What Does It Take to Write an Excellent College Application Essay?

College Essay Topic. It is a dilemma of every student applying to college. Is there a “good” or “bad” topic?

A college essay is a place where the admission representative has a chance to “meet” the applicant more closely. That being said, what is it that make a college essay successful?

“A successful essay will reveal something about you that the admissions reader may not have already known, and will show how you interact with family and friends and demonstrate your beliefs or explore your passions.”

In other words, a lot of people write about their activity, beliefs, lessons learned or some sort of story. It is relatively easy to write about something that happened. But the key is to use a passion, relationship or belief to highlight oneself from other applicants through that experience that happen.  To reveal something new about oneself.

On the other hand, here is what to NOT pick for an essay topic.

“ Avoid writing about things like scoring the winning goal, topics of public consciousness like natural disasters, or something that happened to you in middle school. Also, avoid gimmicks like writing in a different language, presenting your essay as a poem, or anything else that is stylistically “out of the box.” Your focus should be on the message rather than the presentation.”

It is too basic and too cliché write about winning goal or for example community service. Yes, it is great that applicant is doing well in sports and contributing to the community, but another thousands people do it as well and. It does not differentiate or make stand out the applicant from others.

Here is great video by Princeton Review that will answer some of your questions about the college application essay.

Key takeaways

  • Perfect college essay does not exist
  • Do not write about what you think that college wants to hear
  • Be yourself, be honest.
  • Honesty about oneself, one’s life, personality and feeling brings uniquest/originality
  • Uniqueness and originality is what makes college essay stand out from others 

Citations

Cohen, Kat, Dr. “The Best and Worst Topics for a College Application Essay.”       Noodle. Noodle, 22 Apr. 2015. Web. 04 Feb. 2016.

Hope College’s Greatest Mystery

Okay, so this might not exactly be Hope’s greatest mystery, BUT it (more accurately, he) was definitely a mystery at least to me for a while. After my freshman year at Hope, the college hired a new chaplain of worship and arts: Bruce Benedict.

As a frequent Chapel-goer and someone who was definitely interested in joining Hope’s worship team at some point, I did the obvious, and I googled him. Apparently when you google “Bruce Benedict” he actually pops up as a former MLB player. This is not the same guy (but Hope’s Bruce is equally as cool as Baseball Bruce), but eventually I wound up on his resource website for worship leaders called Cardiphonia.

“This guy is legit,” I thought, and he is. Recently I realized that there are still a ton of things that I don’t know about Bruce, and I figured that the people of Hope could benefit by learning a few more things about him!

Worship Team
Here’s a picture of a few members of my team singing at the Calvin Worship Symposium last week. That’s Bruce on the left!

Me: Tell me who you are.

Bruce: I am basically a fashionista. Oh my gosh… My name is Bruce Benedict. I am the son of James Benedict. I am the worship chaplain at Hope College. I am the husband of PJ Maske and father of Aaron and Eliza Jo, and I’m a musician.

Me: Why did you decide to apply for this job? What were you doing before?

Bruce: I applied for this job after unsuccessfully convincing many of my friends to apply for it. I was a worship pastor at a church in Raleigh, North Carolina, before I came here.

Me: What does a typical “day in the life” look like?

Bruce: I wake up between 5:30 and 6 a.m., then I fix breakfast and help my 3-year-old son, Aaron, get ready for baby school. Then, I travel to the lovely Hope College to rehearse with my awesome, amazing, cooler-than-anyone-else-on-the-planet worship team (at 7 a.m.). Typically, I have meetings or touch base with other campus ministries staff before chapel. After chapel, I typically have lunch with someone on campus. In the afternoons, it can be anything from meeting with students to scheduling projects and rehearsals, or reading or praying, or helping out Lori with the things she’s working on. Then I usually go home and have dinner with my family and go to bed around 8, unless it’s a Wednesday. On Wednesdays we have rehearsal for the Gathering from 8-10 p.m.

Me: Which is more common: Finding you at Lemonjello’s or Paul Boersma at Crust 54?

Bruce: Definitely me at LJ’s. Although, I would say that Paul eats more pieces of pepperoni pizza at Crust 54 in a year than I have cups of coffee at LJ’s.

Me: What is the best part of your job?

Bruce: I get to work with college students doing music that helps to shepherd the Christian life. My job is basically awesome because I get to do a lot of things that I love.

Me: What is the hardest part of your job?

Bruce: I only get to do it nine months of the year. That’s sort of a fake answer. The honest real answer is that, because of the nature of my job being on stage in Dimnent Chapel, it’s hard for me to get to know as many students individually as I would like. Or working with Paul Boersma. Just kidding. He’s amazing.

Me: What are you most excited for in the next year?

Bruce: For sure, it’s to see who God’s going to lead to be on the worship team next year.

Me: Anything else? Any Hope rumors about you that you need to dispel?

Bruce: My office is actually in the organ in the balcony of Dimnent. People don’t know that. Additionally, I am wildly popular with seminary students and homeschool co-ops.

So, there you have it. An inside look at the life and times of Bruce Benedict. If you’re visiting Hope, make sure to visit Chapel at 10:30 every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If you’re a Hope student interested in being on the worship team, make sure to come to the informational meeting in the basement of Dimnent at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, February 10!

Thanks for reading! Want to know more about Bruce, Campus Ministries, or Hope? Make sure to follow me on Twitter (@hopekathryn17) or send me an email at kathryn.krieger@hope.edu!

“…Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.”

—2 Corinthians 5:14

 

 

To Scotland I Go!

Alright, Readers, I’m going to let you in on a secret that I just figured out this past week: planning travel is hard work!

This weekend I have the privilege of traveling to Scotland (!!!!) which is so so exciting. However, saying that is one thing, but planning it and carrying through is completely another. I’ve discovered that there are a lot of details to think about when traveling. Lets see…

  • When traveling for a short period of time, you have to think about the different clothes you’re going to stuff in your backpack (because that’s the only piece of luggage you’re going to take), and you want to look semi-decent. Let’s be real, there’s only going to be one pair of shoes, and most likely one pair of pants. It’ll be scary, but liberating living out of a backpack, especially for my usually over-packed self!
  • You have to book a taxi to take you to the airport (at 3:30 a.m. Oh. My).
  • Gotta print out the boarding passes BEFOREHAND or you get charged.
  • You have to get the proper currency. Scotland runs in pounds, not euros like Ireland. Not a huge deal, but it needs to be done.
  • Have to find/book tours or places to go for when we get there. Getting there is only half the battle! The real trick is finding awesome places to go when you actually get to Scotland. (More to come on that soon because I have some pretty great excursions planned. :))

Writing it all out seems a bit silly because these are just normal items that need to be accomplished to go anyplace, but when they’re piggybacked on class and schoolwork it seems a little overwhelming. To be honest, I probably will be a bit stressed until I get through the airport tomorrow morning. Wish me luck readers, I can’t wait to tell you all about Scotland!

Until next time!

This was the picture taken before Meg and I traveled to Ireland. Hopefully going to Scotland won't be this nerve-wracking!
This was the picture taken before Meg and I traveled to Ireland. Hopefully going to Scotland won’t be this nerve-wracking!

If Ya Ain’t Dutch, Ya Ain’t Much

As a first year student here at Hope College, I have had the opportunity to meet some pretty awesome people. From the soccer players, to Young Life leaders, and even the school chaplains; I feel like I know some of the most important people on campus. One of those important people is a buddy of mine named Sam Starks. Sam is the type of guy that everyone on campus knows, but in the good way. He is always quick to lend a smile to anyone in need, and just an outright joy to be around. However, for everyone who does not know Sam, he is one of the most competitive individuals I have ever met. That is why he is one of the distinguished leaders of Hope College’s loyal student section, the Dew Crew.

Most people familiar with Hope College know how much we love beating our Christian friends over at Calvin. Personally I have some experience playing in these infamous Hope-Calvin rivalry games, and trust me, the bad blood is very real. The Calvin soccer players are great guys, honestly. However, in my 16 years of playing, never before have I endured such a great distaste for another team. As one can probably imagine, this rivalry stretches across all athletics, but reaches its peak anytime the men’s basketball teams from Hope and Calvin respectively, square off.

Now, back to Sam. In Sam’s own words, if I was a true fan, this blog would have been completed a week ago while our victory over Calvin was still fresh. Taking this into consideration, Sam, I would argue that there is NEVER a bad time to remind our pals from Grand Rapids what it feels like to be, well, losers. (I mean that in the literal sense… they lost the game… don’t take that the wrong way.) Moving along, I never thought that I’d be a part of any student section that would top that of my high school’s. Yet, here I am, humbly admitting that the Dew Crew last Wednesday night was absolutely stellar.

You see, when you become good buds with a Dew Crew co-leader, weird things start happening. For example, I was in the DeVos Fieldhouse four hours prior to tip-off. Here’s a picture to prove it:

IMG_2211
In addition, I find myself wearing all orange a bit too often, and scarves indoors. Again, some proof in the form of a picture:

150127_Calvin01

Turns out #20 on Calvin does not have bunions, Blake Johnson’s, (the good looking man holding the sign), resources were off. Nonetheless, due to my friendship with Sam, I had the best seat, (well spot to stand), in the house at my first ever Hope-Calvin basketball game. Special stuff wouldn’t you say?

So enough talk about all of these UNC-Duke, Auburn-Alabama, and Michigan-OSU games. One of the best rivalries in of all of college sports finds its home right here in western Michigan. You gotta be here to believe it.

So that’s all I have. The Hope-Calvin rivalry lives on, and now I get to play a part in it… and so could you. Just remember, whenever it feels like the world is caving in on you, and the end of life as you know seems all but definite… you could have gone to Calvin. It could ALWAYS be worse.

Have a great end to the week everybody! Go Dutchmen!

With Love,
Steve

A Grand Weekend Adventure

I spent this past weekend with my friend Ashley in her hometown of Grand Haven. It happened to be the weekend of Winterfest, in which there are all kinds of activities from human sled races (people pulling a dog sled) to a hamster and gerbil race at the local YMCA. But my favorite event was the cardboard sled race.

The race took place on the front hill at the local ski bowl, Mulligan’s Hollow. The hill was bordered by packed snow barriers that spectators lined to watch. The bottom of the hill, just past the finish line, had hay bales scattered about to stop the speeding cardboard sleds. I stood about half way up the hill with Ashley and her mom and watched heat after heat of people fly down the hill in duct taped cardboard and then collide with hay bales if they hadn’t already collided with another contestant.

The time and creativity that went into these sleds was incredible. There was a giant cheeseburger with a palm tree that held four adults, plus one clinging to the side with the palm tree, a bat mobile complete with lights, an RV with a radio playing, a tractor, a penguin, a box of crayons – people went all out in creating their cardboard sleds. It was something unlike anything I had ever seen.

Like the fabulous blogger I am, I didn’t take any pictures of this incredible spectacle, but the Grand Haven Tribune can make up where I lack, plus they even have some videos for you to enjoy.

Besides getting to witness the magic that was Winterfest we got to see a somewhat frozen Lake Michigan from the pier, watch Brave, eat home cooked food, pet Ashley’s dog Kalvin, relax and get some homework done too. As wonderful as Hope’s campus is, getting to go off-campus sometimes is a nice change of pace and I am so thankful I have made friends to do that with.

Ashley and I on the pier aka a bunch of ice that has hidden the pier somewhere beneath it.
Ashley and her adorable dog, Kalvin.
I will forever be in love with the beach at winter. It is too neat.

Thanks for reading!
-Erin

 

Feel free to contact me at erin.hoolahan@hope.edu with any questions!

The Omnipresent Anchor Phenomenon

A semester and a half into Hope and I noticed something very peculiar. It seems that wherever I look now, I see the Anchor, Hope’s emblem and an important piece of Hope’s history.

anchor
The Anchor that rests in front of Graves Hall.

According to Hope’s official website:

“Our name and seal are drawn from our founder, the Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte, who said of the school that would become Hope: “This is my anchor of hope for this people in the future.”

This symbolism follows the language of Hebrews 6:19: “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.” Our motto, taken from Psalm 42:5, echoes the sentiment: Spera in Deo (Hope in God).”

While this is beautiful and inspirational and everything, the anchor has become somewhat of both a nuisance and a craving. I see it everywhere. I feel like fashion has taken a liking to the anchor and, as a result, I’m surrounded by tops, jackets, and jewelry with the Hope symbol. I see little anchors in home decor, tattoos, and even carved into the architecture of local buildings. At least once a week, an anchor makes itself known. And the more I see it, the more I want it. Yesterday, while online (window) shopping I found myself subconsciously liking anything with or in the shape of an anchor…

Perhaps it really is the current trend leaning towards the aesthetics of the anchor, or perhaps I’ve just been more sensitive to it like when you’ve just learned a new word and start hearing it everywhere. I must state, however, that my friends have also been infected by the same bug. It also doesn’t help when their relatives point out or gift them things anchor-related because they know they go to Hope (which isn’t entirely a bad thing, keep ’em coming).

For those thinking of attending Hope or who have already been accepted, you have been warned: The Omnipresent Anchor Phenomenon is real.

Saturday Night (Gaelic) Football

Hello Readers and happy Monday! I hope your week is off to a great start and you enjoyed all the awesome events Hope had to offer over the weekend. Of course I’m talking about Winter Fantasia – did you all go? I know I shed some major tears about missing that one since I LOVE dancing.

But in place of Winter Fantasia, I had a pretty grand Saturday night going to the biggest Gaelic Football game rivalry there is – Dublin vs. Kerry!

Gaelic Football is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the states. It is basically a combination of American football, volleyball, and soccer. The goal post is a soccer net with a football goalpost directly on top of it, and if the players score in the football goalpost it counts as one point, where if they score in the soccer net it counts as four points. Whoever scores the most points at the end of the game wins! In the game I went to Saturday, Dublin won over Kerry 20-13. The way the players carry the ball down the field is different too. Players can carry the ball with them for four steps, and then they have to dribble or kick the ball back up to themselves or volley it over to another player. To score, they have to kick the ball into the field goal or soccer net. (All of this was kindly explained to me by a man sitting behind me at the game who coincidentally was from Ohio, but had been living in Dublin for 19 years. Small world!)

This was my view for the game - only 10 euro!
This was my view for the game – only 10 euro!

If you’re interested in learning a bit more about Gaelic football, here’s some more info for you, but make sure to check out this awesome video that shows just how fast paced and interesting it is! This video is from 2013 when the championship game between Dublin and Kerry (that big rivalry I was talking about) took place. The game I went to wasn’t quite this hyped up because it was still regular season play, but the rivalry and energy were still very present!

Some things I noticed/found interesting about professional sports in Ireland:

  1. The players aren’t paid! That means that many of them have regular day jobs. Can someone say superman? Accountant by day, Gaelic Football champ by night.
  2. The sports arenas are very family-friendly. There were arguably more kids than adults there, and alcohol wasn’t allowed into the stadium. In addition to that, amateur Gaelic Football teams made up of kids younger than 15 played at halftime. It was really great to see so many families there!
  3. There was no announcer for the stadium. This was something weird for me because I’m used to Comerica Park and Joe Louis where they have so much going on on the big screen, but the screens were strictly for capturing the game.

Since I missed Winter Fantasia, I’m glad I could be in Ireland for this great game and rivalry.

Until next time, Readers!

Five Reasons You Shouldn’t Save Your Homework for Sunday

The last few weekends I’ve been in the horrible habit of consolidating all of my work due Monday to being finished on Sunday. It sounded like a good idea on Friday and Saturday, when I took rest days, hung out with friends and such. But once Sunday rolls around and I finally open up my planner, I’m in for a long day at the library.

If there were a “Be Like Me” Facebook meme for this situation, it would say this:

Here’s why you shouldn’t be like me and should get a bit of a start on your homework prior to Sunday:

Your weekend will feel much more balanced.

When you aren’t saving all of your work for one day and instead work on it in increments, everything feels a bit more steady. Too much fun in one day and not enough in another leaves you feeling overwhelmed or dry.

You’ll do better work.

If you’re rushing to do all of your homework in one day, it’s not going to be done as well as if you’d taken the time to do it over a couple of days.

Sundays should be for relaxation and God.

If you’re cooped up in the library all day, your week is kind of off to a bad start. Not to mention that Sundays are meant to be a day of worship.

You’ll get more sleep.

Every Sunday I have priorities besides homework, like the Gathering and a business meeting with my sorority. The Gathering starts at 8:00 p.m. and our business meetings sometimes go past midnight. That means if I don’t finish my homework before, I’m in for a long night. By spreading my homework out, I could get more sleep.

Less stress.

Saving everything for one day can be overwhelming, whether or not you know what you’re in for or not. You could have one assignment due, though likely not, or you could have ten. Make sure you check before you save everything for the last day.

If those reasons aren’t convincing enough for you, by all means try saving all your work for one day and let me know how it goes. You may deal with it differently, better than I do. However I encourage you to do otherwise and at least do some homework Friday afternoon, Saturday morning or afternoon.

Have a great week! I hope you’re not like me and cooped up at the library all day.

Brooke

How to Make Your Own Fun

At Hope, there are plenty of great opportunities for students to relax and enjoy life beyond homework. Winter Fantasia (a SAC-sponsored dance), Men’s Night Out and Women’s Night Out (biannual Campus Ministries events) and the Hope-Calvin basketball game occurred either in the past week or will occur this week.

Needless to say, college kids can stay busy. But for those lulls in student activity, especially in the winter, here are some ways to create your own fun at school.

Liza Anne in Dimnent Chapel
Liza Anne opened for the Oh Hellos this past Thursday and had a killer set!
  1. Go to a sporting event you wouldn’t think to attend! Hope Tennis has matches sporadically in the next few months, lacrosse is starting up, and every now and then the swim team has a home meet. Check out the schedules here.
  2. Check out the arts! The Student Activities Committee (SAC) has a concert series with some big names, but when those are thin, you can always catch a Coffeehouse set in the Kletz, see a visiting writer, or enjoy a film at the Knick. Check out the arts at Hope here.

    Long boarding in the cold.
    Matt and Trevor like to longboard. Especially when it’s 38 degrees out.
  3. Do something seasonal! Downhill and cross country skiing are great. But maybe your a sledding kind of person. Maybe you like snowball fights. Maybe you like broom ball.
  4. Do something out of season! On a dry day, take a longboard or bike ride. Take a trip to the beach. Play a game of soccer in the snow.
  5. Collaborate! Play card games with your friends, or make your own. Have a jam session, or just have an intentionally NON-homework hangout in someone’s room.

Winter takes its toll. But there are plenty of ways to stay fresh and excited in between study sessions, especially at the beginning of the semester. Good luck!

The Best Beginning to a Beautiful End

Where has the time gone? I’m three weeks into my final semester at Hope. They say if you blink you might miss it, so I’m doing my best to keep my eyes wide open to capture every moment I can.

Four years goes fast. And if you complete college in three years (like myself), it goes even faster.

I remember getting that letter in the mail in the summer after my senior year of high school, reading “you’ve transferred 37 credits.” I remember dodging re-signing up for Gen Ed classes I’ve already taken plus a couple major courses as well.

I remember the long conversations with my parents, wondering if I should stay the full four or just graduate in three. Looking back, I’m not sure when it happened, but I decided three would be enough for me. I introduced myself saying I was a freshman, to a sophomore graduating in three years (to which people replied “obviously” because senior year is three years away from sophomore year) to a junior graduating in May. And now the final spring semester is here. It will be enough for me.

At the same time, three will never be enough. Four will never be enough, either; and I remember that. I’m not afraid to graduate in May, which sometimes scares me. What will I do? Where will I go?

I’m waiting to hear back on internships and jobs and the – yikes – one grad school letter to see if maybe I made the cut. And I found out that graduating high school is just a first round practice to graduating college. It’s a practice run to be able to do it again.

It’s beautiful. I’m in a creative writing class writing poetry every day and a photography class taking pictures. I’m in my final Communication course buttering bread and playing Jenga in class to learn about the way organizations function. I’m in a leadership class reading about Ernest Shackleton and his incredible journey to Antarctica. There are so many adventures yet to be had, places to go, steps to take.

And I’m grateful God is always one step ahead of me.

The Best Beginning