Krystina Groce

           Fourth-year student, Krystina Groce, is currently applying for graduate school. The colleges to which she has submitted applications include Fordham, Old Dominion, the Universities of Hawaii, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and New Hampshire. Next fall, she will pursue a masters degree in English literature. Afterwards, she hopes to earn a doctorate and become a college professor of English literature and Shakespeare.

            At Pace, Krystina has almost completed her requirements as an English major. However, she says her major was “Secondary Education and English until this year when Dr. Martin told [her] if [she’d] like to become a college professor [she’d] need more content-based classes than teaching strategy classes.” So, her schedule for the spring semester is “jam-packed” with literature courses. She will also present her Honors Independent Research Project at the spring conference.

            She chose to minor in Applied Psychology and Counseling. She says, “I have always taken an interest in Psychology and why people think and act the way they do. If I had to recommend a class for anyone at Pace to take, it would be Introduction to Counseling. I think it helps people relate to others and find better ways of communicating.”

            Krystina has also participated in many organizations and clubs during her time at Pace. She was a cheerleader, a member of Future Educators of America, and UNICEF. This year, she is the president of HEAT (Pace’s dance team). She says, “We are trying our best to make [HEAT] an actual sponsored [athletic] team of Pace instead of just an organization. We have meetings and practices three out of five schooldays and hold and co-sponsor events on campus. We also dance at basketball games and the Pep Rally as well as events for other organizations, when requested.”

            Krystina has had the privilege of taking three travel courses at Pace. She traveled and studied Psychology and cultural diversity in Barbados with Dr. Ford and Prof. Walther; learned about Rome: The Eternal City with Dr. Hundersmarck; and most recently, studied literature in Greece and Turkey with Dr. Catalano. This past summer, she also spent time in South Africa teaching underprivileged children how to read through an internship company named “Connect-123.” She says, “These were all a great experience for me and I was very lucky to [travel].  I suggest anyone who hasn't traveled to make every attempt to do so!”