Learning About Different Traditions

Okay, so I know I posted earlier this week, but I told you all that I’d be back! I just wanted to share my experiences with you from last weekend. On Saturday, September 21st, I went to the Islamic Center with my best friend, Amanda, and the FYS class she TAs for in Dearborn, Michigan. But before that, we went to Good Earth Café here in Holland to have some breakfast to get us going. Then, I took this awesome picture of Graves Hall because it’s my favorite building on campus!

Then following a three-hour van drive, we arrived at the Islamic Center. There we learned about the religion of Islam along with their different traditions. We also compared Christianity and Islam and identified similarities as well as differences. It truly was a great experience. I’m not going to lie, I was nervous because it was simply out of my comfort zone. But following our little education session, I took a picture of the mosque. Its architecture is just amazing!

After our stop to the Islamic Center, we headed off to Al-Ameer to eat authentic Arab food. Let me tell you that their food is simply amazing. There are so many choices! From hummus and pita, fattoush, kabobs, and falafels, everything was so delicious. We had so much left over so everyone got to bring some food home with them; SCORE!

Doesn't it look appetizing? — Doesn’t it look appetizing?!

After a lot of food, we headed to our last stop, the Arab-American National Museum. It was such a great experience! There, I learned more about the Muslim culture, Arab nations, architecture, and influence of Arab-Americans in our society. Here are some pictures!

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Then, after a busy and educational day, it was time back for Hope. If you want to learn, I encourage you to contact the Islamic Center. They are very open and welcoming. It truly was a great experience learning about a religion and culture. There is so much to learn yet, but at least I’m off to a great start!

So, what now? This weekend, I’m headed to Chicago and Wisconsin with Amanda, my friend Hannah, and myself. Another blog post to come soon! Make sure to follow me and Amanda on Twitter! Have a great day and weekend!

Birthday in Review

My birthday started off great with my phone ringing at 12:00 AM on September 23. I answered to Ali and Steph and listened to them play “22” by Taylor Swift. I stayed up till 2:00 AM that night having a

Photo on 2013-09-23 at 23.23 #6 great conversation with Amy. In the morning she took me out to my favorite restaurant, deBoer’s, and we enjoyed an awesome meal together. I then went to Chapel and then out to coffee after with a friend.

The weather was absolutely perfect for the first day of fall. Lydia and I ate dinner at the Curragh outside and enjoyed watching the sun go down. After dinner, Steph and I ran to Kollen Park and saw the most beautiful dusk sky. We stopped and prayed for awhile once we reached the water. The scenery was perfect, the sky was purple and red with the water a still cool blue.

I then headed back to my house and met up with some of my housemates and they asked if I wanted to go to Orange Leaf with them. When I arrived at Orange Leaf a large group of my friends were there to surprise me. I absolutely loved it!!!! I felt so loved and thankful for such amazing friends!

When we returned back to my house Lydia, Amy, and I made some crazy dance videos that I will never post for anyone to see — haha. But it was such a great birthday and I felt so loved by my Hope community. I am so thankful for my amazing friends and the way they love me!

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Wilderness Sabbatical: My Saturday Excursion

I woke up at 8:00 AM this past Saturday, and I quickly realized I had nothing to do. I had homework, of course, but I have a personal rule of never doing homework on Saturdays, so I hopped in the shower and rode my bike down to the local Farmers Market.

I expected the trip to take about an hour, but when I was riding back, I realized it had only been 45 minutes since I woke up. I started to get anxious, “What am I going to do, It’s only 8:45?” I thought to myself.

I looked down at my phone to change the song that was playing, I looked up, I looked down at my bike, and I saw the light. “I’ll ride my bike to Holland State Park!” I mentally shouted. I rode home as fast as I could and I grabbed my camera, my PlayStation Vita and of course my wallet and I was on my way.

I rode down to CVS and grabbed some candy and an Arnold Palmer, and my next stop was Howard B. Dunton park on Douglas on the shore of Lake Macatawa. I drank my drink, blasted Anamanaguchi, and cleared four missions in Velocity Ultra.

After a couple of hours I decided it was high time to get back on my way to the State Park, so I snapped a couple pictures and I was back on my way. Just past the Holland Airport, I saw a really cool looking house, so I stopped to take a few pictures of it.

I turned around to get back on my bike, and I noticed that there was a bridge over a tiny creek leading to a trail. I rode my bike forward and discovered one of the coolest trails I’ve ever ridden on. Luckily, the path went in the direction of the State Park, so when I came out at the end, I was even closer to my destination.

Ten minutes later, I had finally made it. I walked out to the end of the pier and got some of the best pictures I’ve taken since I got my camera. After taking more pictures than I could ever count, I checked my watch and realized it was almost 4:00 PM. I hopped back on my bike and traveled home.

As many fun things that there are to do on Hope’s campus, sometimes it can be fun to do some things in the surrounding area. Holland is a beautiful, and relatively safe area, so the boundaries of where you can go are practically endless. Even though my legs are definitely telling me not to explore so far every day, I can’t wait until the next time I get a completely open day to go on another adventure.

Summer 2013

For those reading this, you’ve come to the right blog. I know I already did an introduction of myself and whatnot, but now I want to share my summer with you. I know it seems kind of ridiculous, especially in September, but trust me, it’ll be worth it. Now that that’s out of the way, this past summer has been my most eventful and life-changing summer, EVER. An interesting fact about myself, and this is the fact that I share with everyone, is that I’m Filipino. For about a month, my family went to the Philippines for my cousin’s wedding and a vacation! It was the first time I was back since I emigrated to the United States at 8 years old. I remember so much from when I was little; seeing the changes was astounding. It was a great time to do some R&R, but it was also 100% educational. It was just one of those trips that you will never forget. Instead of blabbing on and on with words, look at the pictures below and read the captions. Surely, the pictures will speak for themselves!

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After the Philippines, I was home for about a week. All I did was sleep. I was so jet lagged that I slept for 16 hours at one point. Crazy right? Then after that week, I flew to Maine where I spent the most of my summer! I worked at Camp Cobboossee as a counselor. I got to work with the coolest kids ever, and it was definitely a great experience! Ultimately, I want to work with kids, so this job was perfect. Hopefully I get to return next summer. I miss my campers and counselor friends! Here are some pictures from camp!

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Hopefully you enjoyed this blog! I was barely home for the summer, but I wouldn’t of traded my experiences for anything else! More to come shortly, make sure you keep checking in! If you haven’t already, follow me on twitter at @HopeMarvin15! God Bless!

A Week at a Glance

Hey all!

Are you wondering about all the goings-on going on at Hope during the week? Here’s a glimpse of what my pals from Kollen 1 West and I have been up to:

Last Sunday, Sept. 15, it was Gloria’s birthday (she lives right across the hall from me!) So, three girls from my floor crammed into the tiny kitchen down the hall and baked a red velvet cake while the rest of us went to the Gathering, Hope’s Sunday night worship service. The cake was delicious, and the worship time was wonderful.

Tuesday, Sept. 17, was three awesome events all rolled into one day. For one, it was my brother’s 17th birthday, second, I took my first college exam in Intro to Psychology, and third, it was the Hope vs. Calvin volleyball and soccer games in Grand Rapids.

I called my brother early in the morning to wish him a Happy Birthday then headed off to take my exam. I have to say, those five hours of studying the night before paid off in the end! I crammed all twelve chapters into my head — resulting in 17 pages of extra notes — and took the fifty multiple choice questions. Alright, I might have studied a little too much for this, but it went well, and I’m thankful for that.

Later that night, we all piled into my friend Sarah’s SUV to head to Grand Rapids to catch the volleyball game. Hope was selling t-shirts to support the Night of Nets, which each student could purchase for five dollars. The five dollars gave each student a free meal, transportation to the game (which we didn’t do because we had to finish classes first!), which were all awesome incentives, but to top it all off, purchasing the t-shirt also donated money to stop the spread of malaria. If you want more information about the Night of Nets, you can find it here:

http://cunightofnets.com/night-of-nets/

The rest of the week followed with classwork, worship time, a Friday night movie in the Kollen lounge, and an awesome coffee date downtown Holland at JP’s with a friend who lives in Dykstra.

Want to hear more about what’s happening at Hope?

Follow me on twitter @hopesophie17 or send me an email at sophie.guetzko@hope.edu.

Research Starts

Well, the first month of this semester is about to end. For many high school seniors, the application season is coming. Perhaps you have a great plan and dream for your college life, then come to visit Hope College and try to sit in a class.

This blog is called Life in Orange and Blue, which standards for a colorful college time (tip: orange and blue are two official colors at Hope :0 ). However, you might not think my life is cool because I am not good at taking many great photos. Actually, as an engineering student, doing a research is kind of an “extra-curricular activity.” I am having fun on my research, indeed. Thus, my posts probably are more about the academic life here. If you are interested in science, you are in the right place!

Currently I am doing two research with two professors. You may wonder what the research is. Well, it may not be as cool as it sounds. I have to read several papers a week and try to figure out the methodologies in those papers. Doing a simulation on computer is also a mission. Usually, it takes me a lot of time, but I think it is worthy because the importance of research cannot be exaggerated for science including chemistry, engineering, biology, etc. The ability of doing a research can reflect your self-orientation in a way. It is different from taking a class and the professor will tell you everything. You’ll have to explore and try repeatedly.

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I have a meeting with my professors every week, to report my process and get some guidance and new ideas. I like the independent work because it is really unconstrained.

Interested in these geek stuff? Drop me an email: xiaodong.wu@hope.edu 🙂

Well, Hello There

Welcome back, everybody!!! Welp, it’s junior year for me and you know what that means? More stress! Well, yes that’s true, but junior year also means being an upperclassman, being out of the dorms, having more freedom, and getting more involved in your major and what you want to do with your life. I hope everybody had a great summer and I thought I would share a few things that happened to me since my last blog post last year.

This past May I completed a physical therapy internship here in Holland, which was such a great opportunity for me. It fulfilled my volunteer hours needed for my major, but it also allowed me to figure out what area of therapy most interests me. I traveled through different branches of Holland Hospital and got exposed to various settings and patients, which was awesome! After May, I went back home to California and worked as a cashier at a farmers market called Sprouts. Boy do you meet some interesting people working as a cashier! Despite some frustrating moments, it always ended up being a joy because it allowed me to meet and interact with people I otherwise would never have encountered.

On a more fun side, I was able to hang out with some of my friends that were home. It was difficult this summer because people’s availability was much more limited than years prior because people are getting “adult” jobs now! Regardless of the lack of time I was able to get some quality time just relaxing with friends at the beach, getting frozen yogurt, going line dancing, and just being our goofy selves.

My friends and me at Huntington Beach

The whole group

Having fun in Chicago

Something really fun that happened was that I went into Hollywood and went to the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. This was especially fun because there was a segment in the show that Craig pointed me out in the crowd and made fun of me for not applauding with enthusiasm—it was super embarrassing but also one of the greatest moments ever! The first thirty seconds or so of this video shows Craig poking fun at me. Take a look:

Besides that, my summer was pretty stress-free and looking back, probably one of my last summers back at home, so it’s a bitter-sweet feeling. Now that school has started, I’m taking for granted all of the free time I had. Oh well! After a long summer, it’s that time of year again to start hitting the books and living in the library. Regardless of all of the homework, I have a good feeling about this year, so continue to follow my blogs and I’ll keep you updated on life here at Hope!

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

My Summer + Orientation 2013!

Hello Everyone!

Even though I already made my first post of the year, I wanted to talk a little bit about my summer!

From early May to mid July, not much happened. I was at home in Iowa, where I watched sheep play behind my house and way too many shows on Netflix. But seriously, that’s about all I did.

In mid July, I started work in a corn field. If you didn’t already know, the state of Iowa was pretty much made for farming. With the exception of the occasional hill, Iowa is very flat and has fertile soil. Size wise, it ranks 26th out of the 50 states, but only has a population of about three million people. So, if you add it all up, great land + few people = lots of farms and fields!

The farms in Iowa are used for several things. Any corn, pork, chicken, eggs, beef, or dairy you get from a grocery store (or McDonalds!) may have come from a farm in Iowa. Along with growing our nation’s food, a lot of the fields, including the one I worked in, are owned by companies that test crops.

The company I worked for tests genetically modified corn. I was involved with the growing process, which mostly means that I helped to cross-pollinate, or sib, the corn. This involved putting bags on the corn tassels, collecting the pollen, and dumping it on the growing shoots of corn. I did this work for about a month, until it was time for me to return to Hope for…

Orientation!!!!!!!

If I seem a little excited about orientation, it’s because it was one of the best experiences I’ve had at Hope so far, and definitely one of the best experiences in my life overall. My position on the orientation staff was an assistant director (AD). There were 23 of us, and our main goals were to:

1. Help Kian and Claire, the orientation directors, with any finishing touches.

2. Train the Orientation Assistants (OAs) to lead their group of new students.

3. Learn and perform an awesome dance for the new students!

Along with these responsibilities, I also had some work to do for the siblings program with two other ADs, Jess and Hannah. Over the summer, we solidified the plans for the younger siblings and older siblings programs, and on the Saturday of orientation weekend, were completely in charge of the programs.

I only knew a few of the other ADs before starting Orientation, but by the end, I felt like I had 22 new best friends. We couldn’t help but bond with each other; after all, we were together from 8:30 AM-11:00 PM every day for a week and a half! We stuffed the new student welcome bags and family registration packets, made folders for the OAs, and familiarized ourselves with all things Orientation.

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We worked hard, but we also played hard! We took a trip to Skyzone, a local trampoline gym, went to the beach, learned a fun dance (shout out to Audrey and Hannah for choreographing!), went a little crazy with Snapchat, memorized lines together for the skits Orange and Blue 4 You and H.O.P.E., and became a little family in the process. I would do it all over again with this group in a heartbeat if I ever got chance.

If you ever get the opportunity to be a part of the orientation program, I would highly encourage you to take it! It’s awesome and I know you’ll have a blast!

That’s all from me! Tweet me or comment below if you have any thoughts!

Rachael

PS – If you remember this little post at the end of the year, you might recall that I said that I was planning to go to Lollapalooza. Long story short, I sold my ticket a week before the show and didn’t end up going. Sad, I know.

SENIOR YEAR

How in the world is it already senior year? I can remember my first day of classes from freshman year just like it was yesterday. It’s crazy to think about who I am now compared to who I was four years ago. I am very excited for this semester for some of the following reasons:

I have awesome classes! I’m taking Global Political Economy, Finance, Management Seminar, and Senior Seminar
Internship with Edward Jones three days a week
Living in an off-campus house with some of my best friends
My professors are all so awesome and I talk with them outside of class frequently
I’m training for the Grand Rapids Marathon on October 20
I am excited to be on Mortar Board this year
I am looking forward to deepening my friendships at Hope
The Homecoming Hoedown is just around the corner, and it is literally my favorite day of the year!

Well these are just some of the things I am excited about for this semester. If you ever have any questions, please feel free to let me know. I really do love Hope and have had an amazing three years here! I’m looking forward for the year to come :]

Holland's beautiful Laketown Beach — Holland’s beautiful Laketown Beach

As Told By Instagram [Part 1]

Hello again everyone! The first few weeks at Hope have been really eventful and busy, but I’ve been trying to capture as many of these cool happenings around campus on camera as I can. Unfortunately, I’m not the best at doing that, but I thought it would be fun to share a few of the pictures I have been able to take since I left for school! These are a few of the photos that made it out of the bottomless pit that the camera roll on my phone tends to turn into and were posted on my Instagram!

August 22

The night before I left for Hope, my best friend Katelin and I spent some time together and did what we always do… EAT. We’re all about prioritizing. 🙂 She is a senior in high school this year and she’s hoping to come visit me at school soon (once she finishes tearing it up during cross country season!), so I’m super excited for that!

August 23

While my family was driving up to Holland, I was feverishly trying to label everything in our car to make sure it all got to the right dorm room. I guess I got a little carried away because I ended up labeling my dad. He didn’t notice.

August 24

Here is a little glimpse of my dorm room! It’s laid out a little differently now, but this is what a corner of it looked like when I first moved in. I was kind of overwhelmed by the fact that I was finally actually at Hope. Overwhelmed in the best way though!

August 26

It’s confession time, you guys. I have a little bit of a Pinterest problem. I actually haven’t been on it as much since I came to school, but that didn’t stop me from being really excited about this event that SAC has planned for November!

August 29

If you have never been to Kilwin’s, you are missing out! There’s one really close to campus in downtown Holland and everything I have ever had from there is amazing. One of my friends and I went downtown for the afternoon and our final stop was there, where I ended up with a caramel and dark chocolate covered Oreo.

P.S. If anyone is ever feeling generous, feel free to deliver more of these to Dykstra 224. Not really. But really.

August 30

SAC usually puts on an outdoor movie in the Pine Grove during welcome week, but this year it was raining, so it was held in the Dow gym. We watched The Great Gatsby (SO good) on a huge inflatable screen with a big group of students.

September 1

I am about 95% sure that I just need to take up residence in Nykerk Hall of Music because I spend about a million hours a day in this very spot. I love it though, so I can’t complain! We’re also getting a new music building and I’m super excited about that! It’s supposed to be completed in fall 2015.

September 2

I took this photo of Graves Hall because it’s one of my favorite buildings on campus. It seriously looks like a castle. Hope has such a gorgeous campus! I am so blessed to be in such a beautiful place every day.

September 3

I decided I wanted to decorate my cluster a little bit, so I cut all this out and hung it up! Since then, we’ve added a lot more to make it feel more like home!

September 7

Some friends and I took a Saturday afternoon and went to a mall near Grand Rapids and had dinner downtown. We had such a cool view crossing the bridge by the Gerald Ford Museum!

September 7

These are the lovely ladies I got to have dinner with that night! From left to right, I went with Grace, Sam, Jessica, and Anna (and I’m on the right!). We had a great time and it was so fun to get to know each of them outside of school. We also enjoyed some super delicious quarter-pound burgers. Grace, Jess, and Anna are all in my cluster, and Sam is in the one next door, so it’s great to see them all every day! God has blessed me so much through my cluster and the ones around me! All the girls I’ve met are so great!

I’ll save the rest of my pictures for another post! I hope you are all having a great week and making the most of every opportunity you have no matter where you are in life right now. Leave me a comment to let me know what God is doing in your life and anything else that is new and exciting! Or it can be old and boring. I don’t judge.

You can also tweet at me and follow me! My twitter is @hopekathryn17. All these pictures are from my Instagram, which is katsmeow17. You can also drop me an email with any questions, comments, or thoughts at kathryn.krieger@hope.edu! I would love to hear from you! Thanks for reading!

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Orientation!!!!!!!

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