5 Questions with Sasha Grigorovich

Nov 26, 2024

When Sasha Grigorovich ’20senior exploratory adviser in the Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS), isn’t helping students in their search for meaning and development in their professional and personal lives, he spends his free time learning new skills and languages. Though he is currently busy learning French and Spanish and experimenting with making music, he took some time to answer some questions about his life and work at Grinnell.

Sasha Grigorovich ’20, senior exploratory adviser in the Center for Careers, Life, and Service
Sasha Grigorovich ’20, senior exploratory adviser in the Center for Careers, Life, and Service

Q: Where did you grow up? Tell us a little about your family.

A: I grew up in Highland Park. It's a suburb of Chicago north of the city. My parents both immigrated from Belarus to Rogers Park in Chicago before they found their way to Highland Park. I have a younger brother and an older sister. My brother and I have stuck around the Midwest while my sister is settling on the west coast. 

Q: What does your role at Grinnell entail?

A: I am a Senior Exploratory Adviser at the CLS. In this role, I guide students in discovering their interests and help them translate those interests into a vocation. I am enormously interested in the cognitive sciences and keep up with research journals on cognitive science and developmental psychology of young adults. I enjoy the discoveries I make gathering knowledge from perusing research journals. Consequently, I am very interested in the open education movement. 

Q: What keeps you busy outside of your work at Grinnell?

 A: Outside the College, I enjoy my work as a real estate agent for a local brokerage. The qualitative and quantitative analysis required of the trade has become a recent fascination. I’m a part of the Rotary and Lions Club and I participate in their community outreach efforts. This past summer I enjoyed my interest in growing food by planting and maintaining several gardens around town, including a very small one in my side yard.

Q: What was the path that brought you to Grinnell?

A: I've always enjoyed my time at Grinnell since my first visit in the fall of 2015. I was a prospective student on campus and was blown away by how much I instantly felt at ease. In hindsight, the experience itself was fairly mundane: I made a giant chocolate chip cookie with my hosts and chatted with students in the hallway before we turned in. Nevertheless, I found a strong conviction that I wanted to be here, and I was right. After graduating from Grinnell, I worked several odd jobs including a stint living in a sustainable building commune in Oregon and delivering pizzas in Minneapolis. I ended up completing my master’s in education near my hometown at Northwestern. Funnily enough, soon thereafter I saw that the CLS was hiring for my current role, and the move immediately made sense. The rest is history: I’ve bought a house here and this town has become home!

Q: As a staff member, do you view the College differently than you did as a student?

A: As a student, I inevitably took the intellectual atmosphere of Grinnell for granted. In leaving the campus, I was able to appreciate how special it is to be surrounded by brilliant, caring, and passionate people, which I now relish. 


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