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 …

Midterm Thoughts

It’s the Sunday night before midterm week. No one feels like getting anything done, but papers are due tomorrow and exams are looming ahead and pre-labs and readings and writing workshops—all the usual work—are piled up on the floor next to where you’re watching your hall mate slide down the stairs penguin style.   Others …

How to be Sick in College

This post is not about how to get sick in college. It’s not hard. Colds spread around campus as the wind blows. This is what to do when you get sick in college. You do the math. Sore throats, runny noses, a dizzying and total lack of energy + 9-5 college classes + work + …

Major Life Decisions: Choosing Friends

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 …

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 …

8 for 8

Readers, this Fall Break was amazing – filled with family, friends, and birthday fun (October 1 was my birthday)! However, probably the biggest highlight of break for me wasn’t the birthday carrot cake my mom got me or that I got to see my Golden Retriever, it was that I cut my hair. I really started …

A Day in the Life of a Hope College Squirrel.

Has it ever crossed your mind what it might be like to be a squirrel, not just any squirrel, but the quintessential, Hope College squirrel? I may have thought about it once or twice…   “Code Red! Code Orange! Code Yellow!” “There goes Barry again,” I said. “Well, he does have a point, Greg,” Brenda …

7 Tips: When You Get Sick Three Weeks Into College

You barely know your friends, you’re just getting into a routine with your classes, and now you have a nasty cold. What do you do? As a recent head cold survivor, I have seven tips that can make being sick less awful. 1: Drink orange juice. Don’t be a pansy about it, either. Down that …

Redemption’s Story

When I first wrote this post, it took me about five hours to complete and was over 5,000 words. That meant 99.99% of you would never read it, and most professors would most likely skim. So, I scrapped my first draft, and I’m starting from the beginning. I arrived back in Holland at 10:15am Saturday …