exactly gourmet dining. Even so, you will always appreciate the chance to get food when you don't have time to sit in the busy dining halls.
4. The phrase, "snow day," isn't in your vocabulary.
You feel bad for the southerners on campus who wake up to some flurries and automatically think "snow day!" Are there a few inches on the ground? No big deal: you can still walk to class. Is there a foot of snow on the ground with a layer of frozen rain on top? Well, you better put your boots on and suck it up because lab is not canceled, your Econ test is worth 20 percent of your grade, and you still have a presentation due today.
5. You don't associate "BARS" with alcohol.
You're tired of getting that weird look when you slip up and use the word "BARS" around people who aren't from Grove. As a Biblical and Religious Studies major, you start to get tired of telling people no, you are not going to school for bartending, especially not on this alcohol-free campus.
6. You know what to expect on any day above 60 degrees.
Does the day even remotely resemble spring? It does?! Then you can bet your college tuition there are couples on the quad, people playing SpikeBall and ultimate frisbee, and all studying is taken outside. Thanks to the outdoor theater behind HAL, even the dream of having class outside can, and does, come true!
7. "Sheltered" is a word you frequently use for many reasons.
One of the most accurate things heard on the Grove City campus is that "one half of the students are homeschoolers, and the other half are homeschoolers at heart." Though that may not be true of everybody, it sure is true of a lot of Grover students. We're a bunch of overly-friendly, unworldly, sometimes socially awkward people, and most of us wouldn't have it any other way.
8. You win most debates on politics or religion.
"The Princess Bride" reminds us that the most famous blunder is "never get involved in a land war in Asia," but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line" when, in reality, it should be "Never go against a Grover when politics are on the line."
9. Hearing chanting on campus doesn't automatically mean Greek life.
Campus traditions mean that chanting has a large variety of causes. From carrying the recently made fiance through campus and dumping him in the creek at the end of his senior year, to tying up a freshman boy on his birthday and leaving him in the girls' courtyard at three in the morning, chanting on the GCC campus has many meanings.
10. Your work ethic goes above and beyond expectations.
Being a Grover means that you might cut corners when it's three in the morning and you have an essay due the next day, but when you have a dance to plan or an event to coordinate, you better believe that everything is planned to perfection and with painful amounts of detail.
