Well, I went home again this weekend for my little sister’s homecoming. She wanted me to do her hair and I was happy to help. Here’s a beach shot just before we dropped her off at the dance:

I drove up with my friend Marvin, who went to my high school. As we began our drive north, we naturally fell into talking about our first few weeks and experiences at Hope. We agreed that it was one of the best decisions we have ever made. But where would our lives be without Hope? As we can never know, we put the question aside, and I didn’t think about it any further.

Upon arriving home in a downpour, I reached for my house key and, with ease, waltzed into my warm and cozy house. Keys, in college particularly, are quite important. There are Chemistry keys (as in a paper key) that let you discover the stupid mistakes you made on yesterday’s test, lab keys to let you keep experiments in a constant and locked area, PO box keys that allow you to pick up mail from all of your friends, room keys that let you in when your roomie isn’t around, the list goes on and on. But generally, keys let you move past a boundary or a barrier to access something you desire. 

My thoughts flashed back to the car conversation: Wasn’t making the decision to come to Hope kind of like my key? Coming to Holland to study at a private college with roughly 3200 students was the most influential and powerful key I have ever used. It has allowed me to move past myself and the preconceived ideas I so often held close to me. I overcame my weaknesses and now, together with 847 other freshman, I’m beginning to make more decisions that will change my life and mold who I want to be.

The alumni, professors, and current students have taught me that Hope College is the key that will allow me to move courageously into an unknown world, and most importantly into the lives of others.

 

I’m so excited, because for most of you reading this it’s time to find and choose the key you think will open the doors in your life.

Good luck!! You can do it!

Okay, I’m done with sappy posts about how much I love Hope! I’ll concentrate more on WHY and HOW I love Hope, I promise. 

-More later!

 

A

 

P.S. I’m waiting in line at the Knick for the Mat Kearney concert put on by the Hope college concert series. We got here at 4pm and we’re 12th in line!! The doors open at 7:30pm. It should be an awesome concert! Did I mention that tickets were only $15 and we just heard Mat’s soundcheck??!

  

 

WAHOO!!!

I made it to 20!!!! Last Friday (September 23) I turned 20. I’m going to tell you all about my birthday. So on Thursday night I had a ton of homework due on Friday and was a little stressed. Around 11:30 p.m. my friend asked me to come in her room and talk about a problem she was having. After we finished talking, she asked if I would want to study in my room with her. I walked into my room at 12 a.m. and it was decorated so pretty with different presents lying all around. The presents were related to inside jokes I had with my friends. 

Then we piled down to the Gilmore lounge and enjoyed a delicious ice cream made by my new freshman friend, Ali. We all hung out together for a while in the lounge. Some of my friends from other dorms came over to celebrate too. My friend Ali even stayed up with until 2:30 a.m. when I finally finished my homework. Then the next morning my roommate woke me up with my favorite latte from JP’s! It was the best birthday wake up! I also did not have my 9:30 religion class, so I took my time getting ready.  After I was ready, I headed to chapel and heard the best message I have ever heard at Hope College. Seriously, words cannot describe how meaningful and significant the message was to my life. After chapel, I headed to Spanish, my first and last for the day. I ate lunch in Phelps with my friends and then changed into my running clothes. Grace and I drove to Grandville to study at Biggby and drink their delicious frappes. While at Biggby we went outside to run eight miles. It was a great birthday run! The weather was perfect, and we had a great conversation because the time flew by while running. 

Once I arrived back at campus, I went out to dinner at the B.O.B. in Grand Rapids with some friends. The meal was awesome, and I enjoyed spending time with my close friends.

This was seriously one of my best birthdays ever! I loved every bit of it! I received cards and packages from home and now need to write several thank you cards.

Until next time,

***CoLLeeN***

I lhave the best friends!

 

 

As we are in the fourth week of school, exams are upon us. As freshman we’ve gone through quite a strange transition. We arrived at Hope and went through the crazy but wonderful process of moving in and settling. We went through Orientation weekend where we were placed with a small group of other freshman to help us gain friendship, learn a bit about Hope and ourselves, and acclimate to the environment here.

Here’s the banner the class of 2015 made during Orientation weekend!

After four days of never-ending fun, horror struck: We have to go to school???! After the impending shock wore off, we began classes and learned even MORE people’s names, but the workload wasn’t awful.

But now, we actually have to study. As classes begin to overload us with memorization and mastering the art of time management, everyone is a bit stressed. 

To relax and enjoy our day in Holland, a few girls from my cluster (more on this term later) decided we should picnic at the beach! We grabbed a bite to go from the Kletz and we headed out to the Holland State Park, which is only 6 miles away.

I’d never gotten the chance to enjoy the beach here in Holland and, as I had been told, it was fantastic!!

Here are a few photos from our excursion:

Look at what my dorm-neighbor, Betsy, made in the sand! 

 

Our study-picnic was great and served as a great stress-reliever. We’re all ready to take on the challenges of the world of academia and procede through our week. 

 

More soon! 

A

 

I got to go home last weekend for my little sister’s birthday!! 🙂 She turned 15 on Sunday. I also caught up with family and friends and got to see my pets!  

Here, from left to right, is my sister’s friend Hailey, my sister Lindsey, and me bright and early Sunday morning!

 

I got to hang out with my favorite puppy, Gunner. He’s fantastic (and SO CUTE).

As much as I enjoyed my time with my family, I realized that I really missed my roommates and just being on campus. It really made me think about what I was feeling, and I guess it broke down to a torn love. Although I went out to dinner with my mom, I missed scrambling at Phelps. Even though I went to church Sunday morning with my family, I was anxious to get on the road to make it back to The Gathering, the chapel service on sunday nights here at Hope. 

 Why I Love Hope reason # 368: It becomes your second home.

It’s not like your cottage or a familiar place you hang out with friends. Rather, it becomes part of you; the people, the places, the hours of studying — it all becomes engrained in your being. Although it was a great weekend home, I’m thankful to be back. 🙂

 

More next time,

A

 

 

 

 

Hi, I’m Amanda.

Hope this year from Traverse City, Michigan.

My plans: major in Chemistry with an emphasis in Biochemistry with minors in neuroscience, mathematics, and Spanish.

My dream: to become a neurosurgeon, conducting cutting-edge brain research to advance what we know about how humans function, live, and think.

My blogging focus: To fully integrate you into my life so you can fully understand how awesome Hope College really is.

As you think about what you want from reading our student blogs, I encourage you to ask questions. You can leave a comment here on my post, email me at Amanda.porter@hope.edu, or tweet me (and follow me!): hopeamanda15.

Maybe you’ve heard of the book Colleges That Change Lives: 40 schools you should know about even if you’re not a straight-A student by Loren Pope. I’d heard of it, and that Hope was mentioned, but I had never gotten the chance to read through it. Here are some mentionable things Pope noted about Hope College: 

“[Hope] is a place where parents can send children of a wide range of abilities in the full expectation that their talents will be increased, vision broadened, and ethical acuity sharpened.”

“The sense of community was a common theme [at Hope], along with how interested the professors were in students’ personal as well as academic welfare.”

“ An economics professor who turns down offers from universities because he thinks what he’s doing here is more important says: ‘Here students spend time with their profs…At Harvard they’re talented when they come in, but what happens to them there? I wouldn’t leave Hope to teach at Harvard. Most of the [Hope] faculty could be making more money elsewhere, but they have a commitment to people, and it’s not self serving.’ “

Finally, I’ll leave you with some of the reasons why I made the decision to come to Hope College (not in any particular order):

• Hope College continues to hold more grants for summer collaborative student-faculty research from the National Science Foundation (NSF) than any other undergraduate college in the country
• 3,230 students (about twice the size of the high school I came from)
• Hope College faculty are nationally recognized teacher-scholars (in the Hope-Geneva bookstore we have a HUGE section devoted only to Hope authors –that definitely impressed me)
• There is a distinctive Christian character supported by a vibrant campus ministries program, which is neither required nor indoctrinating
• Hope has a plethora of study-abroad and even study-away-from-campus programs. If they don’t have a program you’re interested in, they’ll work with you to create one
• Every Hope College student I know or have talked to had done an amazing internship, gotten a fantastic job, or had worked on exciting research as an undergraduate because of Hope College and its professors
• It’s the perfect distance from my house (2.5 hours)
• Holland is right next to the water, just like Traverse City!
• The people I met on my two campus visits were SO friendly, helpful and made me feel at home

Read more positive highlights at http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/hope and check out Pope’s book.

Until next time,

-A

FINALLY!!!! 

Year 2 has officially begun. I arrived back at Hope for over a week ago and so much occured. I helped with orientation and absoultely loved it! I met a lot of new people and experienced living on campus with my friends without any homework. If only that lasted the whole year… Oh well, I am really excited for this year. I live in Gimore with m friend Amy, she is one of the RAs for the dorm. Our room feels super homey already and contains several bright colors and lights. 

I also am excited for my classes this semester. I am taking Intro to Bib Lit Old Testament, Spanish VI, Macroeconomics, Intro to Leadership, Jogging, and Tennis. If you could not tell by my classes, Hope is defnintely a liberal arts college. I love taking a variety of classes. Also, many of my friends are in my classes from last year. My roommate and I purposely took jogging and tennis together. My professors also are great this year! Two of them I had last year, and all of them know my name. 

I feel like I am already off to a great start with classes and friends. I have visited the beach several times just within two weeks of living here. I also ate in Grand Rapids with some of my friends on Friday night. We walked around and enjoyed a cute coffee shop. 

This year is going to be great! I already like it better from last year! 

Until next time,

***CoLLeeN***

Jumping off the pier at the beach!

Hey Everyone!

I have spent this week back at home in Springfield. I have been crazy busy with packing and trying to get ready for school. I also had my wisdom teeth taken out on Thursday. Thankfully, no problems have occurred. My friends have come to visit me and kept me company. I also have been out and about getting ready for school. I am leaving for Hope on Tuesday. I will be an orientation assistant (OA) for group 34! I am so excited for orientation! 

My OA partner and I met up a couple weeks ago to write a letter and welcomed the students in our group. We are going to buy stuff for our group next week when I return to Holland. It feels so weird that I’m home right now and it only feels like I’m visiting. I have only been home twice this summer. Holland now feels like my new home. I really enjoyed living in Holland this year. The Hope Entrepreneurship Initiative (HEI) program was an incredible opportunity for me. On August 4, all of the students in the program gave a PowerPoint presentation about their idea and the work they have done over the summer. We each gave about a 7-minute presentation and also spent time networking with alumni from Hope College and people from the Holland community. I am so thankful for the HEI summer program, and I cannot wait to return to Hope for Orientation in one week!!!

Have a good day!

Pictures from the HEI night!