The Alumni Postcard Project

Here in the Office of Alumni & Family Engagement, we spend a few minutes every Tuesday morning watching a TED Talk or two. We’ve learned how to overcome fears from a man who climbed a 3,000 foot cliff with no ropes, how to find joy in everyday life, and how hilarious replying to a spam email can be. These short videos have given us a lot to talk about and have also inspired us to get creative in our work. A talk about sending letters to strangers led to a discussion on other ways mail can be used to connect and inspire. Lots of crazy ideas and a few bunny trails later, someone suggested asking our 33,000+ alumni to send postcards to our students to show them where a Hope education can take them.

Our new Boerigter Center for Calling and Career asks students “Where will you go?” So we want to know . . . “Where did you go?”

Are you an accountant in Austin? A biologist in Boise? A choreographer in Cleveland? Regardless of where your Hope education has taken you, we want to share your journey with the Hope students who will follow you into the world. The Office of Alumni and Family Engagement and Boerigter Center for Calling and Career are teaming up to launch The Postcard Project. The mission of the project is to inspire current Hope students by showing real-life examples of the paths they could take upon graduation (or even before!)

We are asking our network of more than 33,000 alumni to grab a postcard from where they live or work (hotel gift shops, gas stations or convenience stores like Walgreen’s often carry inexpensive postcards). Then simply write your name, graduation year, major and answer to the question “Where did your Hope education take you?” on the back of the card. You can be straight forward by answering the question with your job title and company, or get creative with a short tale.

Mail your postcard to:

Hope College
Boerigter Center
141 East 12th Street
Holland, MI 49423

We will display the postcards in an installation in the Boerigter Center lobby space in DeWitt Center, allowing students to peruse the cards as they are added in a space that has been designed for them to contemplate their future plans.

You need not have won a big award, made a big discovery or rake in the big bucks to be a big help with this project. We are looking for submissions from every corner of the world and every type of profession. We want students to have a realistic representation of the options that await them – maybe they’ll even be inspired to explore professions they’ve never heard of before.

Want to get even more involved in helping students discern their calling? Sign up to be a DiscoverWork host! This program, operated by the Boerigter Center, provides students with short-term opportunities to meet with or shadow professionals in their field of interest.

Check hope.edu/alumni/events for upcoming events both regionally and near campus.