Learning How to Help

You all may or may not know that the day before classes started this semester I changed my major to ethics, culture, and social witness, which is part of the religion department at Hope. As I frantically dropped all my classes and added all new ones, I basically threw together a schedule of whatever general education …

Fall Break in Chicago Recap

Fall Break has come and gone, but I am still so happy with how my long weekend turned out. It was busy and not all that relaxing, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way! Friday after class, my friend Christin and I hit the road for Chicago. She was visiting her sister and …

Confessions of an Out-of-State Student

Life is a work of art; you gotta paint it colorful. Can make it anything you want; Don’t have to stick to any rules. You don’t need a high IQ to succeed in what you do. You just gotta have no doubt. Just believe in yourself.   -Lindsay Lohan, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen …

Look Out World, It’s Impromptu Kathryn

One thing I’ve realized about myself over the past few months is that being spontaneous is not my strongest suit. However, spontaneous moments also tend to be the times that I make some of my greatest memories and have a lot of fun. Take, for example, my cliff jumping adventure this summer: Cliff jumping is …

The Best Weekend Ever (For Real)

Wow, what a weekend. This weekend was truly one of the best ones ever. Just thinking about it makes me smile. It was packed with so many different things and so much joy and so many people that I think are great! Thursday night, Ben Rector came to Hope! Ben is my favorite musician so …

Unrestrained Joy

“How was your weekend?” “SO GOOD.” I never thought that my enthusiastic response to this simple question would make a couple of guys laugh, slightly uncomfortably, because they didn’t know what else to do. I answered honestly and quickly, not even stopping to think about the way I would deliver my response or how it …

Back To My Roots, But Better

In high school, I was an avid songwriter. I was in a two-person acoustic band with a friend, working on my musical skills on my own, and writing almost constantly, especially in chemistry class (sorry, Mrs. Byrne!). Halfway through my junior year of high school, I had pages and pages of lyrics I’d ripped out …

As Fresh As It Gets

There are many, many things I love about Holland: The beach. The parks. The donuts. But I think there might be one thing I love most of all… The farmers’ market. My main purchases at the farmers’ market are usually flowers, but I have also purchased fruit and veggies there in the past and they’re …

The Old and the New

A new semester. Freshmen come in, eager to get to know new people, concerned about their major, wondering whether or not to switch classes, and trying to navigate their way through Phelps Dining Hall. Wait, I’m doing all those things, too. I kind of feel like a freshman again because this year has been such a fresh …

From the Freshmen: WHY HOPE?

Since I am an RA in Dykstra, I get to interact with a lot of freshmen. I thought it would be fun to hear all their reasons for choosing Hope! Here’s what they had to say! “I decided to come to Hope because it’s small and it’s really important to me to have good relationships …