Nowadays, college students graduate in the face of a struggling economy and job market. However, many Geneva College graduates are getting the jobs that they’ve prepared for during their time at Geneva. Leah Kiehl ’11 is an example of a student who feels blessed to immediately begin a career that enables her to make her own unique impact in the world..

Leah graduated from Geneva in the spring of 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in communications and concentrations in public relations and advertising. To say she took advantage of the opportunities offered by Geneva as an undergraduate student would be an understatement. She gained experience working in the school’s public relations office as an intern, served as a Resident Assistant in the dorms, completed internships off-campus with organizations like the Pittsburgh Penguins and Mitsubishi Electric, and studied for a year at the Art Institute in Pittsburgh through a partnership with Geneva for visual communications.

Following graduation in May of 2011, Leah went out into the “real world.” After sending out her resume, attending interviews and completing applications, Leah was soon offered her current position of Marketing Coordinator at MedExpress and started her new career already by the beginning of June. In this position, she is responsible for helping with marketing efforts in western Pennsylvania, coordinating new MedExpress Center openings, establishing relationships within the community, sponsoring events and investing in the local areas in which the Centers reside.

Leah seems to have found her passion, not only in marketing, but in the healthcare field. “To have a position where I can see the direct, positive impact on those I'm interacting with is rewarding, to say the least,” she says. Although she did not have any previous experience working in the healthcare field, Leah is now fascinated with this line of work and plans on remaining in the industry for a long time.

“I was blessed to get a job offer with a company that is not only excellent in how it operates, but has a very bright future with the amount of growth and expansion it is experiencing,” she says. “With MedExpress Urgent Care, I am able to not only collect a paycheck, but I am involved with a booming industry within healthcare—urgent care—and take part in serving the communities where our Centers are located.” This is a business which provides a great service to people in urgent need of medical treatment—even saving lives at times.

“Geneva prepared me for this job, not just educationally, but in every area of my life,” she says. “The perspective Geneva has on business, life and faith—and how they are all integrated—has shaped my approach to my job and my daily life.”

Getting bored is something that Leah will never have to worry about it seems, just as she was busy during college, her life after graduation seems to keep her every bit as involved. “Continually, I'm discovering different aspects of what God is calling me to do throughout my work life and my personal life,” she says.

“I've started working with my church's youth group and felt part of my calling being fulfilled there,”

she says. “God has blessed me with people who provided a positive influence along the way, and I'm thankful to have the opportunity to invest in the girls in my youth group who are going through experiences and life decisions of their own.”

Her success comes back to where she started. “The environment at Geneva is like none other. A genuine, supportive network of people are at the college and I am positive that Geneva was where God wanted to grow and mold me during my college years.”

-Monica Miller ’12