Thiel Happenings

Thiel College engaged the western Pennsylvania science community and celebrated high school educators with a series of awards that were presented during a science-themed Office of Admission visit day.

Jade Rhoads ’23, of Franklin, Pa., was recently named the Office of Admission Thiel Team Member of the Month for March.

The 27th annual Kappa Sigma See-Saw-A-Thon to raise money for the Military Heroes Campaign begins at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 31, and will continue for 72 consecutive hours until 1 p.m. Sunday, April 3 on the lawn near the intersection of routes 18 and 58 in front of Thiel College’s Howard Miller Student Center.

Ashley and Kevin Strouse told their shared Thiel story

Ashley ’06 and Kevin Strouse ’06 were the featured speakers at the March 23rd Ruth A. Miller Senior Business Seminar.  Ashley is an insurance agent with Peterson & Strouse Insurance Agency, LLC. in Pittsburgh, PA and Kevin is a self-employed contractor, who also works part-time in the insurance industry.  Ashley and Kevin shared their Thiel experiences, the many challenges and opportunities they have encountered in their careers, and the challenges of balancing demanding careers with raising children.

“The class welcomed Kevin and Ashley Strouse, both class of ’06. Ashley currently works as an insurance agent for her family business, Peterson & Strouse Agency, LLC in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. Kevin works as an independent contractor and as a part time insurance agent for Ashley’s family business.” Dan Myers ’22

“Neither Ashley nor Kevin knew exactly what they wanted to do going into college as Ashley went into college undecided and Kevin said he was ‘majoring in football.’ Ashley explained how even after graduation she wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted to do.” Madeline DePalma ’22

“He originally thought about studying engineering, but after struggling academically his freshman year, he decided to major in business. He met Ashley at Thiel and she helped him get through school.” Trey Williams ’22

“Kevin came to Thiel the way many of us do, to play a sport. Kevin had no idea what he wanted to do with his life, he just knew he was playing football. Once he had his first semester under his belt, he didn’t have the best grades and realized he needed to do better. Once Kevin met Ashley, he was set on the straight and narrow.” Emily Sears ’22

 “The Strouses spoke on their careers after graduation. Ashley joined her family’s multi-generational insurance agency after helping her father while she was interning at the Pittsburgh Airport Chamber of Commerce.” Owen Sa ’22

“Kevin found what he wanted to do with his life when he got in a car accident and was tasked with working with an insurance adjuster. So, after he graduated from Thiel he went and worked as an adjuster for a few years before being promoted.” Richard Crooks ’22

“It was good to see two completely different routes to jobs for a couple and how they make it work even with kids. They are great people, and it was wonderful to learn their stories as it gave me hope for the future.” Logan Long ’22

“Kevin expressed to us an important point of job consistency and that the only thing that was consistent in work is that everything is always changing.” Abigail Cico ’22

“His jobs didn’t always work out as he was laid off, fired, quit, and so on, but he learned something from each job and took something from it to the next. We may not stay at a job for the long road for various reasons, but we can still learn something from that job to carry to the next one. This was one lesson I learned from him in particular.” Angela Sorg ’23

“He went on to explain his hardships with being furloughed and how that affected him and his family. The main point that he drove home was always to be able to problem solve and never get discouraged.” John Ganiear ’22

“He also explained to us just because you don’t have a job don’t go and rush into a job just to collect a check because then you’re going to end up hating it and also wasting your time, so I’m taking that into consideration.” Alrick Francis ’22

“One main lesson I took away from this is to not jump into any job just because there was an offer. It is important to decide if it is the best thing for you both personally and professionally. There are many factors that go into accepting a job offer and it is a big decision to make.” Kate Sollers ’22

“In 2020, the insurance firm became independent. The firm was run through Nationwide so when the firm went independent it really put Ashley outside of her comfort zone. Ashley had to work with a lot of new and different people, working on new branding, marketing, training, and finding a new way to meet with customers because of covid. Even though this was all very new and challenging for Ashley, being out of her comfort zone helped her in the long run with using the experience she had gained.” Emily Sears ’22

“Ashley talked a lot about adapting to change, especially when her family business went under major changes when going from an exclusive Nationwide firm into an independent firm.” Madeline DePalma ’22

“My favorite thing I learned from their speech was to keep learning, networking, and bettering yourself.” Brycen Dorfmeister ’23

“The last piece of advice Ashley gave to us, was about all about networking and finding a mentor. Ashley explained the importance of networking even after finding a job, sharing contacts, joining professional groups, and finding someone that you can look up to and push you to make you the best at what you do.” Emily Sears ’22

“She told us about all the different aspects of the job. She also went into detail about working in a family business; something that hit home for me because this is what I plan on doing after graduation.” Maddison Neely ’22

“Ashley is a big believer in work balance and her personal life. As a business owner I need to find a time to self-reflect and to recover from workdays. Although I find myself working constantly as a business owner and overworking myself.” John Retton ’22

“Learn how to be efficient. Kevin talked about this, and I feel that is one thing I need to work on. I need to learn how to find smarter ways of doing things instead of working way harder while in the field.” John Retton ’22

“Both Ashley and Kevin espoused the need to be engaged with your community. It is both a networking opportunity and an opportunity to give back. They found that in engaging and volunteering within their community, they had found valuable contacts, advice, and a sense of fulfilment. They also hope that their engagement would be an example to their sons in the future.” Owen Sa ’22

“This job allowed Ashley the service component in life that she values very deeply. She works in her community with the Rotary and she and Kevin make time to volunteer with their church. Ashley expressed how important service and helping others is as these values were instilled to her from her parents and it is her hope to pass them onto her children.” Abigail Cico ’22

“I learned a great amount from these two guest speakers such as perseverance and how important it is to give back to a community. I will always remember these key components in my future career.” Richard Crooks ’22

“My favorite thing she said was, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” Ashley said to get out of the comfort zone.” Jacob Zylka ’22

“In conclusion, I appreciated Kevin and Ashley Strouse taking the time out of their evenings to come speak to us about their lives and giving us advice through their stories.” Angela Sorg ’23

“All in all, I really enjoyed listening to Ashley and Kevin speak. It was nice to listen to their stories and gain some knowledge from what they said. This class has already given me so much knowledge from previous speakers and I am excited for the rest of the semester!” Kate Sollers ’22

Lessons Learned

• “Everything happens for a reason.” Abigail Cico ’22
• “The quote that she goes by, ‘what would you do if you were not afraid?’” Richard Crooks ’22
• “Always build a process.”  Madeline DePalma ’22
• “Have a backup no matter what opportunities you are taking on.” Brycen Dorfmeister ’23
• “Having a good companion in life will ease your stresses and sorrows.” John Ganiear ’22
• “Get involved in your community as much as possible and always give back.” Logan Long ’22
• “View change as an opportunity to grow.” Dan Myers ’22
• “It does not matter where you start with a job. You will learn endless lessons along the way, so always try to take something positive from all your experiences.” Maddison Neely ’22
• “Finish the job (task) before starting another job (task).” Owen Sa ’22
• “Become the expert on the new technology.” Angela Sorg ’23
• “It is important to always have/keep a work/life balance.” Maddison Neely ’22

Dinner Dishing

• “It was an amazing experience to talk to Ashley about her job in the family business of insurance and how she handles being a mother with two young kids.” Logan Long ’22
• “Kevin had a lot of advice to give us at the table about us following our passions. Overall, the food was very good and the lemon puff pastry at the end was by far my favorite, but everything was very good.” Dan Myers ’22
• “Dinner was amazing, per usual. This was the first week I got to sit with a speaker, and it was an awesome experience. We talked about her life, her kids, and some of the information she covered in her presentation. The best part was that we talked about more stuff that was not covered in her presentation. Ashley was a very caring individual who took time to ask all three of us at the table about our lives, passions, plans, and hopes for the upcoming years after graduation.” Maddison Neely ’22
• “I was seated with Professor Witosky, Emily, and Michael.  We enjoyed a delicious pork loin and mushrooms along with a lemon puff-pastry following the meal.  Our conversation concerned summer plans and Professor Witosky’s plans following retirement.” Angela Sorg ’23
• “This week’s dinner was amazing; the dessert was my favorite part. Every week when I think the food can’t get better, it does!” Emily Sears ’22

Student News

Lambda Sigma collects clothing for Good Shepherd

Members of Lambda Sigma, the sophomore honorary society, collected about six bags of clothing to be donated to the Good Shepherd in Greenville.

The Good Shepherd Center is a multi-denominational ministry established in 1991 to be of service to the economically challenged of the greater Greenville community. The Center shows concern for all individuals who enter our doors regardless of creed, race, nationality or lifestyle. The Good Shepherd Center became a reality out of the commitment of 12 area churches and has grown to 24 Board Member Congregations today.

Etc.

Communications collateral

Employees should update the logos used on institutional materials, including email signatures, letterhead, PowerPoint slides, etc. 

Thiel College has used the shield and wordmark combination as the official institutional logo for more than a year. They are the only approved logo for academic co-curricular and institutional use. Additional athletic logo packages are also available.

Email signatures, brand resources, and a job request form are all available online. A Dropbox folder has been set up with instructions and the materials necessary to create new email signatures. Employees can find other Thiel College-branded resources including letterhead, logos and PowerPoint slides in the same folder.

• Download brand assets.

Thiel College community members who need help with communications and marketing initiatives and collateral can now request those services with a job form. The request form is available on the communications and marketing webpage or linked directly below.

• Job request form

For more information, email the office.