Having spent his formative years and being raised in Toledo, OH, Griffith Littlehale represents a classic, Midwest Americana personality. He went to high school at St. Francis De Sales High School and performed among the highest grade earners in his class (rank eight), graduating in 2018. He was also, at the same time, athletically involved with school sports, and was ranked an All-American Swimmer in 2017-2018. Griffith’s graduation was notable with additional academic recognition beyond the standard class passage and completion.
Matriculating to college, Griffith has focused on psychology as his major, with a particular interest in clinical work as evidenced by his current 4.0 PGA pursuing a bachelor of science in the field at the University of Toledo. His high scores in early college were so pronounced, Griffith became eligible for and was awarded the President’s Education Award for his first-year performance. Similarly, Griffith’s academic marks earned him recognition from the Jesup Scott Honors College as well as the Kappa Psi Fraternity as well.
Griffith’s spiritual life has always been part of his youth and growing up, so it’s no surprise the college student still focuses time on giving back. He regularly worked at local churches during high school, volunteering for church events and feeding the homeless. In addition to church work, Griffith has also found ways to put in time at United Way food drives and similar, as well as looking for other charity work to be involved in during school breaks or his downtime from school.
When he’s not spending time thinking about behavioral psychology studies, Griffith also puts in practice and training towards his other pursuit, graphic design. Working with various digital tools and online media, Griffith has been improving and honing his design skills as an alternative skillset to his primary studies focus. Finding early work with school-related advertisements and college functions, Griffith has already been developing a portfolio of completed professional projects and presentations. He even had his first commissioned works in the local community, focusing on a local theater production and event posters for the same. And, as an alternative project, Griffith worked on the design of Thanksgiving and Christmas card artwork specific for a local church, including their logo design as well.
Like most college students his age, Griffith had the opportunity to be exposed to the classics during his studies, which sparked an interest in him towards liberal works in philosophy and poetry. Some of his favorite writers include Bret Easton Ellis as well as the memorable works of Edgar Allen Poe. Griffith has also found he has a strong interest in regularly diving into the writings of Descartes as well as Oscar Wilde. While he has no imaginative aspirations of being a writer himself, his studies of many of the classics have been a fruitful experience for Griffith when it comes to higher thinking and philosophy.
What’s in line for the future for Griffith Littlehale? A lot depends on where things develop as he finishes his psychology degree. Clearly, the traditional path for the field is graduate studies and then applied for clinical work. There is also organizational behavior, something that industries are heavily looking into now with diversity in the workplace being elevated to a pressing priority for many companies. That said, the digital design side is also in heavy demand, and Griffith hopes to be positioned positively towards building a freelance and, ultimately, a steady alternative income stream in that area as well. It never hurts to have your eggs in more than just one basket.
One thing that Griffith has picked up though beyond his studies is simply how big and promising the world is beyond Toledo, OH. He plans to travel, see more of the world, and experience cultures the first chance he gets. Much like many young people his age and in their 20s, the modern world is very global and international with regards to opportunities. Where his parents and their peers looked locally and regionally for a future, and probably never beyond the U.S., Griffith and those his age are looking beyond home borders and realizing there are big opportunities in other countries. If nothing else, a stint for a few years in a foreign country is a great learning experience as well as a change of pace from the typical traditional path generations before followed.
Like most his age, Griffith worries about how to have his piece of the American Dream. A constant barrage of media stories about how younger generations are being priced out of the housing market and similar remind him things are much harder for his age group than they were for his parents or grandparents. However, he also notes that there are far more opportunities for success as well as room for creative niches and new ideas. The potential of what’s possible online for his generation is tremendous versus just a decade earlier. Griffith sees a lot of promise in the field, both for psychology as well as graphic design, and he plans to have a piece of that future as much as possible.