This time last year I was asking each of my high school teachers if they could sign my permission form to miss the following Thursday and Friday. Why? I was headed to Hope College for a Fly-In Weekend. At the time I had no clue if I would be choosing Hope, but I was excited to get a taste of what life as a college student would be like!
On a Thursday morning I boarded a plane (my first trip on my own!) from Pittsburgh, PA to Chicago, IL with a final destination Grand Rapids, MI where a crew of other prospective students and Hope staff piled into a Hope College shuttle headed to Holland. That evening I met my hosts for the weekend: two super sweet girls (one from Kansas and the other from Traverse City, MI) who welcomed me into their college home with open arms. They carried on the impression I had gathered of the Hope College community from my last visit: kind, welcoming, and genuinely interested in getting to know me. Throughout the weekend I did everything imaginable:
- My hosts gave me a tour of almost all the different dorms
- this is when I decided I would want to live in Van Vleck Hall if I came to Hope because it has a sweet kitchen and I love to bake!
- we experienced the old Phelps (aka the dining hall pre-renovation)
- ww baked 🙂
- we attended a Hope Hockey game
- we watched Disney movies
- we went on a Donut Run*
- * Donut Run. n.
1. A late night trip to Good Time Donuts: a valued activity of Hope students.
- * Donut Run. n.
- we talked about college and life
- I sat in on a Latin I class
- I ended up in Latin III with some of the same students this semester!
- I got to take a trip to Lake Michigan with the other Fly-in students!
At the end of the weekend, though I was not sure if Hope was the place for me, I did know that if it was I would be happy there.
Bringing it back to the present, my Fly-In Weekend experience is coming full circle. Next week my roommate and I are going to be Fly-In Weekend hosts! 🙂 We are unbelievably excited to have the opportunity to share life at Hope with a prospective student. It is so strange to think about just how much my life has changed in a year! I can’t wait to share my experience with our prospective student next week. And who knows, maybe this time next year their Fly-In Weekend experience will be coming full circle as well!
I hope you are having a lovely week!
~Erin
Pssst – you can find me on Twitter and Instagram for even more little tidbits and pictures about life at Hope!