Learning a Second Language

Ever since I could remember, I had a fascination with Paris and my first time seeing the Eiffel Tower was in the book Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans. The little girl with the red hair and funny voice intrigued me, but Paris as an actual place didn’t become more real to me until I got older.

When I studied abroad in Paris last semester, Paris was as real as it could be. Walking down the streets, discovering each neighborhood that was so different from the next, and of course, hearing that (now) beautiful accent everywhere I went was surreal – I finally felt like Madeline! 🙂 Now that I am done with my French minor requirements, it feels so odd not having to take another French class, as I have taken one each semester since my freshman year. The French language has become such an important part of my life that it’s so important for me to continue practicing.

So maybe you are currently taking a second language class now and are struggling with finding the time to practice or maybe you have been wanting to learn another language but are thinking, is it too late to learn? And my answer to you is NO! Here are some tips I have learned along the way that I wanted to pass along to you:

  1. Put in the time. First and foremost, you should make the commitment to not only make the learning process a daily habit, but also be willing to put forth the effort and work to learn a new language. It’s not an easy process, by any means, but what you put into it will affect how much you will have learned. You may have a busy schedule with school, work and extracurricular activities, but make it a habit to set aside 30 minutes to an hour to sit down and learn (more about how you can do this later on).
  2. Dive right in. So you’ve already made the commitment to learning a new language right? So go ahead and dive right into the learning process. Start with the basics, like learning vocabulary and key phrases like “Hi, nice to meet you, my name is______. What is yours? or “How are you doing today?” to “What are your hobbies/interests?” Make flashcards. Go on YouTube to hear how native speakers talk. If you are more tech savvy and want to be on your phone, download apps like Mindsnacks or Babbel. 
  3. Speak, Speak, Speak. This is probably the most important piece of advice I can give you, as speaking is crucial in learning a new language. From the moment you choose which language you want to learn, start saying words/phrases/sentences aloud, so as to start retaining that information in your brain from the very beginning.
  4. …but also listen. While speaking is important, so is listening. Getting as close to the correct pronunciation in the language you are learning is a goal you will want to be achieving. You can only reach this goal by listening to the correct pronunciation and then repeating it over, and over, and over again to yourself. Learning/speaking a foreign language is going to sound strange the first few times, but as you keep progressing it will become more familiar.
  5. Find someone to talk to. Learning a new language is so much more fun when you are learning it with someone else, so maybe you can convince your roommate or best friend to do it with you! If anything, doing it together will push you to not give up and keep pushing through. I know at Hope there are many different opportunities for you to meet others who are also learning the same language, like a conversational group. Take advantage of those kinds of activities and get comfortable with leaving your comfort zone!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and I wish you good luck on the learning process if you do choose to learn a foreign language!

An Angel in the Form of the Career Development Center

Hello, Readers! Aren’t Thursdays just wonderful? I love the fact that it’s one day closer to Friday. Friday is a great day for many reasons: 1. Delight Ministries at 7 a.m. 2. The start of weekend fun. 3. I get to work at my favorite place in the world, the Career Development Center!

What is the Career Development Center, you may ask? Well, it is only the most magical place on Hope’s campus! It’s the place where you take your unorganized, major-free life that has no direction and talk with people who help you with all of your unknowns. It’s actually crazy how much of an impact they can have on you. They make you feel like you can do and be anything!

As I’m sure many of you knew, I was pretty much a mess freshman year in terms of what I wanted to major in and what I wanted to do with my life. But then I started to go to the Career Development Center (realistically once a week) and they helped me make some major decisions. Now I’m a junior, and although I’m a declared English major, I’m still unsure of what I want to do with that. But never fear, my appointment for that is next week. 🙂

There is a person at the CDC to help you talk through anything. Need help making a four-year plan or deciding what career options are for you? Amy’s your go-to gal. If you’re looking for an internship for a class requirement or just because, Jena will be the most helpful. Dale is the main person for mock interviews, whether it be for a class, or if you’re preparing for a job interview. Megan will help you find a networking strategy if you’re looking for a job, and Shannon will help you interpret your StrengthsQuest test. All of these people can also help you with your resume and cover letter if you want help writing it, or if you need it reviewed!

There is a person that can help you with every step of your career path and job search in the CDC, and I am lucky enough to work there as a receptionist three mornings a week. If you have any questions about the CDC the website and be found here.

Don’t hesitate to make an appointment with the CDC soon – they’re open Monday through Friday 8am-12, and 1pm-5pm.

Until next time, Readers!

This is me with my CDC half-zip. I love the CDC!!!!
This is me with my CDC half-zip. I love the CDC!!!!

Questions

My mom would probably disagree with this, but I do not feel like I have ever been a super-inquisitive person. I have a tendency to take most things at face value. I will think about things and make up my mind about whether or not I agree with them, but I have just never been a person to ask a lot of questions. Every single job interview I’ve ever had has ended with the interviewer saying, “Do you have any questions for me?” and me responding with a smile and, “I don’t think so!” In class, I was often happy to raise my hand to answer questions, but never to ask them. My confirmation classes each week in junior high would include memorizing an answer to a question of faith – a question I never would have asked.

My freshman year of high school, I was in a biology class with an awesome teacher who often responded to questions from students with the statement, “Good question. Thanks for asking that.” Mr. Fredericks, if you’re reading this, I still think you’re great. I hope Korn PupH the snake is still doing well. Anyway, I wanted my teacher to recognize me for my good questions as he was recognizing my classmates, so I started trying to think of questions to ask in class. Little by little I realized that when I was asking questions, I actually started to understand more. My lame attempt to get my teacher to think I was thinking deeply about Punnett squares actually helped me to make sense of the functions of the muscles and bones in my body and why my eyes are brown and why the world around me works. I began to realize that having questions and actually asking them was vital to learning.

I have acknowledged over the past year or so that I really love learning. I have not always loved school because I was not interested in the material or felt like it was irrelevant to where my life was going, but when I can get myself interested in things, I love learning and I love knowing. I am a religion major and have discovered that I love learning about the Bible and Jesus and other religions as well. However, I think that as a Christian, these are the hardest things to ask questions about. I grew up in church and Sunday school and even attended a Christian elementary school for a few years. I now attend a Christian college. For some reason, I think that when we grow up in environments that so heartily want us to know who Jesus is, we think we aren’t allowed to ask questions, or perhaps worse, we become too scared to ask questions. I think a lot of us are under the impression that if we have questions about God or Christianity, we can’t really be Christians. However, I have come to understand that asking questions is one of the best ways to know Jesus more.

Bible

I am in three religion classes this semester: Johannine Literature (studying the books of John and Revelation), Prayer, Creed, Commandments (studying the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Ten Commandments), and Studies in Islam. These are all incredibly different classes, but they are all classes that are teaching me to ask questions.

As I’ve studied John this semester, I’ve realized that Jesus does some really interesting things in the Gospels, some of which do not actually make sense to me at first. I’ve learned that it is okay to ask why Jesus would tell Judas to go do what he is going to do (which is to betray him). I’ve learned that it’s okay to wonder why all the gospels don’t say exactly the same things.

In Prayer, Creed, Commandments, I’ve learned that it’s okay to wonder what it means that God is in Heaven, and it’s okay to wonder where Heaven is, and it’s okay to wonder where God is when we’re in pain.

In Studies in Islam, I’ve learned that it’s okay to wonder how much I do not know about Jesus and Moses and Abraham and other biblical figures that are also recognized by Islam.

On worship team, I have learned that it’s okay to wonder why some days it is easier for me to worship than on other days.

I have also learned that it’s okay for me to not have concrete answers to all these questions, because even just thinking about them helps me to draw ever nearer. The ways of God are a mystery, and that is part of why I love him. If I knew everything, he wouldn’t seem like God. Asking questions is natural when there are things we do not know, and our faith is not exempt from that. Ask questions. Ask a lot. Ask questions that you feel like you can’t. That’s how you learn more and more and more.

Thanks for reading! Keep up with me on Twitter (@hopekathryn17), Instagram (@kathrynekrieger), Etsy (LakesPointCollective), or send me an email at kathryn.krieger@hope.edu!

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.”

John 14:1

Major Life Decisions: Choosing Friends

Fish are friends, not food.
Fish are friends, not food.

Last week my friends and I took a major step forward in our relationship – we got fish together.

It all began with a trip to Meijer. We stood before the wall of glass tanks filled with colorful fish contemplating who we wanted to take home as our new friends. We made sure to be aware of the symbols indicating which types of fish were aggressive or sensitive so as to find friends that will definitely adapt well to their new home.

Kristin picked out Pongo and Sparky, Ashley picked out Freddie, and I picked out Bubbles. We anxiously watched as the fish guy caught our new friends, checked out and made the journey back to campus to introduce our fish (plus Steve the Snail who ended up in the bag with Pongo) to their new home sweet Hope.

The necessities: water, fish food, and a net.
Our friends traveled home in style – some awesome Halloween buckets.

Next we decorated their new crib (complete with Olaf and a tholos-esque ruin model) and helped them acclimate to the new environment – an exciting time in life.

Pure excitement. (possibly mixed with annoyance at me taking a picture while she was texting)
Pure excitement. (possibly mixed with annoyance at me taking a picture while she was texting)

And soon enough our new friends were all settled in!

The whole gang! Bubbles, Pongo, Freddie, and Sparky.
Bubbles
Freddie, Bubbles & Sparky (from left to right)
Bubbles and Steve
We made them a sign.

Now we have fish friends to come home to! Though it isn’t as exciting as having your dog greet you when you walk through the door, it has still been a fun, positive life change that is highly recommended from my friends and I, to you and yours (If you are in a highly committed, fish-friendly relationship).

Thanks for reading!
~Erin

You can find more random pictures and such from me on Instagram (@e_delaney333) and Twitter (@HopeErin18) if you’re into that sorta thing.

Be Still, My Ever-Wandering Heart.

be still and know
There’s no hurry, no rush. It takes a while for the caffeine to kick in.
It’s more about what we do in the waiting.

I quickly find that in the midst of my daily life, there is an insurmountable peace that exceeds understanding running upon a parallel path.

There’s a lot I know; but even more, I do not. And I believe that is okay.

As humans I think we spend a lot of time thinking that if we just knew, things would be easier.

If we knew the answer for #37 on our Philosophy test.

If we knew the diagnosis was terminal right off the bat. If we knew the grocery store was out of salt and vinegar chips. That the pew in Dimnent Chapel was packed full of people. If two people were destined to be together. Or if the jar sitting lopsided on the kitchen shelf would crash to the floor when we opened the door.

My brothers and sisters, this is not the answer. Knowing is not the answer.

Control feels right to us at first. I can do this, we tell ourselves, unaware that the circumstance is fully out of our control.

And then we feel anxious. Worry creeps in like water through the cracks. It soon feels as though we are drowning in a wave that laps above our heads, throwing us deeper into the sea of uncontrollable control.

As we fall faster into into the realization of knowing that we do not know, we scramble to collect the pieces. But because we don’t know, we end up trying to fit together a 2,000 piece puzzle in a space the size of a place mat

It’s irrational. It’s disappointing. It’s overwhelming.

But it’s not over.

In our culture we often consider surrender to be a sign of weakness. It is a sign of weakness.

We surrender when we don’t know what to do. We surrender when we don’t know where to go, who to trust or how to move forward.

But in our faith, our acceptance of surrender means, simplistically, reflects the character of our God.

As a parent helps a child reach the cookies on top shelf, as a parent helps his or her daughter through the first breakup, as a parent cheers for their son on the field; our God takes on the same capacity.

He helps us when we can’t reach on our own, when we are in need of wisdom and when we need support.

Sometimes our need for control comes from not knowing we don’t need be in charge.

And that’s why the verse, “Be Still and know that I am God,” doesn’t say:

“Be still and know the entire collection of Aristotle’s works by memory”

“Be still and know the reasons why your family is falling apart”

or

“Be still and know everything.”

No.

It’s God saying to us, “Be still and know me. Know who I am. Know that I will fight for you.”

We can’t leave God on the bench during the game and expect Him to be the star player.

We have to let Him in. We have to surrender.

Be still, and know Him.

Wandering Around in Chicago

I remember loving Chicago as a kid. The towers, the Loop, the pizza. We used to stop for lunch in the city on our way to Wisconsin. I heard about the Student Activities Committee Chicago Trip, and signed up as soon as possible.

Giordano's for dinner.
A classic Chicago dinner.

We spent this past Saturday in the city. We wandered from place to place and never knew where to go next. We looked up at the ends of skyscrapers and saw the clear sky. Young men, probably my age, sat on the sidewalk with 10-gallon buckets and drumsticks, and hammered the pace of the city into existence. They grinned into their blurry hands and rocked quickly in tempo. They sat on the curb next to the oblivious cars that sped down North Michigan Avenue.

The Chicago Loop.
Evening on the Chicago Loop.

We crossed the street and the sun reflected off The Bean onto our faces. We looked up and saw in the massive mirror a hundred people gathered around, taking pictures. The strange monument of Chicago loomed over us.

We wandered around in stores and had pizza for dinner. Classic Chicago tourist stuff. But I’m from Kalamazoo, a relatively small city. We don’t have Giordano’s on every block. Chicago is huge, a home for 2.7 million, and even walking the streets feels like participating in something bigger.

We got lost a few times, and maybe wandering is only wandering. But when a small town kid is swept up in the rhythm of the big city, even for a few hours, it feels like something more.

The lights of the skyline.
Walking back to the bus we caught the city lights turning on.

An ArtPrize Narrative: Part 2

First, read part 1 here. 

The hundreds of ceramic plates hung heavily on the wall. I walked slowly around a few other pieces in the room, but kept my eye on the plates. The blue on the plates dragged my sight from the various sculptures in the room.

Old men and young art students gathered along the walls and I joined them. A curly-haired man with glasses murmured and rubbed his chin. He pointed at an oval-shaped plate. Many of the plates were elaborately designed. This plate had a simple border and typeface scrawled in the middle.

“Did not request last meal”

I read the plate several times.

Other plates featured peaches, turkey legs, and pizza. They varied in diameter, from fist-sized to backpack-sized.

I came across another bare plate.

“Did not receive last meal”

The inspiration for the plates was taken from real accounts of last meals. The artist spent a portion of his life in Texas, where he frequently read about last meals in his local newspaper. According to his artist’s statement, executions were events in Texas.

My feet slid slowly along with the crowd next to the wall of plates. My eyes hovered over the plates and soaked in the reality of the last meal.

Birthday cake last meal plate.
An inmate received a birthday cake for his last meal.

“He never had a birthday cake so we ordered a birthday cake for him”

What a time to celebrate.

As I took in the immensity of the exhibit, the hours of work to craft each plate, and the number of deaths, I realized that ArtPrize matters.

Art is not just the indulgence of creative minds. Art is seeing and understanding. Art is where our deepest existential longings meet the most tangible realities of our world.

Art is accessible by anyone. Art is as simple as plates on a wall.

Art is as simple telling the truth.

Last meal plates.
The exhibit was inspired by the last meals of Death Row inmates.

The Pictures Talk For A Change

Hello, readers! Hope your weekend was awesome! I decided to switch it up a little and let the pictures of my Saturday in Chicago speak for themselves. Just to give you some background, every year the Student Activities Committee (SAC) puts on a Chicago trip in the fall and spring where you take a bus into the city, get dropped off and basically get to do whatever you want until it’s time to go home. How awesome right? These are the adventures I took with two of my friends. Enjoy!

Getting off the bus, this is what my friends and I first saw! Pretty fitting I would say.
First, we went to Millennium Park. It was a perfect day for it – upper 60s and gorgeously sunny.
Next we went to the Botanical Gardens, directly next to Millennium Park. This was one of my favorite places because it had the perfect mix of city life and outdoors.
Then we went to the Maggie Daley Park that opened recently across the highway from Millennium Park.
The park was awesome! It was divided into smaller sections of park that were organized according to age group. That slide in the lower right corner? I went down that. What a rush!
After the park, we walked to lunch at Eataly on Ohio Street.
Chicago does a great job with its urban planning, and because of it has tons of green plants growing in the city. It’s awesome.
This is where we ate lunch – Eataly! It’s basically an indoor Italian market that has everything fresh you can ever imagine – fresh baked bread, meats, the best gelato ever, and even restaurants! We got a pizza, naturally.
Then we headed to Navy Pier to gaze at the water and sit down. At this point, we’d been on our feet for 5 hours and my feet were feeling it!
At Navy Pier, we wandered into the Crystal Gardens. There are no words for the beauty that is here! It is the perfect combo of green plants and industrial innovation, as we could see the famous ferris wheel outside.
…there aren’t words.
After a dinner at the famous Portillo’s where we grabbed a burger, we headed back to the bus, but not before we managed to grab an amazing pic of the city at sunset!
The colors were beautiful. Chicago was good to us, and it was a wonderful day!

Until next time readers!

Questions about what I did or where I went? Check the bio and give me a jingle!

Finding Your “Place.”

As humans we like to categorize things, people, feelings, anything. Psychologically, we accommodate and assimilate from the minute we know better. Dogs with dogs, cats with cats, shirts in the drawer, dresses on the rack. We even tend to categorize ourselves when we try to find where we feel we fit best or, in other words, where we feel that our “place” in this world or a specific community is.

To do this, we have to know ourselves. We need to know what we like to do, what we value, what we find pride in, what we find distasteful, etc. in order to know ourselves. But knowing yourself isn’t easy, and I’m still unsure as to whether it’s possible to fully know. We discover new things about ourselves almost every day; we have to constantly accommodate and assimilate our own qualities to our own perception of who we are.

With a constant drive to find our “place” in this world and a difficulty in knowing who we really even are, frustration ensues. Feeling like you jump around from too many places or feeling like you don’t belong to any can create sense of lacking community.

The constant drive to categorize ourselves ends up limiting us. You don’t need to be one thing, act in one way, or only hang out with one group of people, or be in any one place. We are where we belong as long as we’re being ourselves and doing what makes us happy, no matter how many “places” we are.

It happens to me a lot. Over the past few years I’ve changed dramatically in some ways and not so much in others. Coming to Hope, I became a lot more involved and a lot more interested in getting to know people than I was in high school, but I still remained in touch with my quieter side that likes to read, write, and be on my own sometimes. With such a contrast, it’s hard to know where I really belong. I guess a good motto to follow is to just go and be where I’m happy.

Our place where we belong might be constantly changing day by day, and we need to learn to live with the differences and inconsistencies, to not try to fit ourselves into one box labeled ‘this is me’. Instead we should open up our boxes, dumb out the contents, and sort through it all. We have more room to fit new stuff into them and we don’t need to constrict the size or space that it occupies. It can be tiring but reassuring that if you’re doing what feels right to you in the moment, you’re in the right “place”.

Thanks for reading,

Brooke

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!

What To Do When You Experience Writer’s Block

Hi readers! I was on the train home yesterday from Fall Break when I started this blog post and as much as I was used to the 3½ hour long rides coming and going, this last time it seemed especially long. Anyway, I was trying to edit an essay that was due today in the afternoon, and as per usual, I found myself in the midst of having writer’s block. We have all been there, haven’t we? I know I am experiencing writer’s block when I find myself staring at my computer screen, completely at a loss for what to type next. It’s always the worst when you are on a roll on an essay and you are typing super fast one minute because your thoughts are actually making sense and then boom, you stop mid-sentence. Or, you have an outline all ready for you to refer back to, but you can only get your name, date, and class name on the page and that’s it. No words are coming to you.

When this happens, I have to clear my head a little bit and take my mind off of what I was just focusing on. Trying to push through writer’s block usually ends up not working, so I wouldn’t suggest doing that. Here are some things you could do instead to get those writing juices flowing (featuring some cool gifs):

  1. Engage in conversation with others – so basically, talk to people, especially if you have holed yourself up in your room for the past three hours. Go with a friend to get some fro-yo or a donut from Good Time. Talk about anything and everything but your paper or story that you’re writing. You just might find the inspiration you need!

  2. Watch a TV show – I don’t know about you, but I am taking any free time I have (sorry friends) to watch all of my TV shows that are currently starting. I’m sure you have your favorite, so all the more reason to get on Netflix or turn on that TV you barely use to watch something entertaining.
  3. Cook (or bake!) – How about you make your roommate/friends happy by not only (1) feeding them, but (2) showing off your impressive cooking skills. Or even better – make some delicious cookies or brownies to eat (you can also share) but mostly, you will eat them all yourself because you can, and why not?

  4. Take a Nap – Okay, I know you were probably thinking this would be the first thing to do, but that would be too obvious wouldn’t it? I feel like I should be a pro at taking naps by now and you should be too! Set aside 15-20 minutes to relax and get some much needed time to focus on nothing other than sleeping. Best.idea.ever.
  5. Listen to music–Music is what helps me the most to not only focus my mind on something else, but it also gives me the excuse to sing a loud to myself and have a mini dance party in my room. Don’t worry I would never do such a thing in public–or would I? 🙂

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter at @HopeMarisela16 or send me any questions at marisela.meraz@hope.edu.