Switzerland

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The weekend after Italy, and before finals, I journeyed to
Switzerland in a solo, last-ditch effort to see the Alps.

The fact that I cannot
ski or snowboard was a big bummer. The first big snow had been the day before, making this the
first official weekend the slopes were open — which only magnified my disappointment. It just so happened
that the mountain pass I chose to hike, Grindelwald, was also an extremely
popular series of slopes. Therefore, the train ascending the Alps was full of Swiss winter enthusiasts,
all ready for a day on the mountain. All self-pity aside, the view was absolutely magnificent as the train
snaked up the mountain.

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Throughout the hour
train ride, I gazed out the window, assuring myself that just seeing the Alps
was a privilege, and that I would return one day, in better health to conquer
(“survive” is probably more realistic) the slopes. Disembarking, I followed the athletes up through the town
nestled between two large mountain ridges. After questioning what appeared to be the town alcoholic
where I should hike, he explained that none of the trails would be cleared,
between sips of his rum and coke (10:30 a.m.).

The road continued up,
and so did I, winding through sleepy suburbs of the classic Swiss lodge-like homes. The view only improved as I
trudged up past families skiing through the streets, towards town. Reaching a miniature plateau, I took in
the sweeping panorama while consuming my very Swiss lunch, which consisted of a
cubed meat and cheese salad, an apple, carbonated water, and a Twix bar.

The way down presented challenges, as it was much steeper than I remembered, and quite icy. Burdened with my backpack full of possessions for the weekend, and with Nike’s on my feet (great traction), I was having trouble staying on my feet. I slipped a half-dozen times, managing to catch myself just before I ended up on my rump, which provided grand entertainment for the Swiss driving past me, particularly after my “I’m alright” wave. These self-esteem sapping events eventually elicited a functional epiphany. Why not stop fighting the elements and use them to my advantage? The rest of the way down, I would push off and slide a few meters at a time, with my feet positioned as if I were snowboarding. Very effective, and certainly more fun than the alternative.

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While I had managed to
buy my ticket to the Geneva vs. Bienne Biel hockey game, I had not yet booked a
hostel in Geneva. The desire to
sleep indoors, and not outside in the elements, served as my motivation to get
to Geneva before dark. Being the
loyal customer I am, I found a sister hostel to the Interlaken chain and grudgingly
paid the nightly rate, which is twice as high in Switzerland than any other
country I had already visited. Keep that in mind.

Waiting in line at the
Patonoire Palace (thanks France), I noticed that the guy behind me was wearing
a Blackhawks hat. Of course, I
asked him about it and we got to talking. Once Vladimir heard I was planning on sitting in the visitor’s section,
he insisted that I join him and his brother in the first row of the Geneva student section. How could I decline?

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Shortly thereafter, he
introduced me to his buddies, and I was a part of it all. Allow me to explain. Swiss hockey games are still hockey,
but they have some crucial differences.

1. Team’s logos aren’t
just represented by an enthusiastic super fan dressed in a stifling suit—they
use the real thing too. Before the
game Geneva released a bald eagle that flew across the rink.

2. Following the European
fútbol model, fans have actual chants and songs that occur throughout most of
the game, led by a student with a bullhorn. Flags, scarves and banners are abundant in the student
section. Students pay 100 francs
for an entire season worth of home games, creating a loyal and youthful fan
base. Perhaps, something to
ponder, Mr. Bettman and NHL owners.

3. The leading scorer on
each team wears a yellow helmet and a jersey with flames to mark him as
dangerous… awfully similar to the videogame NHL Hitz if you ask me!

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Seeing Patrick Kane, a
Chicago Blackhawk, skate in a European atmosphere was surreal, even if his team
(Bienne-Biel) was the away squad: and I had been roped into cheering for the
home team. I could have sworn that
Patrick and I made eye contact after a whistle. He had just made two Geneva players look silly at center ice
and had proceeded to carry the puck into the offensive zone, setting up a teammate
for a shot. It was as if he was
looking for an imaginary pat on the back, with his “did you see that?!” double nod. From a purely logical standpoint, he must have seen the only American in the house
frantically waving a #88 Hawks jersey in the first row of the opposing
fan section.

With only 3 minutes
left, the chants became more enthusiastic, as victory became imminent for host Geneva. A Bienne-Biel shot deflected over the
glass and into the protective netting in front of us, falling between the
boards and the railing that held the student section back. My friend Vladimir turned to me and
frantically asked me if I would like to have the puck. I nodded my head yes and watched dumbfounded, as he hopped the railing, sprinted the 10 meters, snatched the puck, and
hurriedly jumped back over into the safety of the crowd, moments before the
security guard could intervene. Smiling, he deposited the puck into my hand and wished me a Merry
Christmas, as students crowded in to get a glance at the already infamous puck.

After the game, my
Swiss buddies continued their hospitality, asking the same security guard how
long it would take for the visiting players to board the buses, and offering to
wait with me for the chance to meet Kane. Considering the wait could be as long as two hours (and how cold Swiss
nights were), I declined to their relief.

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Despite it being
finals week for them too, they showed me around town, offering me bits of
history and explaining the festival that was currently taking place. After an hour or two of show and tell,
they insisted that I not walk home alone, for fear a group of “Frenchies” would
pounce on the American tourist. Apparently the steep nightly rate did not encompass a safe surrounding
neighborhood. In a group of five,
we walked safely past some loitering “Frenchies,” and Nic flagged down a cab
for me. Exchanging goodbyes, both
Chris and Nic extended an invitation to stay with their families the next time
I was in Geneva, with plans to lace up and take the ice together. Until next time, Switzerland!

-Steven

“GUYS. WE’RE in COLLEGE!!!!!!!” – What will Roommates Do to YOU.

Ok, so a lot of accepted students of the class of 2017 have been asking on Facebook about ROOMMATES. It’s kind of a scary topic, especially when you are not used to living with anyone, let alone sharing a room and all of your space with them. I grew up always having my own room and my family would always space out, so the idea of having to share a tight space with others was not very appealing. HOWEVER, when I arrived at Hope, I was in for a huge surprise.

Meet the two most important and amazing people in my life.

Shannon (Left) and Morgan (Right) were my freshman roommates. We had a triple room, that fit three people, in Dykstra Hall.

I only knew a few people going into Hope and no girls my age, so I decided I would go in blind, not knowing who I would live with. I couldn’t suggest it more. The Hope housing staff do an AMAZING job of matching roommates, and if there are problems, they accommodate you very quickly.

I filled out a short questionnaire in late May about what my study habits were, what my ideas on alcohol and smoking were, my music preferences, how organized I am, and when I like to go to bed. Two months later, I got a letter from Hope. Nervously, I opened it. The header: 2011-2012 School Year Housing Arrangements. I expected seeing one name, but when I saw TWO, I really freaked out.

I HAVE NEVER LIVED WITH ANYONE AT ALL. I am NOT good at sharing. I DONT like to share food and MOST OF ALL: I NEED MY SPACE. I gulped and tried to grasp the concept of sharing a room with two other people for about a week, until I got a friend request on Facebook. Hope provides the home address and phone number of your prospective roommate, but my roomies quickly found me online.

All summer, we coordinated how we would fill our room. Who would bring the mirror? Should we have a fridge? A TV? Do we want lighting? We made a Google Doc and exchanged what supplies we already had and decided who could bring what.

We talked about personalities. What major did we anticipate studying? Were there any clubs we wanted to join? What was going on in our lives? We figured we probably should get along at least a little and know a bit about each other if we were about to embark on a year together. I do know quite a few people that never talked to their roommate until they got to Hope, and they did just fine too. We just felt like we had a little step up.

When we arrived at Hope on move-in day, I will admit, it was a little awkward. We had all our families, all our stuff, and we were hot, tired, and stressed out. But after about a week, we were like three peas in a pod. We ate together, we worked out together, and at the end of the day we came home to our beautiful room to discuss our collegiate activities.

I wouldn’t say we are necessarily all alike, but we really get along. We are all relatively low maintenance (in most things), and have learned to communicate with each other about problems and issues we have. We don’t always get along. But 99.89% of the time, we are happily together.

Shannon is a sing-songy, energetic (most of the time), hilarious, intelligent, beautiful woman who never fails to keep us laughing. She always has something insightful to add to the conversation and she brightens the room when she arrives. She is a nursing major and with her amazing people skills, I know she’s going to be an incredible nurse.

Morgan is quiet at first, but after you get her talking, she can go for hours! She is very fashion-forward, bright, chipper, beautiful, and adds her own flavor of humor that I can’t really explain. She keeps you on your toes because she is kind of unpredictable, but in a hilarious way. As a secondary English education major, she is going to rock the schoolhouse, as she is great teaching and VERY smart in many subjects.

This year, we are in a suite together. Shannon and I are still roommates, and a bathroom connects our room to Morgan and Betsy’s. We’re still VERY close, and I couldn’t imagine my life at Hope without them.

Please don’t stress about your roommate. Hope will really figure it out for you. And I really recommend going in blind to meet new people. You will always have your old friends that come along with you to Hope. College is the time for new beginnings, new friendships, new relationships, new experiences.

If you have any questions about the roommate process, shoot me an email at amanda.porter@hope.edu or tweet me @hopeamanda15

xoxox

RECAP: Finals Week…how do you study?

Happy ALMOST NEW YEAR!

I haven’t blogged in a while. December has been a super busy time for me. The next few posts will be about some things I have been up to, Hope and non-Hope related. So, I hope you enjoy!

Exam Week and the weeks leading up to it are extremely stressful and busy. If you think the first couple of weeks of the semester are bad, getting through the last week of classes is much worse. Mostly there are a lot of projects to finish, papers to write, exams to study for, and content to learn, especially if you’re a good procrastinator like me. :(. The best ways to cope, that I have found, is efficiency and increased productivity.

On a side note—We were able to have a bit of fun before the business started: Ugly Sweater parties are a must during the holiday season, and believe me… College students are BOUND to attend at least one or two. I attended one with my group of friends and, I have to say, my sweater was pretty ugly.

Other that that, I was so busy and filled with pure studying. I definitely didn’t know I could study so much… and sleep so little.

The best strategies I used this semester included vision boards, flashcards, and flowcharts (sometimes called Mind-maps). Here is one I made for Organic Chemistry reactions of aromatic rings… a section in one chapter of Orgo :(. I hung them all by my bed and woke up to them every morning, hoping they would sink it a bit better! 🙂

If you learn like I do, flashcards are a god-send but sometimes are very annoying to make by hand, as they take a bit of time and resources.

Most of the time, I use virtual flashcards because I can take them everywhere easily. On my phone (Apple iPhone), computer (Mac), or iPad, it’s easiest to use the GFlash+ app. You simply make an excel spreadsheet of your information with one column representing one side of the cards and the adjacent column showing the answer. The app will automatically connect to your GoogleDocs account to import information, which is really convenient. You can even add sound files or pictures to your flashcards, which is so useful, especially for chemistry and physics equations.

As far as I’m concerned, in terms of content, Sal Khan is a god. Creator and manager of the website www.khanacademy.org, Sal covers academic topics from physics to chemistry to algebra to biology. He is so awesome and I even used him in high school. When I don’t necessarily grasp a concept as well as I could or need a quick brush up, I refer to his many videos and often times just a different teaching perspective is enough to help me understand a lot better. Check him out!

I have tried to use iTunes U more, but I can’t find a whole lot of curriculum tailored to my exact needs, since Hope doesn’t publish anything there currently. However, Moodle resources that professors give out are very helpful.

As far as notes, I have switched ALMOST completely to digital note-taking using my iPad. Bought specifically for school-usage in mind, my iPad has been really convenient in my first semester using it. I do love my MacBook, but I hate lugging it around and the weight in my bag with the power charger. My iPad is much smaller and lighter, and I can usually go two days on a charge in classes.

I use Complete Class Organizer ($4.99) on my iPad for the most organized notes, though a lot of my friends also use Evernote, which is free. Complete Class Organizer allows me to record class lecture and take notes (text or drawing) simultaneously. THEN: I can highlight text and pick up the lecture recording at exactly that point. I can also import images or graphs into my notes. I love that it is easily broken up into my different classes, organizing my notes by date and time as well. I can export notes to my computer via PDF or email or even print them from my iPad directly.

I use a million other products for PDF’s, CLOUD sharing, PICTURE editing, sharing, etc. But if I included them ALL in a post, you would probably go crazy.

Do you have any great study tips for me? I can always use suggestions or new breakthrough ideas! Have questions about the products I use, or any that I didn’t mention here? Email me at amanda.porter@hope.edu or tweet me @hopeamanda15

Top 10 of 2012

2012 has proven to be a pretty
exciting year. So, on this New Year’s Eve, I wanted to share with you, in no
particular order, the top 10 things that have happened throughout the year.

1. Acceptance into Hope
College’s 2013 June Term
for students studying Economics, Management, and Accounting. Just a few weeks
ago I learned that I will be studying abroad for a month in London this coming summer. I am looking
forward to this opportunity where I will continue gaining knowledge in the
field of business while also spending time with professors who are pretty cool!

2. Learning from professors who truly care about their students.
This semester provided me the chance to enroll in several classes with
outstanding professors; each who made a significant impact on my college
career. If you make the choice to attend Hope try to take a class with
Professor LaBarge, Professor de Roo, or Professor Johnson. Each of these professors
work hard to help students achieve personal goals and be the best they possibly
can be!

3. Attending Kenny Chesney’s “Brothers of the Sun” concert at
Cowboys Stadium. My mom and I have been Kenny Chesney fans for a while now.
This year, my dad surprised us both with tickets to his concert. It was so much
fun to hear him sing, and sing-a-long with him, live.

4. Living with three fabulous roommates. For the past several
months I had been able to live with three girls who have added a lot to my
life. We have been through some ups and downs together but no matter what
happens, we find a way to laugh (or cry) about situations and then move on. So
Stephanie thanks for always being so nice; Larrisa, thanks for the dance
parties; and Hilary, thanks for being the voice of reason. I can’t wait for the
next few months with all of you – I know it will be a blast!

5. Working at Chick-fil-A. I have worked at Chick-fil-A for
close to five years now. Every time I work I learn some great lessons about
management and leadership. This past summer was probably my favorite summer at
Chick-fil-A because I was able to spend my day (or night) applying concepts I’ve
learned in a variety of my Hope classes and working with people who have become
close friends.

6. Interning with some great high school students from the Holland area. One of my
classes this fall provided an opportunity for me to intern with a local
organization. I had the opportunity to intern for City Hall in Holland, MI
with the Holland Youth Advisory Council. When I started this internship, I had
no clue how much fun I would have working with high school students. From
coffee at JP’s to Good Morning Snapchats, my intern kids know how to brighten
my day and I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue our work together in
the coming semester.

7. Celebrating my 21st birthday with family and
close friends. This past November I turned 21. On the same day, November 1st,
my good friend Nate turned 20. Along with our families, we celebrated our
birthdays together at dinner. We all had a great time and enjoyed sharing
stories and jokes with each other. It was the perfect way to celebrate a
birthday!

8. Spending time at home during breaks at school. Being from Texas, I do not always
get to spend short breaks at home. However, my parents worked to make it
possible for me to come home quite a bit this semester. I have greatly enjoyed
spending time with them over the breaks and I’m thankful for their willingness
to help me spend as much time as possible at home.

9. Catching up with old friends and making new friends. This
year has provided me with time to make new friends while also catch up with old
friends. To my three friends at Chick-fil-A (Hannah, Katie, and Erika), my
shopping trip/sports friends (Michael and Chris), and my parallel (Rachel), I
have loved getting to know you or reconnect with each of you this year. You
have provided me with great memories, throughout the year, that I wouldn’t trade
for anything. I look forward to the New Year to see what kind of adventures are
awaiting for us in the future!

10. Becoming a student blogger. I have truly enjoyed sharing my
day-to-day life at Hope
College. I hope you all
have a great end to this year and I look forward to writing more blogs for you
in the New Year!

Some Recent Disasters

As all of you are aware, there was a serious shooting in Newtown,
Connecticut over our break, which absolutely breaks my heart. Just the fact
that there was an unnecessary shooting makes me feel extremely sympathetic for
those who lost their loved ones, but the fact that the shooting was at an
elementary school where the children were so innocent and didn’t deserve it at
all, makes me disgusted that someone would take their lives. I was at the
airport at the time when I heard this happened. It was on all of the TV
monitors at the airport and even though the reporters had little information
about the incident at the time, they knew it was a large massacre. They had
even said that it was the second largest school shooting since the incident at
Virginia Tech. A total of 26 people (20 being children) were killed that day at
Sandy Hook Elementary. Just imagining the loss of these children’s lives makes
me reflect on how lucky I am that none of my friends or family were there. At
home, I live in a neighborhood of elementary kids and knowing that they are the
age of the kids that were in the shooting makes me put things into perspective.
These children are between the ages of 6 and 11 and the fact that 20 of these
children lost their lives breaks my heart and my prayers go out to them and
their families. President Obama quickly responded to this disaster on December
16th and had a very sympathetic speech trying to comfort the
families involved, which I greatly admire.

On a similar note, the following day, there was another
shooting at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, which is about 30 minutes from my
house. The shooter was said to have fired about 50 rounds, but luckily, nobody
was killed. There were a few individuals who were injured, but fortunately, it
didn’t completely parallel the previous day’s shooting. When I found out there
was a shooting near my house, the first thing that ran through my mind was: two
shootings in two days? What’s going on? I couldn’t believe that there were two
shootings, let alone in two days. That is completely ridiculous and
unacceptable. There should never be any shootings and lives should not be lost
over a single person’s irrationality and personal problems. I am just grateful
that both of the shooters didn’t get away. The Connecticut shooter killed
himself and the Fashion Island shooter is currently in the Orange County Jail,
so at least they are both unable to do any harm to anybody anymore. All I hope
for is that there aren’t anymore shootings in our nation’s future and that
those who were affected are able to get through this rough time.

This is a relatively depressing blog, but definitely is
something that needs to be written about, so don’t forget to follow me on
Twitter @hopeleslie15.

A Not-So-Chilly Winter

As most of you know if you have read my previous posts, my
hometown is 2,000 miles from the Midwest, so it’s easy to say that my Christmas
experience is quite different than most.

California is known for its warmth, beaches, and palm trees,
so when it comes to winter, there isn’t much of one. When I got home from the
airport for this Christmas break, it was about 65 degrees out at about 8:00 PM.
It looked more like fall than anything at my house because the leaves were
changing colors and it wasn’t too chilly. Let me take you through a typical day for me during this break:

Morning:

Go for a nice run with my brother in shorts and a T-shirt (no sweatshirt needed here, folks)
If I don’t go for a run, I’ll play some tennis outside with my friend Derek or go on a hike with my friend Melissa
Eat some breakfast
Get cleaned up

Afternoon:

Hang with friends
Play ping pong outside with my brother
Be a couch-potato and watch TV

Evening:

Eat dinner with the family
Either go walking/exploring outside somewhere with friends or watch a movie
Sleep and do the same thing the next day!

As you can tell, the weather doesn’t affect what I like to
do, which is really nice for now knowing that I won’t be able to walk outside
in shorts when I go back to school. Even though it seems as though I absolutely
love being in the warm during winter, I do dislike it at times. For instance, I
cannot go outside and make a snow angel, snowman, sled, go ice skating… like, ever. Also, the atmosphere is so different because here in California, you
don’t experience a shift in the seasons so it’s harder to get excited for the
holidays, but in the Midwest, the first snowfall symbolizes the change and
makes everyone in high spirits and excited for the Christmas season. Another
thing is that I’ve never experienced is a truly “white Christmas,” which is a
real bummer. On Christmas morning, my family and I simply hope for fog because
that’s the closest thing we get to snow.

Despite the fact that there are obvious upsides and
downsides to being in a warmer climate during this break, what really matters
to me is being with family and friends. I never get much of a chance to see my
family or friends over the course of the year, so it makes me treasure and
appreciate the time I have with them when I’m back at home. Now that we are all getting older, it’s
harder to anticipate when everybody is going to be home next because
internships, jobs, and other opportunities are always possible, but Christmas
is the only time during the year where it is a guarantee that I’ll be able to
see my loved ones, which is deeply important to me.

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

Christmas Morning

Hey there! So now that the much-anticipated Christmas day is
over, I’d like to share with you what happened this holiday at the Kempers’
home!

First of all, each year it seems like Christmas morning gets less exciting. It could be that we aren’t looking forward to those presents as
much or we have other things on our minds these years and getting presents
isn’t as important to us anymore compared to just spending the day with family,
but my brother and I no longer wake up at 5 AM anymore and rush down the stairs
to see what Santa brought us. We have more recently gotten into the habit of
waking up around 8 AM (at the earliest) Christmas morning and lazily walking down
the stairs. Despite the gradual decline in anticipation, Christmas is my
favorite day of the year anyway. Why, you ask? Because my family has the best
humor and opening presents is just hilarious. For instance, my dad got a
“Corksicle” this year, which is an icicle that you freeze and put into a wine
bottle that also serves as a cork. Clever, right? As for me, I got some true
winners in my stocking. I was lucky and got a jumbo pack of Tic-Tac’s, a
Chip-Clip, Q-Tips, and an eyelash curler. Santa’s pretty creative these days!
These stocking-stuffers are always so amusing which is possibly my favorite
part of the presents each year.

After the first batch of presents is opened, my family has
the tradition of having a Zingerman’s coffee cake for breakfast and relaxing
before the real presents are opened. Besides the stocking stuffers, I did get
some new clothes, jewelry, shoes, and a book for the GRE (it’s basically a test
that I have to take that is like the SAT or ACT on steroids for entry into
Physical Therapy graduate school).

Once all of the presents are opened, a common tradition we
have is driving around and looking at Christmas lights and then getting home
and watching “White Christmas.” This movie seriously never gets old because
it’s such a classic, just like “Home Alone.” Once we are all getting hungry, we
have the tradition of having lamb, green beans and popovers for dinner followed
by my favorite dessert EVER!!! Not many people have heard of it (probably
because we made up the name even though I’m sure there is an official name for
it) but it’s called Refrigerator Roll. Basically, it consists of whipped cream
being sandwiched between pieces of chocolate wafers and then letting it sit and
get soft. Ok, my explanation doesn’t make it sound very good, but trust me…it’s
delicious. If anyone ever offers you Refrigerator Roll, ACCEPT THE OFFER! You
won’t regret it!

Well, those are pretty much all of my family’s traditions,
so until next time, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @hopeleslie15.

The Search for a Bow Tie

Hello friends! It’s been a while since I have posted
anything so as you can imagine I have quite a few stories to share. I’ll start
with one of my favorite adventures that happened at the end of the school year.

One of the great things that Hope offers its students is
a chapel service every Sunday night called the Gathering. Even though Hope is a
Christian college, the service is not mandatory
for students to attend but most students do attend on a regular basis. For the
last Gathering of the fall semester, students are encouraged to dress up and
look “classy”. This year was my third Lessons and Carols Gathering to attend so
I planned in advance what I would wear. However, one of my good friends,
Michael, planned what he wanted to wear but needed to go out and buy the classy
ensemble. This shopping trip that we embarked upon, along with our friend
Chris, is now known as the “Bow Tie Search.”

After looking at five different stores, we finally found
the perfect bow tie. As we would soon find out, purchasing the bow tie was
actually the easiest part of this adventure. The next step was to tie the
perfect bow tie and little did I know when this shopping adventure began that I
would be the individual chosen to tie Michael’s bow tie.

I would consider myself to be a decent bow tier, however,
tying a bow tie is not like tying a normal bow. After watching a couple of YouTube
videos and reading a step-by-step article entitled “Tying the Perfect Bow Tie” I
was finally ready to attempt my first try. And guess what? It only took three
tries to “tie the perfect bow tie.”

You might get to the end of this story and think that
there is absolutely no point to this story but in my opinion there is a lesson
to be remembered. In today’s culture on college campuses, we are so focused on
completing homework assignments and studying for exams. While both of those
things are very important, since we are at college to gain an education, it is
also important to build relationships and memories with fellow students.

I have to say that shopping for a bowtie with Michael and
Chris proved to be a great way to spend an afternoon. And now, I know how to
tie a bow tie… Hopefully that skill will be useful in life. Thanks for
the memories, Michael and Chris. And, Michael, nice job on the scripture
reading at the Gathering.

Some Early Christmas Spirit

As the semester comes to a close,
this week is full of the dreaded final exams and presentations. With the grasp
of break just beyond our reach, a few things around campus sure brighten up the
mood here in anticipation for the Christmas season and break that we all need
and deserve.

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First of all, let’s just say that
the library has been VERY full this week. Everybody is seeking a quiet place to
get some serious studying and preparation done for classes. But everybody needs
a break, right? Well, Santa was spotted the other day passing out candy canes
to students in the library, which sure lifted peoples’ moods. A couple days later, random
students were feeling generous and baked cookies and goodies for people who
were studying. No other place than Hope College do people bake treats for
strangers, just to be nice and make this week a little more tolerable.

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On a similar subject of food, Hope
had a “brinner” night in which anybody and everybody at Hope could come to
Phelps and have some late-night breakfast as a nice study break. This proved to
be more than just eating and socializing. The popular Christmas tune “12 Days
of Christmas” broke out and each section of the cafeteria sang a portion of it,
which was simply hilarious because some people got REALLY into it. I can’t even
put it into words. Just take my advice. It was a good time.

Ok, this is the last time I’ll bring up food, but the 24 days leading up to Christmas are my favorite. Why, you ask? Because I get my daily dose of chocolate from my advent calendar each morning. Even though these small pieces of milk chocolate take 2 seconds to eat, I seem to look forward to it every single day.

Besides the food that was offered,
something that surely got me in the Christmas spirit was a white-elephant gift
exchange with some friends. We were all so creative with getting each person a
small gift that fit each person’s personality, which made the night full of
laughs and provided as a good stress reliever. The pictures below show some of the things I got over the past few days, both from the gift-exchange and simply just Christmas presents.

This week was one of the first
times it snowed a little, which certainly makes it feel like winter. One
morning, I woke up and saw snow everywhere and looked out my window and saw a
miniature snowman—it was pretty pathetic, but adorable and festive at the same
time. After seeing the snow, my roommate and I got into the mood to make some snowflakes. Doing them without instructions proved to be a terrible idea because they were pretty much pieces of paper with holes in them. We eventually gave in and printed off some directions for how to make them and they turned out really good!

Theses were just a few of the events
that were going on during exam week. Maybe everybody should have been studying
a little more, but hey, you got to have some fun sometimes too! That’s it for
this week, so I hope everybody has a great break and I’ll talk to you soon!
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @hopeleslie15

My weekend as a Dancer!

This past Friday and Saturday, I had the great pleasure of being a part of Hope’s annual production of the Nutcracker! What is so great about it is that Ballet Club, who puts on the show, is welcoming of all people, regardless of dance experience. Prior to my involvement in the Nutcracker, I had never danced in a studio. Ever. But because Hope is a small school with great opportunities, I was able to have this wonderful experience!

Auditions for the show took place in late September, and roles were assigned about a week afterwards. Not surprisingly, I was given a part as a soldier that required little to no prior dance experience. Rehearsals started the week after roles were announced, and since I had a small part, I has rehearsal once a week for about an hour. It was perfect for me because I still had time to do everything I needed to do for Nykerk.

During the scene I was in, Clara falls asleep and begins to dream; first about mice, then about soldiers who fight the mice. About halfway through the scene, the Nutcracker appears as a real person for the first time. A battle ensues between the mice and soldiers, and ends with the Nutcracker being victorious. The dance itself was pretty simple. As a soldier, it mostly involved marching around the stage and pointing our (toy!) guns at the mice. Our awesome choreographer Sarah did a terrific job creating the choreography and teaching it to us.

The first time I saw the rest of the other show was at the dress rehearsal on Thursday night, and I was blown away. There are so many talented dancers at Hope, and watching them in their element was the coolest thing. Even during the show, I chose to watch most of the scenes rather than do my homework. I never got tired of it!

The great thing about college is that it is the prime time in your life to be a part of new experiences. Hope is the perfect place for doing that. There are lots of student organizations to get involved with and discover a passion for. Which new things will you try when you come to Hope?

-Rachael

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