Caroline Reed, a senior political science and business management student, has found greater confidence in her calling and faith through Geneva. As she has sought challenging opportunities and pursued new interests passionately, Caroline has discovered what it means to fully engage in community and to give back out of gratitude.

Caroline knew Geneva College was the place for her even back in her freshman year of high school. When her older sister came to tour, Caroline joined and left with a strong impression that Geneva created a hospitable environment where professors truly wanted to get to know their students.

“I was under no pressure to decide at the time, but I just knew that Geneva was the right place for me.”

While she knew what school she wanted to attend early on, Caroline wasn’t so sure about what major to choose. She decided on business management because her father did well coming out of that program when he attended Geneva.

Once a student, Caroline soon discovered interests she didn’t know she had. As a second semester freshman, she was on a van ride to an away tennis match when her phone died. Bored, she took a printed homework assignment from her friend and read an excerpt from John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty for the next two hours.

“It was the most interesting two hours and also one of the most path-altering. I had no idea why the reading was making so much sense, but I felt like it was speaking my language. It was explaining how the world works, the structures that govern us, and why that’s so important.”

Caroline decided to declare a political science major after talking further to political science faculty and studying Comparative Politics. Having wanted to study abroad since coming to Geneva, her second major opened that opportunity through the chance to study Political Theory and Comparative History at the University of Oxford.

Caroline gained more than a fuller understanding of her disciplines while studying abroad, although the discussions that guided her academics grew her substantially. She also experienced the importance of community.

“My friend and I made it our mission to get to know the people that were living in the area. What is their story and their history? What does it mean to do life here? If I just go as a tourist, I won’t get to know the man who reads his newspaper on the curb every day or the students that line the courtyard every time there’s a rare sunny day. The more you engage life like that, the richer it becomes.”

The rigor of the questions that professors and other students asked while she was studying abroad also changed how Caroline engaged in her courses.

“So often in the classroom, I had found myself going along with the stream of thought of whoever is speaking, and not actually asking questions for myself and thinking critically about the text. I decided when I came back to Geneva that I was going to start asking more questions and looking at how I could relate the theories being taught to other classes and experiences.”

Caroline did just that in exploring the connections between her business management and political science majors. She had from the start recognized some interesting intersections between economic shifts she studied in business classes and political circumstances in the U.S. and abroad. One project that helped her to think about both majors in conjunction was a research paper on human resource management models in socialist markets.

“It was kind of like walking into an office in another country. The research inspired me to want to learn more, even after the project was done – maybe someday I will have to travel and see what these systems look like in person.”

The passion to learn that Caroline’s research project, as well as other classes, sparked in her has been cultivated by many dedicated faculty members.

“Being poured into academically is something I’m so grateful for. It’s one thing when you’re trying to cultivate motivation yourself to keep pushing on, but it’s another when a professor comes alongside you and offers advice and support. Especially for me, Dr. Neikirk modeled what it means to invest in students. In moments where you don’t believe in your skill, he will take an immense amount of time to help you through a difficult concept and encourage you. It’s made me more confident in my understanding and motivated me to work as he works.”

As Caroline has been invested in, she has used her talents to invest in her community as well. She was a leader on the Adventure Team in Geneva's Center for Student Engagement, and had the opportunity to lead outdoor activities, plan backpacking trips, and practice rescue climbs and evacuations. She recalls one trip to Cooper’s Rock, West Virginia, where she helped guide students in rock-climbing.

“It’s so rewarding to see students you wouldn’t expect just totally thrive when they get out into the wilderness and to offer them encouragement. I remember being so proud of one student who really stepped out of their comfort zone.”

Caroline’s own confidence in her self and her faith have also grown in her time at Geneva. She feels more able to pursue weighty but rewarding opportunities, and to share her beliefs.

“Coming here, my faith hinged a lot on internal ideas, and not so much the fruit that I was producing and the way I was investing in my community. But I have a purpose here, and the Lord has enabled me to talk to others – to share my faith, or even what I am wrestling with. That has taken a lot of my friendships to the next level.”

Caroline further invested in her community in a new way this past summer with an internship in a government relations role at Aquatech, an international company based in her hometown of Canonsburg that specializes in producing technologies that improve water recyclability, mineral extraction, desalination, and wastewater treatment. Caroline’s interest in the community impacts and environmental regulation of AI data centers aligns perfectly with her role, which she sees the Lord as having been faithful in providing.

“College taught me to take those little steps of bravery in pursuing new things. It taught me how to open my eyes and see my community and environment and the beauty in my surroundings. The minute I realized that, I saw that it’s so much more worth it to get out of bed every day and invest, not just for my own sake but also for the fruit that it creates in other people’s lives.”