“Why would a trades guy go to college?”
This is the question Noah Asche ‘28 asked himself the first time he set foot on Geneva’s campus. Noah, who works as a plumber in the Beaver, Lawrence, and Mercer county areas, expected to go straight from high school into full-time work near his home. After studying carpentry for his last two years of high school and working as an apprentice at a plumbing firm near his home, he was prepared to stay out of school and continue working. Until a visit to Geneva changed his mind.
While visiting as moral support for another prospective student, Noah found himself deeply impressed by the hospitality of Geneva’s enrollment staff. “[I was] still set on not coming to college, but the admissions staff gave me a tour guide.”
His impromptu campus visit opened new possibilities for him. “The idea of connection definitely stuck out to me. Also the Geneva Tuition Promise. I didn’t know I was eligible for that, so that was a huge game changer.”
The Geneva Tuition Promise ensures that all eligible Pennsylvania traditional undergraduate students from families earning less than $70,000 annually will pay no tuition at Geneva College, making a Christian college education further accessible.
As these pieces fell into place, Noah decided that attending college might not be such a bad idea after all.
Reflecting on what he thought of college prior to attending Geneva, Noah says, “I think it was a librarian who said something that stuck with me. He said, ‘If you’re coming to college for the nice big buildings, you’re at the wrong place, because what we offer is connections.’ And that has such a deeper meaning. That caught me off guard because I thought colleges just wanted your money ... But I think I’ve really seen that deeper meaning in the connections that I have and the friends I’ve made.”
Noah has not given up plumbing, however. He still works part time, running his own business half out of his house and half out of his apartment at Geneva, scheduling bids and work on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday basis and stacking classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As an accounting major, Noah credits his advisor Brian Merritt, PhD for helping him balance classwork and plumbing. “We walked through it together. I put him through it, I think. During our first advising meeting, we spent the full hour we had figuring scheduling out.”
Despite the difficulties of running a business while working towards a bachelor’s degree, Noah is enthusiastic about the work he does. “You think, you know, ‘It’s plumbing. You can’t be passionate about that.’ But I was, I genuinely was.” Between bathroom remodels, accounting classes, and joining his friends for frisbee and other social activities, Noah also encourages those around him to consider starting jobs early. “We have so much access to knowledge, it’s crazy. You can do anything.”
With that mindset, Noah plans to stay busy after college by pursuing a career as a full-time plumber, while possibly also working as an accountant and a youth pastor.
Noah proves that passion, commitment, and the courage to venture out and explore can lead to significant reward, despite challenges along the way. Through the support of Geneva’s faculty, staff, and other students, his education demonstrates the unique power of Geneva’s community to enable students to reach higher than they ever thought they could.
By Luke MacKenzie ‘26
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