Do Not Fly During the Christmas Time!

This was my travel back to Hope. In Prague, where my journey was starting, everything was going everything well. We took off on time and the flight was smooth. But just about 30 minutes to landing in London Heathrow Airport, the captain announced that we will have about 25 minutes delay because Heathrow Airport was …

Saugatuck Dunes State Park: Hiking in the First Snow of the Year!

The first snow of the year! Along with thirty other students, I climbed into a Hope van and drove to the Saugatuck dunes for a morning snow hike with the Outdoor Adventure Club. The day of the first snow of the year is my favorite day of fall. The flakes come down in chunks, and in Kalamazoo …

How I Learned About What Happened in Paris

I heard throughout the day on Friday that something happened in Paris. I kept seeing the word “Paris” in group messages and hearing it in conversations as I passed tables in Phelps. I figured something bad had happened. Honestly, I didn’t know if I wanted to hear about it. I was in a friend’s room …

#JustPhelpsScholarsThings: The Indianapolis Trip!

Sorry for bombarding the blog with a bunch of #JustPhelpsScholarsThings posts, but this one I just have to add. The Indianapolis Trip takes the scholars to lunch at Jiallo’s African Caribbean Cuisine and to the highlight of the evening: the Conner Prairie Interactive Historic Park. While the museum has a variety of interesting, interactive exhibits …

#JustPhelpsScholarsThings: The Chicago Trip, Part 3

Read Part 2 here. Step 3: Magnificent Mile, Chicago It was refreshing to be back in a city filled with tall buildings packed tightly together, traffic noises, chain restaurants, and all kinds of people. Many of the West Coast students’ attention tunnel-visioned onto the nearest Starbucks. They dropped us off a little ways away from the Bean, …

#JustPhelpsScholarsThings: The Chicago Trip, Part 2

Read Part 1 here. Step 2: Soul Food Buffet Captain Hard Time’s Buffet was our next stop, no more than a ten-minute drive from the church. As we shuffled into the building, we were pleasantly surprised by (and took a few Snapchat pictures of) the restaurant’s entrance. The walls were so completely covered with portraits …

#JustPhelpsScholarsThings: The Chicago Trip, Part 1

Every year the Phelps Scholars go on the Chicago Trip, a day-long event that is meant to give students a little taste of Chicago culture and a little break from college. All that’s required is to sign up, dress up, and hop on the bus. It’s about a two-hour trip from Scott Hall to our …

Chicago.

Two weeks ago, I went to Chicago with a couple of my friends. I have not been to Chicago before, so I did not know what to expect. I have visited cities like Los Angeles, Denver, New York, San Francisco, Boston and Minneapolis, so I was preparing myself for a “typical” American city. I was totally wrong. …

Off-Campus Homework

At first, the times I am off-campus sound like the worst times to do homework. Times off-campus should be spent exploring or having fun or drinking really good coffee, I tell myself. However, throughout the past year, I have found that sometimes getting off-campus is just what I need to get motivated to get my …

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. We spent this past Saturday in the city. We wandered from place to place …