Photo: THE BACHELOR – Key Art. (Disney).jpg
The game is heating up for WCU alum Joey Graziadei (‘17) who returned to the Bachelor universe for his very own season. After an unexpected end to his previous journey, Joey’s season is already off to an electrifying start. With some big players and attitudes in the game, there’s no telling how this match will end.
See what our favorite Bachelor told The Quad about his time at West Chester, campus life and the ongoing search for his lifelong doubles partner.
What was your favorite place to visit on campus or in the borough?
There’s so many places. I’ll think about going out more and it’s just a staple — I love Jake’s bar. That place is just unbelievable, so I have to put that out there every time.
Can you tell me a little bit about how your college experience at West Chester shaped your Bachelor experience?
Yeah, I mean, I’m a big believer that things kind of all fall into place. I was initially coming [into] school, not sure of what I was going to get involved in. [I] tried walking on the tennis team as a freshman and just kind of barely didn’t make it on the team, so [I] needed to look to do something new.
My sister was in Greek life. She was in Zeta Tau Alpha, so she kind of pushed me into looking into Greek life, but I didn’t really like the idea of rushing and didn’t really connect with any of the other fraternities that were there. But I was lucky my freshman year when Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) came to campus, and I got to be a founding father. So doing it from the beginning and getting really involved in that was a big part of my whole entire college experience.
By my junior year, I was really missing tennis and kind of needed to get back into it. That whole urge is when I started going to Hawaii and started playing again on my off time, and then [I] obviously walked on the team over my last two years. That whole entire effect of going through the fraternity first, and then getting involved in tennis again, definitely got me into the position of where I was living in Hawaii, which I think made me obviously sought-out for a role like that. And then also just doing stuff in the fraternity, and getting that kind of confidence, and just going through all the shaping of it, was a big part of it too.
Your highly anticipated season premiere contained a lot of shocking and heartfelt moments. Both of these factors seem to reinforce the notion that “All is fair in love and war.” What might fans expect from the rest of your journey?
I think it’s just gonna be a fun one to watch. The women are amazing; there’s a lot of beautiful stories, and there’s plenty of emotions. So, everyone likes tuning in to see all the different things that come about. And I think this season is going to be a really entertaining one.
Your season premiered actually on our first day of the semester. What does it mean to you that West Chester is tuning in?
I love it. I mean I’m a proud Ram, so anytime I hear people from West Chester tuning in or enjoying this, it’s exciting. So I love that it started the same day as the first day of the semester.
Do you have any fun anecdotes that you could share with us about your time on campus?
Oh man. I don’t know if I have anything, I just loved it there. It was such a cool place for me. I got to visit first with my sister going there — that was kind of the whole reason why I went.
No, I don’t think I have any fun anecdotes. I’m just a proud, like I said, a proud Golden Ram. I love West Chester. That place is somewhere that, anytime I get a chance to come back and visit, I try to, but it’s been a bit. Actually, I came back and saw how much the campus has changed a lot. I’m due to get back. It’s good to see. I got one other buddy I think who still lives in the area, but there’s been a lot of us [that] have been itching to get back to town and to see everything.
What do you hope people take away from your season?
Again, I’m going to put it back on the women. I think they’re going to take away some beautiful stories. There’s a lot of people that were vulnerable, shared a lot about themselves, and I hope [viewers] take away a beautiful love story at the end of the day too, but they’re gonna have to wait and see how that all goes.
Is there anything else you would like to tell your friends and family at West Chester?
Just how much I love that school and how much it gave to me. Nothing in particular, obviously a big fan of Pike, big fan of the Greek life there in general and [I] was lucky to play on the tennis team for a little bit too.
West Chester’s just a place that I always look fond[ly] on, and I know it’s a big part of who I am.
Tune into ABC Mondays at 8PM EST to watch Joey’s match unfold.
Olivia Carzo is a fourth-year English major in the Honors College with a concentration in Visual and Digital Rhetoric and minors in Journalism and Linguistics. OC920925@wcupa.edu