Lubbers Hall: My Literary Home on Campus

Lubbers Hall
Lubbers Hall, in all of its glory.

I’m here to tell you about my favorite building on campus: Lubbers Hall. At our last student-blogger meeting (Yes, we have those!), we talked about our favorite places to brainstorm or write on campus, the places that get our creative juices flowing. As a writer, this type of space is very valuable to me, and I knew exactly where my creative space on campus was when the topic was brought up. Easy. Lubbers.

Lubbers is home to the English, History, Political Science, Philosophy and Religion departments. As an English major, I spend a few class hours a week in this building. We spend a majority of our time engaged in lecture and open conversation about the pieces of literature that we’re studying. 

A fall view from a Lubbers classroom
A fall view from a Lubbers classroom.

Built in 1942 and renovated in 2006, the building is named after Hope’s seventh president, Dr. Irwin J. Lubbers. Many departments, including Science and Theatre, have also been housed here. With the inspiration that I draw from being in this building, I can’t imagine it housing anything but humanities.

The fifth oldest building on campus’s aura is warm, cozy, intelligent. The floor tiles bring me back to elementary school, almost identical to those at my own, and the walls bring me to my present, academic life. The offices in Lubbers, which take up most of the rooms along the edge of the building with windows, are lined with shelves and shelves of books. Occasionally when I’m in Lubbers late at night I find professors still in their offices, working late on who-knows-what. I like to imagine they’re writing, researching, or finalizing exciting projects.

Despite how large of a building Lubbers appears to be, it only has six classrooms. Most of the building is actually offices, I believe. For a place that is so focused on quality over quantity, I find the classroom to educational office ratio to be appropriate.

A classroom in Lubbers
A classroom in Lubbers, adorned with book on literature and collections of Hope’s literary magazines.

I think the reason I appreciate Lubbers so much and find so much creativity inside the building is that it houses my home, the English department, a place where the love of reading and the written word are cherished. My heart finds it’s place at Hope in Lubbers, not in my dorm room or the dining hall.

Working in Lubbers
Literary abandon comes easily in Lubbers.

My goal for the school year is to explore the attic of Lubbers. So far each time I go to try, all of the doors are locked. I know there’s a way into the rooms, though, and I promise to report back when I get the chance.

Where do you draw your creative energies from?

If you have any questions for me you can contact me at brookelyn.wharton@hope.edu, through Facebook, or my Twitter @hopebrooke18! I’d love to answer them!

The Seasons Change As We Do

We found two sunny, 70° weather days in the beginning of November, but it’s back to 50 with clouds today.

And that’s alright with me.

Among the (non-snow) flurry of changing leaves, fall boots and flannels, I think that we sometimes forget one important thing: not only are the seasons changing, but we are as well.

As we found out with November’s glimpse of summer, what we recieve is not always what we expect.

I opened up a journal from my freshman year today and I read a prayer that was complex in words and nature and I realized that sometimes the boldest prayers are the simplest. My current prayer: God, provide for me.

There’s nothing wrong with specific prayers; no, that is not what I am trying to say. But as the sleepiness of November kicks in, I often cannot fathom what even might be my need. Therefore, I trust the Lord to provide for me.

I never would have guessed that I could ever find myself here, a senior, typing in a fluffy white chair in the living room of Fairbanks Townhouses when I was a freshman living in Kollen Hall.

It’s true, I think. Nothing feels like it’s changing, but one day we wake up and nothing is the same. We have to have the courage to believe that things can be different, that nothing has to stay the same. That courage takes root and grows a tree, that then will become both a place to climb for play and a place of shade for rest.

I glance out the window at the colors of the leaves changing and a small voice in my head says, in a hopeful voice, “they’re dying.”

I realized that the loss of one thing will one day lead to the growth of another. We hear it said many times, but we have to believe it’s true. The winter we sometimes find ourselves in will soon become the spring.

I finalized my final class registration schedule on Wednesday and as I sat with my advisor, I saw only six credits that had not yet met the requirements. Two classes, which left ten flexible credits of which I can do as I choose.

I began to think about all that is to come. I went to Lemonjello’s this morning and got a chocolate cherry cookie and a peach smoothie to pass the time. I sat in Dimnent forty minutes before Chapel began so that I could sit and just be still.

As some of us lose our strength in this season, in the way the trees lose their leaves, we must not forget the importance of what it means to still be growing up.

College-age is old, but we’ll keep getting older. And what a joy it is to continue to learn.

Life is sweet.
Life is sweet.

What Is It Like to be the RA of my Sorority Cottage?

Originally, I wasn’t planning on being the RA of my sorority cottage, but it kind of just happened. I was studying abroad when I was asked if I could apply since my sister Mikar, who was originally going to apply, was accepted to study abroad in Brazil. So after submitting my application, there I was trying to figure out how to schedule a Skype interview since I was about 6 hours ahead of everyone back in Holland! In the end, it was something that I wasn’t expecting, but it ended up being one of the best decisions I ever made.

Initially, I was a bit nervous because the new girls who initiated into the sorority did so when I was away, so we all knew about each other, but nothing more than that. On their end, I was this mysterious person whose name was always mentioned, but that’s all that they knew. On my part, I heard so many good things about these new group of girls and I was happy that they found their place with the Thetas. Soon after moving in and meeting everyone, my nerves eventually went away as I got to know each of my sisters. How blessed I feel to know them is more than I can put into words!

This is my first semester not living in the dorms, so it feels so different to actually live in a house where there is a kitchen where I can actually cook and I have my own room! These little things are like luxuries to me, especially being in my last year at Hope. More than anything, I feel very blessed to be living amongst such strong, intelligent and hardworking women. In their own unique ways, they each have impacted and inspired me throughout the past few months as I am trying to navigate through my responsibilities as an RA. So this is my way of saying thank you to them for making my “job” so very easy!

But back to the title of my post: What is it like to be the RA of a sorority cottage? Well, it’s a lot of fun, for one thing 🙂 Sure, there are some not so fun moments when I have to send in 5 different work orders in one day or when I have to kindly remind everyone to do their chores, but those aside, living with people you know and love makes it all worth it. Whether it’s having meaningful conversations on guy troubles or how stressful our day has been, it brings me closer to each one of my sisters.

One of my favorite memories since moving in was when we had our first family dinner and of course we talked and chatted about whatever was on our minds, but towards the end of the dinner the conversation geared towards where our families were from. In that moment, hearing what each one of my sisters had to say made me realize that we all have something to learn from one another, no matter how different our story is and for that, I am blessed to know each and every one of these wonderful women.

Picture of my sorority sisters.
My Theta sisters! #Thetasforlife

Arguing Makes for Better Friends

This week is probably the last warm week of the year. 60s and sunny, leaves cover the Pine Grove, and students cover the leaves. I spent all Tuesday afternoon sitting on blankets with friends. We had great conversations and laughed at each other’s jokes.

But tension rose when the conversation poked at controversy.

I have a different opinion on homosexuality than one specific friend of mine, and I learned that he was just as passionate about the topic as I was. I was expecting a debate, or a heated argument, or mutual frustration at the end of the conversation.

We discussed the Bible, biology, and philosophy. We told our stories and the stories of our friends. We disagreed, and sometimes cut each other short to ask questions or challenge ideas. We engaged with each other and didn’t quit in the face of awkwardness.

In the end, though we disagreed, we both conceded that the Church should do a better job of including the LGBTQ community. In the end, though we disagreed, we were still friends.

There isn’t a more grace-filled type of friendship than that of two people who disagree. We still respect and care about each other, and we understand each other a little more. A little conflict keeps things fresh.

“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make friends of them?”
—Abraham Lincoln

The Pine Grove is beautiful in November
Students enjoying the last few days of warm weather.

Throwback Thursday: SUNDOG 1981 Edition

When I say SUNDOG, what do you picture?

Personally, I see some sort of sun salutation/upward dog yoga pose combo or a happy dog sprawled out in a patch of sunlight shining through the window.

Imagine my surprise when I opened up KnowHope, saw the ad saying, “Career Center Trivia Night in Phelps, SUNDOG view,” and made the connection.

Yep. That metal modern art piece outside of Phelps that makes me think of those giant machine things in Star Wars is called the SUNDOG.

Star Wars machine

What I think of when I see the SUNDOG.

Naturally, I turned to Google to try to dig up some information on this mysterious SUNDOG piece which led me to an article in The Anchor (Hope’s student newspaper) from September 17, 1981.

The article focused on this masterpiece is entitled “Beauty or Beast?” and begins on page 3, if you feel intrigued to read further. The article included reactions from Hope faculty and students about the piece which was then brand new. Some enjoyed the new statue created by artist Bill Mayer. Others questioned why the College would put funds toward it over something else. Many just wondered what really is a SUNDOG?

I dare say that over the last 34 years the thoughts of the SUNDOG by the people of Hope have remained rather similar. I for one have long questioned what the statue was called and I am sure I am not alone in that. So, perhaps the SUNDOG has been doing exactly what is was built to do since then: make people ask questions and inspire other great works like this gem of a comic:

The SUNDOG statue eats a person and then spits them back out.
These four frames say it all.

I hope you enjoyed this Throwback Thursday edition as much as I did. Thanks for reading! Until next week, have fun and go say hi to the SUNDOG for me.

~Erin
For more thoughts and pictures on life at Hope you can follow me on Twitter (@HopeErin18) or Instagram (@e_delaney333)

How Much Humor Do You Have When You Are Under Pressure?

Definition of humor.
Definition of humor.

As we are getting older, the responsibility and pressure is increasing as well. I subconsciously knew this fact, but I truly felt and experienced it this August at Hope College. When I was 15 years old, I started a new chapter of my life by leaving the Czech Republic, my home country, and going to college preparatory school in Colorado. The biggest challenge I faced was adapting to the American way of life, thinking, and culture. Actually, in school, I had a lot of room for mistakes, because only by doing mistakes and learning from them I was improving. In Colorado’s college preparatory school, excellence was not the main focus. Work ethic, honesty, doing mistakes and learning from them and becoming to one’s full potential was the major focus in my school at Colorado.  

The years flew by quickly and suddenly I am a freshman at college, where the excellence is the main focus and room for mistakes is excessively low. The expectations of me as a student at Hope College are completely inverse, compare to student expectations at my old school in Colorado. Students who want to go to top medical school they need to have about 3.7+ GPA (Grade Point Average) out of 4.0. Potential law students are aiming for similarly high GPA. Basically, anyone who wants to continue to a high quality graduate school needs to have really high GPA. With the increasing demand for excellence and the room for error decreasing, many students and people forget about one aspect of life that makes people successful and happy at the same time. A lot of people eliminate humor out off their life.

By any means, I do not want to preach anyone about what does it take to become successful and happy because I have not achieved anything in life so far, but based of meeting multiple people who reached top of their respective fields, I can observed that humor is a big part of their successes. 

Now, please watch this 3-minute video before reading the next part. Look at the the score of the match to understand the importance of the point.

Just smile it off! 🙂

How simple is that ?

Tomáš Berdych does it and he ends up beating Roger Federer, arguable the best tennis player who has ever played the game. What if Berdych would lose his mind? Would it win the match for him? No. What if Berdych would start to swear at the referee? He would not probably lose the match, but also most likely he would get fined as well. The point of Tomáš Berdych example is not to debate what would happen if he would not smile in extremely hard situation against the best player in the World, but to show how humor can be such a helpful tool in very difficult life moments.

Definitely,  it does not mean to take life lightly and laugh at every difficult challenge that we face. But on the other side, we are only people and we do not have control over everything. So when life does not go the way we want it or life put us in a hard situation, humor is a great way to overcome such an obstacles. No one plans to be in a difficult life situations, but many time we find ourselves there and there is nothing we can do with it, then to smile and keep moving forward by focusing on things that we can control.

Like Tomáš Berdych does it in the video. He smiles off hard situation that he can not control and he focuses on playing well after that difficult moment because that is in his control. Eventually, he wins the match by outplaying Federer after the difficult moment and mainly by getting over a tough situation that he does not expect.

“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.”

– Dwight D. Eisenhower

P.S.: “Under Pressure” by Queen is an excellent song to lose some pressure.

Citations: “Google.” Google. Google, n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.

Family – Grateful to Have Something Worth Missing

For most people who leave home when going to college, family becomes something different. It’s hard to describe, because they’re the same people they were when you left, but you’re not seeing each other every morning in passing on the way to work or school anymore, or eating family meals together, and you’re not getting into little arguments over laundry or other chores anymore; you’re not together anymore. In some ways, this is beneficial to your relationships, because a lot of the aspects that drove you nuts about them are out of the picture. In other ways, it creates a deep longing for home, the support system that goes along with it, the memories, and the little things that happen on a daily basis with people you trust and can tell anything to.

In college you learn to rely on yourself instead of your mom, dad, or guardian of any sort. It isn’t easy at first, and just because it happens doesn’t mean you love your family any less. I miss mine all the time, but I know that this is the time for me to grow out of my home-sized shell and into a world-sized shell, one that prepares me for life on my own even outside of Hope’s campus.

All of this being said, when I get time with my family I try to make the most of it. My mom came up to Hope this weekend for Family Weekend. There was a lot going on, but we chose to stick to our own schedule for a majority of the time. On Friday we went to a parents lunch with my sorority, shopped downtown, ate at Mizu Sushi, did some more shopping at Target and Barnes and Noble, and then went back to the hotel. We ate snacks, watched TV, talked, and I got to read a bit of a new book I bought (for fun, not for classes!). In the morning we ate brunch, went to the Family Weekend worship service at Dimnent Chapel, and then got lunch together.

It was a really relaxing weekend, and I’m really glad my mom came, but the sadness of her leaving still hits me, even as a sophomore. I don’t think it’s anything to feel embarrassed about. When you love people, you miss them, and sometimes that feeling can hurt. Other times, it reminds you of why you miss them so much in the first place – because they’re important to you, and how lovely it is to have someone worth missing so much. Whenever I feel sad when missing my family, I try to miss them in a grateful way instead.

Thanks for reading!

Brooke

Still Not Over It.

Readers,

There is something that I can’t stop thinking about. Lately, I’ve been hooked on journaling and reflecting and usually that takes the form of me writing letters to God. It’s so eye-opening, sometimes I have to write Him a letter three times a day. It’s just about the things that are going on in my head, but it’s calming and refreshing and I’ve been addicted ever since I started journaling at the beginning of last summer.

Something that I’ve been praying and writing letters about lately is where I feel closest to God. The Holland State Park on the beach is one of those places, as well as Hope’s Pine Grove. But one place that I feel the absolute closest to God (as in I feel like I’ve died, gone to heaven, and God is holding me in His arms) is somewhere that I’ve only spent five days time in: Colorado.

I’ve done a previous blog post about Colorado and how my family and I got to take my sister out there for her to be a camp counselor. It is safe to say that this was the most amazing traveling experience I’ve had in my life – the beauty there is unmatched to anywhere else. I’ve never experienced some of the things in Michigan that Colorado had to offer me while I was there. Michigan is beautiful in its own way, but Colorado’s beauty is a different thing altogether. Never have I experienced God in such abundance. I saw him everywhere.

Vista at Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park

Let me explain this picture. The location is at the beginning of Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. It is a the very top of a mountain and has the most gorgeous view I’ve ever seen. I took it when my heart was about to explode from God’s presence and movement in me. I don’t think such a palate of colors ever existed until God created this spot. I don’t think there were ever so many textures, layers, and awe-inspiring highs and lows until it existed. Honesty time: I almost started crying when I took this picture because my heart was so full, and I still get teary eyed as I see it whenever I open my laptop (it’s my laptop’s background).

I didn’t really have a point to prove or a theme in mind when I started writing this post, I just thought I’d reminisce on Colorado and see where it took me, but I think that from writing this, I’ve discovered a hope that I have for everyone.  My hope for everyone is that they can find a place that they feel closest to God, where they feel His movement more than ever. Whether that place be a job, a hobby, or a state, I hope everyone can feel their heart being filled like mine was when I was in Colorado.

Another thing I think I’ve learned through writing this is that the point of my life is to find places where I feel closest to God and live into those places and work with what He has to offer me there. I don’t know if God is calling me to move to Colorado after I graduate or what He’s even calling me to do tomorrow. All I know is that, in Colorado, I feel Him, I see Him, and I understand Him just a little better than anywhere else. I want to be filled up constantly like I was when I was standing on top of that mountain, and if that’s where God fills me up most, then that’s where I want to be.

Thanks for lending a listening ear, Readers. You’ve really inspired me today. 🙂

Until next time!

Questions about what I wrote, or just want to chat about my experience? Check the bio and shoot me an email.

Halloween Is What You Make It

It really is. Hope is not well-known for its parties (except for Club Durf); in fact, because Hope is a Christian college and enforces certain policies, we make it clear enough that parties with alcoholic drinks and drugs are not condoned on campus. While some students chose to satisfy their college party needs away from campus, those of us who stayed decided to make the best of it. Truth be told, it was one of the best Halloweens I’ve ever had.

To get into the Halloween spirit earlier in the afternoon, I bought some spiderweb cotton, a singing, animated ghost decoration activated by sound (not a good idea in a lively dorm now that I think about it), and used these adorable pumpkin stickers my parents sent me to decorate my door. It’s a small detail, but having people smile or compliment my door as they go up and down the stairwell gives a normal day a little Halloween cheer.

The first event of the night was Nykerk. A group of friends and I made our way to the DeVos Fieldhouse in the light drizzle after having dinner at Phelps. You can also read about it in this or this blog post, but it’s a Hope tradition, a theatric competition between freshman and sophomore women that consists of a play, a song, and an oration. There wasn’t a dull moment; I was either engrossed in the performance, belly laughing, or trying not to cry.

After it ended, my friends and I headed back to Scott Hall and donned our evening wear, both well-planned costumes and impromptu costumes that evolved throughout the two hours of preparations. Gradually, six, seven, eight people joined in on the fun, each adding to the contagious laughter, weirdness, and energy that permeated throughout the hall right outside my door. I had bought a tiger onesie at Target the other day, but overnight turned into Tony the Moraler, a cereal mascot inspired by Nykerk/the Pull who would say, “You’re grrrrreat!” to the closest passerby.

Me in a tiger costume
“You’re Grrrreat!!!”

There wasn’t a single person who dressed up as a black cat, and that alone made my night.

We sang Happy Birthday to our RA in our Halloween costumes and took a group picture in the Piano Room.

Halloween costume group photo
I can’t tell what some of us are, but that’s not the point 🙂

Then, we did what was the only thing acceptable at midnight: we went on a donut run. Because it was late and we weren’t sure who in the neighborhood was giving out candy besides President Knapp, we walked into Good Time and gave the owner a hearty “Trick or Treat!”

The rest of the night was quite slow but talking about haunted houses in Chicago and California, ordering pizza, testing our morals through a round of Cards Against Humanity, singing Disney songs, and reading a viral short story called “The Egg” by Andy Weir made the night more memorable, and much better than what I had originally planned which was watching overplayed Halloween movies in our pajamas.

There are Some Pretty Cool Places in West Michigan

Last Sunday, part of my close family came to visit me at Hope College. I had the opportunity to speak Czech, my native language, they brought me British tea and the most delicious candy on Earth named Fidorka. But, I also had the opportunity to travel around of Holland and West Michigan area. I realized the greatness of other places like Grand Rapids and Tunnel Park, which are just in the 50-mile radius of Holland.

In August, when I was coming to Hope College for the first time, I landed at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport, but I had never been in the actual city. The downtown of Grand Rapids is just fabulous. I really liked the fact it is small and modern. I felt little bit like I would be in some bigger European city. It has nice park next to river for calm Sunday walks, but it has a lot of restaurants and bars for Friday nights as well. Also, Grand Rapids’ downtown has a lot of local restaurants with original themes and only few chain restaurants like Olive Garden, which is something that, in the current world of large corporations, is a rarity. 

Also, we went to Tunnel Park. Well, I had been at Tunnel Park before, but I had never been there during a sunset. The view was spectacular. I could not picture a better scenery than this:

The breath taking view of the fall sunset at Western Michigan.
The breath taking view of the fall sunset at Western Michigan. #nonfilter

It truly fascinating how little like beach, lake and the sun can make people think and enjoy that much. Based on those two experience that I had over the past week, Holland area has some phenomenal places. Just be there in the right time with the eyes open!

Lastly, to all of you,  who would like to know how does heaven taste, then you should try the Czech candy named Fidorka. I will not try to describe the taste of Fidorka, because simply there are no words for that!

Czech candy names Fidorka.
By many miles, the best and the most delicious candy in the World.