A former St. John’s Presidential Scholar – who achieved a
3.96 grade point average and positions on the honor roll and Dean’s
List, as well as being a BIG EAST Baseball All-Star – Jeff
Grantham, '08C has always strived to excel. As a recent graduate
from St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences physics
program, Jeff says he is continuing on a path to great
success: “St. John's prepared me well for life after college. Being
a student-athlete required me to be a responsible individual in
order to survive in a competitive world.”
Jeff recently took the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and
is working as a physical therapy aide to gain experience in the
medical field. He is in the process of applying to medical school
and says he hopes to find the same caring and helpful environment
he had at St. John’s: “At St. John’s my classes were small and I
had personal relationships with my teachers, something that doesn’t
happen at every college.”
Before applying to the University, Jeff and his parents took a
walking tour of St. John’s, “It felt right,” he says. “I liked the
atmosphere—friendly, near Manhattan, but on its own tree-lined
campus in Queens, safe with a small school feeling but with big
school advantages and a diverse mix of students.”
When reflecting back on his college experience, Jeff says he
valued the University’s commitment to its Vincentian
heritage, “I participated in a lot of community service at St.
John’s – from sleeping over at a local homeless shelter to helping
out at a soup kitchen. College was an eye-opening experience. I
learned not to take anything for granted.”