Let the Countdown Begin!

How in the world am I graduating in just 2 short weeks?!?! When people say that time at college flies, they really are not kidding. I also was not planning on graduating early until this past summer. Thankfully, I will be staying in Holland hopefully until August, so I will still be able to enjoy second semester with friends. I just will not be attending classes. Next semester I plan on working part time and also taking a of couple trips. The trips I have planned so far include: Disney World with my best friend Grace in Florida, mission trip to Juarez, Mexico, with Hope students over Spring Break, and a ski trip with just my dad to Snowmass, Colorado. So many exciting new adventures to come!

I just found out recently that I will be working with Edward Jones as a Financial Advisor starting in June. After I finish studying for the series 7 and 66 exams, I am moving to St. Louis, MO for a 7-month training program. It It feels kind of surreal to know what I will be doing after graduation. I worked as an intern this past summer with Edward Jones, and that helped become familiar with the company.

Now that my time as a student is winding down, I have been reflecting upon all of the wonderful experiences I have had at Hope. Hope College has helped me grow in ways that I never knew I needed growing. The community and people are what makes this place so special.

Now, with just a few short weeks left, I still have many papers to finish and tests to prepare for with major studying. The last couple weeks of the semester are always full with school work, but I am going to enjoy my final weeks as a Hope student!

Hope's first annual lighting of the Christmas tree
Hope’s first annual lighting of the Christmas tree
Steph, Ali, and I during the last gathering
Steph, Ali, and I during the last gathering
Colin and I
Colin and I
Amy will always be my roommate
Amy will always be my roommate
Catherine and I
Catherine and I

2 Days Left

The anticipation, it’s just getting out of control. We’ve made it so far, but I still feel like its so far away. But it’s going to be okay when I wake up, because it will be Wednesday. Thanksgiving Break, freedom, but only for 4 days. It’s definitely better than nothing though. After break, there is going to be so much going on. It’s going to hectic, I’m going to get stressed, excited, nervous, anxious, and sleepy. It’s just going to be one pot of mixed emotions! After break, I figure out if I get accepted to the Vienna May Term, I have my SAC Director interview, I have my final assignments to turn in, then it’s time to get locked in the library and just S-T-U-D-Y, for exams. Then it’s actual freedom. A BREAK WITH NO HOMEWORK!

Anyways, today, I finished all of my assignments (with the exception of 1) for Thanksgiving Break and after. I feel so accomplished. I managed my time wisely and made good use of it. I am proud of myself to say the least. Because I accomplished such a huge task, I am rewarding myself during break with Black Friday shopping. It sounds weird, but it just makes sense.

New topic: Today, Hope College launched its first annual tree lighting near President Knapp’s house. What a great tradition. 50 years down the road, I’ll be able to say, “I was at the first lighting!” It was a great event to bring the student body together. More than 800 students showed up, COOL! The tree was lit, we sang carols, we had candles, and great food. Many said that this was weird as it wasn’t Thanksgiving yet. I say it’s totally appropriate seeing as there is already snow on the ground. This event is going in the books. Seriously, what a cool idea. Here are two of my favorite pictures I took tonight. Take a peek!

Friends
Here are some of my favorite people ever.
Here is the lit tree with my candle. How cool!
Here is the lit tree with my candle. How cool!

Well, that’s all I have for you tonight. Tomorrow will mark my last post until Thanksgiving Break! Stay tuned for more! If you haven’t already, follow me on twitter at @HopeMarvin15. God bless!

3 Days Left

Hey folks! Today marks the day of when all countdowns begin. As of today, there are only 9 days of class left. And my title states “3 Days Left” because there are 3 more days until THANKSGIVING! So after Thanksgiving Break, there is one week of class left, followed by exams. WHAT? And as of today, there are 30 days left until Christmas! Now, it really feels like Christmas because there is snow on the ground. It’s going to be a white winter folks! So, I’m going to try to post everyday until break. It will build up the excitement and I just have so much to talk about!

This past weekend, I went home. It was the first time I’ve been back since Fall Break, so it was a decent amount of time. I was just so ready to get out of school. My family celebrated Thanksgiving last weekend, because we have exciting plans for actual Thanksgiving Break (more to come!). For the first time in a long time, I actually got a lot of my homework done at home. This usually never happens because I am so distracted by my family because there is always something to do in TC! The best part of being home for the weekend was the intense SNOW!

Lake Effect Snow!
This is just some lake effect.

Yes, SNOW! Traverse City, as well as most of Northern Michigan was under a lake effect snow warning. From Friday night until Sunday morning, we were slammed with so much beautiful snow. Although I thought I was going to die while driving, I felt as if I was driving through Narnia! But with snow, comes work. The shovels were brought out and our snowblower was taken out of hibernation as well. Clearing the snow is a pain, but worth it because we have to get out of our driveway somehow!

Anyway, back to reality. These last 3 days are going to rough, but in the end, it is going to be worth it. There are simply too many assignments that need to be turned in! But my goal is to finish all of them, and as of now, I am in great shape, so I won’t have any homework during break! Ok, that’s all for now! If you haven’t already, follow me on twitter at @HopeMarvin15!

Blessings,

Marv

Anatomy of a Sunday!

Sundays in college are good. And weird. Mostly good. This is the basics of how they usually go!

9:15 a.m.: Wake up and get ready for church.

10:30 a.m.: Attend the second service at Pillar Church. LOVE IT. Yesterday I even got to play guitar and sing for both services! It was so much fun.

Noon: Go to lunch at The Windmill restaurant in downtown Holland. They have $2 cinnamon rolls the size of your head and the cutest cappuccinos I’ve ever seen!

Cappuccino with Halloween sprinkles
I got this one right before Halloween. Look how cute and festive it was!

1 p.m.: Hang out, play guitar, waste time… You know, really productive stuff! Naps also happen around this time of day on Sundays. But naps are NEVER a waste of time. Seriously, they (usually) make me way more productive once I wake up.

2 p.m.: Homework! The best part of the weekend! (Just kidding. It’s really not that bad though.) Also, I try to do some of my homework on Saturday so I don’t have too much left to do on Sunday.

5 p.m.: MACHO NACHOS AND SUNDAE SUNDAY IN PHELPS. WE’RE TALKING FREE MOOSE TRACKS, PEOPLE.

6 p.m.: More homework if necessary or practicing music.

8 p.m.: The Gathering. It’s a worship service every Sunday night at Dimnent Chapel on campus and it’s so good.

9:15 p.m.: Practice piano/voice or go hang out in the cluster (our new favorite thing to do is play euchre!) or do homework if necessary.

Midnight (or so): Go to bed!

This all varies a lot (like yesterday I had to go to work instead of the Gathering), but that’s generally how Sundays go! I know in high school Sundays were usually pretty chill, but in college they’re actually kind of busy! But that’s not always a bad thing. It’s a good busy. I really love Sundays (except the thought of the impending 8:30 class the next morning… But it all works out.)!

What’s your Sunday itinerary? Leave a comment, email me at kathryn.krieger@hope.edu, or tweet @hopekathryn17! Thanks for reading!

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.” -1 Peter 1:6.

Hello, Snow… I’m going to need more than just the Michigan Mitten

Being an Iowa girl, attending college in Michigan already makes me smitten with the mitten, but with all of this cold and snow, it’s going to take some serious supplies to endure the winter.

As promised earlier this fall, I put together a list of necessary survival tools for the Holland winter. This is only the beginning, and I’m sure I’ll be adding more tools later in the year — but so far, here’s what I’ve come up with:

1. A real winter coat

Up until now, I’ve survived with my 7th grade Aeropostale pea coat, but since the temperature has dropped down to a mere 23 degrees (and today all of the buttons fell off of my coat, so… that’s quite the issue.) In the meantime, I do have my crazy patterned ski coat here, so that’ll do until Thanksgiving break when I see my mom and she can pass along my new blue pea coat. 🙂 My suggestion is go for something warm with a hood, so that you don’t always have to juggle a hat if you’re just walking down the street.

2. A highly attractive scarf

In the end, who doesn’t want a warm, cozy way to keep your neck from getting chilled? Therefore, the solution is a scarf. Regardless of age or gender, the scarf is one of those personal items that will enhance your style and add conversation (that is, if you have a good one.) What do I mean by this? Well…

Scarf with Dogs on it
This is what I mean. Although it may quite possibly be the most odd scarf you have ever seen, I received it a few years back as a Christmas present… and honestly, I secretly really love it.:)

3. A positive attitude

Let’s be honest here. What college student truly wants to leave the depths of their nice, warm bed for an 8 AM class across campus? (The answer? No one. Not even if your crush is in your 8 AM class.) In this case, we must adapt our “But my bed is so warm” mentality for a “Just think about it — I can get 50 cents off my coffee at Cool Beans coffeehouse as an early bird bonus!” These minor changes in thinking will impact the rest of your day and give you a warm-up from the cold.

4. A pair of boots with grippers on the bottom

Being a blonde, this one may only apply to me. However, trying to wear shoes without grips on the slushy sidewalks is a recipe for disaster. Although these types of boots are not always the most attractive, put all worry aside and put safety over style. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed.

5. Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate, blankets, fluffy socks… warmth.

On the lucky side, even though most of the dorms are lacking air conditioning, heat is highly prevalent in the dorms. In fact, our room was starting to get so cozy I had to turn on the fan earlier last week! Now with the cold setting in full swing, the fan has been tucked back into the closet. On the plus side, though, Hope’s heat (at least in Kollen) is definitely working! But if the heat just isn’t enough, a mug, the comforter from your bed, and some of those fuzzy wuzzy socks will be sufficient alternatives.

Stay cozy with your laptop or smartphone and keep up with me @hopesophie17! If you have any questions, comments, or anything in between, feel free to comment below or send me an email at sophie.guetzko@hope.edu.

Thor: The Dark World – Review

I recently wrote this review for Hope’s on-campus newspaper, The Anchor. Being an editor, I’m often asked questions about the types of submissions we’re looking for. Normally we only ask for 500 words, but we can usually fit a story that’s up to 750 words. For a better idea, check out my review of Thor: The Dark World, below!

Thor: The Dark World opens with an incredibly epic prologue featuring a massive war, with the Asgardians being led by Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) grandfather. The film’s antagonists are an army of ‘Dark Elves’, led by the Promethian-looking Malekith (Christopher Eccleston). Malekith’s only drive is to harness the power of a super weapon called ‘The Aether’ so that he can plunge the universe into eternal darkness. Thor’s grandfather comes through for the universe and ultimately causes Malekith to sacrifice many of his soldiers, and then entering hibernation.

Try as he might, Thor’s grandfather cannot destroy The Aether, so he hides it somewhere it will (hopefully) never be found. Due to the alignment of universes, which then causes the boundaries of the different universes to blur, The Aether is found about thirty minutes into the film.

The first thing you’ll notice about Thor: The Dark World is that the man himself (once he shows up) is not just a big, dumb warrior whose only aim is winning a fight anymore. Although there is a massive Tolkien-esque battle very early in the film, Thor has an air of serious about him. Whereas Thor was nothing more than a child in a man’s body in the first film, it’s obvious that he has grown up during his time with Tony Stark and The Avengers.

While Thor treats his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) with an extreme bout of ignorance for the first film, and most of ‘The Avengers’, he has wisened up and abandoned any form of trust for him. Loki is imprisoned on Asgard, and Thor is out bringing peace to the nine realms with his friends Sif and the Warriors Three.

The battle is over just a little too quickly, and after some characterization of the more somber Thor, the audience is brought back to earth for some catch-up time with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). She’s a little irked that Thor hasn’t talked to her since the first film, or even when he was back on earth to fight the Chitauri in ‘The Avengers’.

Foster and friends stumble across a portal to the place where Thor’s granddad hid The Aether (surprise, surprise), and it latches onto her much like the Venom symbiote does Spider-Man. This wakes up Malekith, and also makes Foster the universe’s most valuable person. Thor returns to earth in a dazzling visual spectacle only to scoop her up and take her back to Asgard so he can try and get The Aether out of her.

In another unsurprising move, Malekith launches an attack on Asgard, giving Thor a pretty big reason to retaliate in the process. In a predictable turn of events, Thor and Loki must work together again to not only save Foster, but to save the entire universe from Maliketh’s wrath.

The best scenes in in Thor: The Dark World are the ones where Loki is on camera. It’s sad that so much of the film’s two-hour runtime is spent developing the overall predictable plot, because it results in Loki’s screentime feeling a little rushed. It also doesn’t help that this time around Thor doesn’t have Tony Stark or Captain America around when Loki isn’t there to provide some depth and tension.

Kat Dennings returns as Darcy to provide some Whedonesque comedy, but one of the funniest characters is (surprisingly) Heimdall (Idris Elba). His one job is to protect the gates of Asgard, and once again he pretty much fails in every conceivable way. The rainbow bridge Bifrost isn’t totally destroyed this time around, but it comes pretty close thanks to Heimdall’s incompetence.

One of the film’s most disappointing aspects, second only to the prolonged absence of Loki, is the painstakingly slow development of Thor and Foster’s relationship. In comic books, it makes sense for love plots to develop at an inching crawl, but in film it just feels like a cheap cop-out so that Marvel has some filler in case a sequel’s plot runs a little thin.

While Thor: The Dark World is definitely an improvement over the first film, there’s definitely a lot of work to be done for the inevitable third one.The film’s high points are the small changes in Thor’s demeanour, some truly epic fights and an incredible performance from Hiddleston. The low points are the absence of Loki, and the (continuing) snail’s pace love interest development between Thor and Jane. All in all, the film comes together in a competent, but sometimes frustrating action film that just barely earns its spot in Phase 2 of the Marvel film continuity.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Review

Like so many of you probably already have, I spent my Saturday night at the movie theater watching The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. After being overall disappointed with the books, I went into the first movie extremely skeptical, but I came out of the theater delightfully surprised. I’m sorry to say that the sequel did not generate the same effect.

Clocking in at just under two hours, Catching Fire had ample opportunity to introduce the other tributes that would be competing for their lives with Katniss, but somehow the writers and the director managed to make sure that without reading the book, I would have no idea who any of the side characters were. Another issue I had with the writing was that nearly no creative liberties were taken with the script. I understand wanting to stay true to the original story, but taking lines from a novel that is written for children, and inserting them into the script verbatim just seems like a cut corner to get this movie into theaters before everyone forgot about it.

Once aspect of the film that I was a fan of was the coupling of high quality visual effects, and heart-pumping action. Most of the killing of humans is done off-camera (this is a PG-13 movie after all), but standoff fight scene between a few of the characters and a bunch of bloodthirsty monkeys doesn’t shy away from the violence that these teens are experiencing in their unbelievably dystopian world. Another scene that conveys the horror of what is actually going on behind the shallow love triangle at the forefront is one where gas floods the forrest where the same group of characters previously mentioned are sleeping. The resulting blisters from just a second of exposure to the gas are absolutely disgusting, and that brought me as a viewer back to earth.

The most disturbing scene in the film, however doesn’t involve the actual games at all. Peace Keepers roll into District 12 and start lighting everything on fire and killing people for seemingly no reason at all. Emotional pretty boy Jacob Bla… I mean Gale Hawthorne runs in and tackles their leader and is then whipped in the center of their town. The lead Peace Keeper is actually one of the best characters in the film because this is the only scene I can think of that really drives home the point of how bad the government in this world actually is. The light tone is quickly brought back though because Gale is up and walking despite having his back torn to shreds in just a couple of days.

My biggest takeaway from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was that nobody who hasn’t read the book should see this film, even if they’ve seen the first one. Looking back on the film, I don’t understand where the longer-than-average two hours went. There was so much potential for some truly emotional characterization, but it was ultimately lost to the (again) paper-thin love plot.

Keep Calm and Study On

So this week has been nuts! I’ll just give you a mini outline of my week.

Monday

  • Worked out at the Dow
  • 4-hour role play interview over the phone for my after-graduation job
  • Gave a 15-minute presentation during my interview on Roth IRAs
  • Attended Mortar Board’s Friendship Prom with special needs adults from the community.
  • Met for a group presentation
  • Went to Applebee’s with some of my friends for Monique’s birthday
Mortar Board Friendship Prom
Mortar Board Friendship Prom

Tuesday

  • Presented a group project on the Federal Reserve
  • Worked a table outside of Phelps encouraging students to write a Thank you card to alumni (and I enjoyed an awesome Phelps meal)
  • Was in class 9:30 AM-5 PM
  • Attended the Business Club dinner with faculty from the college, local business professionals, and students
  • Spent the rest of the night in the library
Monique's Birthday Celebration
Monique’s Birthday Celebration

Wednesday

  • Woke up bright and early to work on homework at JP’s
  • Went to class and then work for the rest of the afternoon
  • Worked in the library for five hours
  • Finished the night celebrating one of my friend’s birthday

Thursday

  • Attended class from 9:30 AM-5:00 PM
  • Attended the Student Ambassador meeting from 11 AM-12 PM
  • Gave 2 presentations
  • Went out to dinner with Ali
  • Watched Hope Volleyball play in the National Championship Tournament
  • Listened to friends perform at the Thursday night coffee house in the Kletz
  • Played an 11:00 PM IM tennis game
  • Studied till 1:30 AM

Friday

  • Woke up bright and early (again) to study at Good Earth
  • Attended Chapel
  • Took my final test for the week
  • Now I’m breathing a sigh of relief

This week has been full of activity. I believe that learning how to balance everything in college is crucial. This week with all of my class assignments, I thought there was no way I would be able to accomplish everything. However, I just had to keep focus on my work, but also allow my time for a little fun here and there because you need breaks while studying. I didn’t come to Hope just to learn, but to also surround myself in an uplifting community. Sometimes in college you will feel completely overwhelmed! But you will make it through! I try to break my assignments into pieces so that I don’t cram it all in the night before it is due. I’ve learned a lot about studying and managing my time these past four years, and don’t worry you’ll learn the importance of time management very soon in college!

Enjoy your weekend. Hope it is relaxing!

SO Thankful!

As we are creeping up on Thanksgiving, the homework is piling up, the Christmas decorations are coming out, the stress levels are rising, and I’m both happy and anxious at the same time. I find myself overwhelmed daily by how incredibly blessed I’ve been this year. That isn’t to say that there haven’t been difficulties, but I have found that God has just provided so abundantly. He is SO good.

I am so, so thankful for my family. I have been truly blessed by them each and every day, from vulnerable talks about real life, to group messages about Aaron Carter, 50 million inside jokes, and everything in between, I can truly call this group of people my best friends. Even better, I gained another sister this year, and if that isn’t something to be thankful for, I’m not sure what is!

My family at my brother's 8th grade graduation.
All of us at my oldest brother’s 8th grade graduation. Check out the sweet guitar tie he borrowed from my dad! 🙂
My family at my brother's wedding
All of us at my brother’s wedding in October! My oldest brother Matthew and his wife Maggie are on the left, the bride and groom, Ethan and Trina, in the middle, then me, and my parents on the right!
My grandparents and I
My grandparents and I on my birthday last year!

I have also been blessed by so many incredible friends coming into my life this year. They are all just crazy wonderful. I love all the time I get to spend with the ones who are at Hope, and I truly cherish the time I get with the people who are in other places!

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As you can probably tell from the pictures above, I have been able to build some really awesome friendships while at Hope and I’m so thankful for those. One of the things I am most thankful for this year is being here at Hope. I love love love the music program, I love the intentional Christian community that is cultivated and encouraged here, I love the people, I love the campus, I love the town, I love my classes, and I could go on and on. I’ve known I wanted to come to Hope for a long time, but sometimes it’s just still so surreal. I wasn’t always sure whether it would work out or not for me to come here, but it’s so clear to me that God made this all work out for a reason and that’s definitely something to be thankful for.

I am also so thankful to be a student blogger. It’s truly been awesome and something I had hoped to do for a long time! Kind of a mini-“dream-come-true.” 🙂 I also recently got a job at Pizza Hut (I start next week! Come visit me!) and that’s definitely something to be thankful for, too. Not only is it a way to pay for school, but I just truly enjoy having a job and I’m excited to start working there!

I am also just so thankful for all things that God is doing in my life. I know I talked about this in a different blog post, but a post about things I’m thankful for wouldn’t feel complete if I left it out! In the past few months, God has really been showing me that I need to let him make me new. Trying to give up the control over my life that I’ve always held onto so tightly has not always been easy, but I’ve just experienced so many great changes. My attitude is so much better. I am so much happier. I am way more easygoing and far less stressed. I even feel physically better (except the part where I was sick for like a month and a half… Doesn’t count.). I am also hopefully going to get placed in a school as a Young Life leader for next semester and I’m so excited about that and all the things that God is doing through that ministry in Holland and throughout the world. I can’t wait to see the things he uses it for throughout the next four years! I am also just so thankful that, like one of my favorite songs says, God’s love is strong and always penetrates our lives even though we can get so caught up and focused on other things. His plans are so good and his love is so pure and that’s definitely something to be thankful for.

What are you thankful for? Leave me a comment, email me at kathryn.krieger@hope.edu, or tweet @hopekathryn17! I’d love to hear from you! Thanks for reading and have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!

His faithful love endures forever.”

Psalm 118:1.

 

 

A Little Comic Relief to Brighten Your Day

If you’re like me, you’re definitely starting to feel the stress, pressure and anxiety of the last few weeks of classes. Mine stems from all of the exams, presentations and papers, as well as lab reports that are due when there is only a small window of time to finish them. You’d think that assignments would be slowing down since you’re finishing up learning all of the material you need to learn for the final, but NOPE! Everything simply gets more hectic.

Time management gets more difficult and it’s hard to prioritize everything since most academic things are of great importance at this point. There’s no more time to procrastinate, so spending endless hours in the library attending help sessions most nights of the week and simply saying “no” to plans you are invited to are a definite must. However, there are times where you just need to have a moment of fun and step back from everything. That’s the point of this week’s blog. Over this past week I stumbled across some pretty great videos on YouTube that certainly lifted my spirits a bit and allowed me to get a hardy laugh in before continuing on my homework grind. For instance, my brother sent me this awesome Conan O’Brien video about the Santa Anita races:

Here’s another featuring Chris Hemsworth that was just really clever:

And then there’s this classic one from Rover that makes you smile if you were ever a fan of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air:

So, if you need a little break from your studying, I hope these videos helped and will make you slightly less stressed during these final weeks before the semester ends. I hope everybody has a great weekend and enjoys their Thanksgiving!

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @hopeleslie15.