Learning, Sharing and Growing Together

Over the past two semesters, I have had the absolute pleasure of being a Character Forward intern for the Hope Forward program. As a sophomore here at Hope, I began looking for opportunities to become more involved on campus because that is something I had truly missed out on in high school and my freshman year here. I didn’t quite expect to get the position as a student who was not affiliated with the program, so I was surprised to get an in-person interview. Next thing I know, I was hired along with an amazing team of Hope Forward interns!

Never would I have expected that this internship would impact me the way it has so far. New doors opened, new opportunities were given, and new people were met. Despite not being a student not in the program, the students and staff of Hope Forward opened their arms to me and treated me like they would any other student. This gave me the chance to really see what went on within the program and to learn what being a Hope Forward student was truly about. I was able to learn about their three program pillars of community, access and generosity. I also learned more about the vision of Hope Forward and, most importantly, saw the impact on students’ lives. As a newfound ambassador of the program, I slowly began to realize how I could incorporate each pillar into my daily life.

Community has always been something that I value deeply in my life. Coming from a tight-knit high school, I wanted that same feeling of connection with my classmates as a college student. This led me to Hope College, a smaller school where I could see my friends every day even if it was just when I was walking to class. Through the Hope Forward program, I met so many new people that I could connect with. This led me to realize that community was abundant on campus, especially within Hope Forward. These students are extremely motivated to share all they can with their cohort members and the campus. Their different cultures, backgrounds and ethnicities help create a diverse community within Hope Forward that provides invaluable learning opportunities for other students. I can connect this back to my high school experience because my high school was extremely diverse with a large majority of students being Hispanic, which is why I chose to major in Spanish here at Hope. I can see the impact of this shared ethos on the students in Hope Forward as students learn, share and grow together. It truly has been a great experience being able to see this for myself as someone who is not in the program.

Access is another pillar of the program. The opportunity for students to graduate with little to no debt is an enormous benefit to students who otherwise would struggle to pay for college. In a world where prices and tuition seem to only go up, it is a nice refresher to see a program that really cares not only about character development, but also doesn’t ignore the cost incurred by students in higher education.

Finally, I want to speak about generosity. All I have seen as I’ve worked for Hope Forward has been one generous act after another, after another. Nicole Dunteman and Erin Courey, program leaders, truly live each one of these pillars out every day in their work. The generosity I personally have received while working for them has truly been a gift, whether it comes in the form of projects given to me, needed time off, or opportunities I would not have been given in other on-campus jobs. Nicole and Erin always are generous with their time and energy even if students are exhausted from the craziness of being college students.

I am truly blessed to have been given this opportunity, and I can’t wait to see what else I can learn about myself and others through this one-in-a-million program!