Navigating the journey of living away from home

With the seemingly dark, dreary, and cold days of ‘swinter’ (spring + winter) amid this point in the semester when days feel longer, mid-winter break is over, and the heap of homework, projects, and exams seemingly competes in height with that of Mount Rushmore, feelings of homesickness inevitably creep in. Especially as a first-year student, …

3 Things I Wish I’d Known About Living Away from Home

Before coming to Hope, I knew that living on campus would be a huge part of my college experience but I didn’t know what this entailed. My understanding of living away from home came from Gilmore Girls. If you’re familiar with the show, you know that Rory’s mom Lorelai comes and sleeps over on her …

My Advice for Admitted Students

College Decision Day is coming up, and if you’re anything like I was in senior year, you’re dreading it. I didn’t officially commit to Hope until late April 2022 – just days before College Decision Day. I always had a good feeling about Hope, but the gravity of such a decision held me back from making …

What makes Hope College distinct?

According to Dictionary.com, one of the definitions of the word ‘distinct’ reads: “different in nature or quality.” As such, this word reflects a type of being that stands out among other natures. For me, Hope College embodies this definition. At its very core, Hope is distinct.  But what makes Hope’s nature distinct from that of …

Three Underrated Things About Dorm Life

In my experience, living in dorms is better than most people make it out to be. While I certainly don’t mind having my own room when I go back home, there are a lot of positives about dorm life that tend to get overlooked. I especially realize this now that a lot of my friends …

Advice on Maximizing the Admissions Journey

Throughout high school and most especially during this time of year for senior students, high schoolers are asked the seemingly paramount question – where will you be attending college? From the academic advising office to the holiday dinner table to chatter among friends, this single question seems synonymous with high schoolers’ very own identity. For …

Visiting Hope College

I toured Hope in August 2021, right before I started my senior year of high school.  I had been on plenty of college tours before, and kept visiting schools after my trip to Hope.  Still, this certain visit stood out in my mind through my college decision process.  In fact, the nature of my visit …

Visiting Campus

When it came down to deciding what college to go to, I found visiting campus to be essential. It allowed me to truly imagine being a student here. There are many ways to visit campus, and Hope makes it easy to find a time that works for you.  The two most popular ways to visit …

My Top 5 at Hope!

Last spring, the end of my freshman year, I dedicated a page in my journal to all my favorite things about Hope College. I’d only been a part of this place for a number of months and yet I loved it deeply. Going home for the summer and catching up with high school friends, I found …

My Best Advice to an Incoming Freshman from a Hope College Senior

From a Hope College Senior writing to an incoming Freshman, this is my best advice for you:  Fight the urge to compare yourself to other freshmen. Every upperclassman I know can recall a moment when they called their mom on the phone and said or felt some version of, “It just feels like everyone else …