Hi Guys!
This is my first ever blog post for the Hope College Blog Network! But while I may be new to blogging, I’m actually rather old to Hope College, as I will be a senior this upcoming school year. Before I get into why I’m blogging and what this year holds for me, I’ll tell you a little bit about myself:
As I said before, I’m an upcoming senior, majoring in Communication with a double minor in Writing and Management. At Hope I’m involved in Greek Life, Zeeland YoungLife, Chapel Choir, as well as hold on campus jobs for the Hope College marketing department and writing for The Odyssey online. When I’m not running around like a crazy person between activities, I can usually be found shamelessly watching The Bachelor, attempting to grow a genuine love for jogging, or eating microwave popcorn at any and all hours of the day or night.
This fall I’ll be spending my first semester in a bit of an unconventional way. Instead of returning back to campus in August, I’ll actually be moving a few hours west to Chicago to participate in one of the many domestic study abroad opportunities provided by Hope: The Chicago Semester.
The Chicago Semester is a program that partners with Hope in order to provide students both job and life experience in the Windy City! The great thing about the semester is that it takes a lot of the difficulties of moving and finding a job away and just presents you with several different opportunities to chose from.
What do I mean by that? During the application process you fill out a questionnaire essentially describing your ideal internship and the representatives at the Chicago Semester find a couple interviews, ultimately leaving the decision of where to intern in your hands.
After my own interview process I finally settled on a marketing and event planning internship with The Magnificent Mile Association. The Magnificent Mile itself is a mile long strip on Michigan Avenue featuring restaurants, shops, spas, and almost anything else you can think of. The Association reviews these attractions, detailing their own experiences there on their What’s Hot blog, as well as sets up their own events such as Run Mag Mile, an upcoming 5K, or the Lights Festival, a Christmas celebration coming this holiday season.
While working, I’ll also be taking 2 classes through the Chicago Semester and trying to experience all the city has to offer. I can’t wait to share more of my experience with you guys and am so excited about all the opportunities in store for me this coming fall.
Only 15 more days till my big move and the countdown is definitely on!