Hello All!
Last blog post, I realized I jumped right into writing and didn’t even introduce myself. So…rewind…here we go: Hello, my name is John Luke Hawkins and I am a sophomore at Hope, but a first time blogger. Something unique about my name: It is John Luke: Two names. No hyphen. Just a space. Legally my first name is John, yet my parents combined them together when I was born to make me “John Luke.” Since I have to live in a legal world, most my Hope identification is labeled as “John.” I have spent most of my life correcting people on my name or telling this story so they understand. I now have it memorized word from word. I think I tell it once a week. And that is my name fact folks.
BUT NOW: To the Woods! Last night, 3 of my Bros and myself decided to go on a night adventure. We packed up some bags, loaded our hammocks, put on some warm clothes, and made our way to a woods in Holland a short 7 minute drive from Hope. There we found a patch of trees close together and strung up our hammocks. We lied in our hammocks, we talked, we laughed, and fell asleep to the nature surrounding us. 
That’s one thing I love about Hope (among a million things): HOLLAND, MICHIGAN. What a perfect city. Where I am from there is plenty of nature… actually it is mostly just corn… stalks upon stalks upon stalks of corn. It is a small agricultural town. Due to this upbringing, I have grown to love nature, but because of my extraverted personality, I also love cities of people! Holland captures both of those. Hope College is right next to 8th street, the hoppin’ downtown of Holland, Michigan. It has plenty of great shops, restaurants, and places to gather. But wait…there’s more! Holland also has a vast amount of nature! Hope is 5 minutes from the beach and Lake Michigan. I have gone numerous times. I have driven there. I have rode my bike there. I have run there. I have gone when the sand is burning my feet to where I am able to walk on the frozen waves. Holland also has woods, other lakes, and so many parks.
I have fallen in love with Holland, the perfect mix of nature and city for me. “There’s no place I’d rather beeeee…”