Time to Stress Once Again

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–> Time to stress? What? But midterms are over! There isn’t anything else to
stress about for a while! What am I talking about? Well, buckle up. It’s time
for registration once again! It seems like we just started classes a month ago.
Nope. We’re more than half way through the first semester—that’s such a scary
thought! My sophomore year is almost half-way over! I feel like I should be a freshman still.

If you remember registration for classes in high school, signing up for
classes in college is literally twenty times more stressful. This is due to the
fact that you can’t just take whatever classes you want or take whatever classes your friends
are taking because you have to now plan out what classes pertain to your
intended major. It’s a complete balancing act.

“Oh, I’ll take this math class.
Wait, that class has a prerequisite that I need to take first. Dang! I already
have a class at that time and I can’t move my schedule around.”

Yup, this is
what I and I’m sure a bunch of other students have to struggle through. It’s
one struggle trying to figure out what classes you need to take to graduate. It’s
another struggle to coordinate the classes so the times all work together and
hopefully align so you don’t have to take all 8:00 AM courses.

This week is
full of advising meetings to help out stressed-out students like myself. That’s
what’s so great about advisors here at Hope. They can actually sit down with
you and talk about what you need to do and truly care about you and how you’re
scheduling your time at Hope. Although I am fretting beyond belief in hopes
that I am able to sign up for my classes before they fill up, I know that
advisors and professors are understanding and ultimately help me out and make
sure that I end up taking what I need to take in order to graduate on time.

Registration for me this semester is even more of a headache and stressful than before because I just declared my major a week ago, so I had to be assigned a new advisor in the Kinesiology Department. Prior to being assigned an advisor in your major field, you are given your First Year Seminar professor as your advisor. Between the paperwork and waiting to be given a new advisor, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to schedule a meeting because advisors are scheduled with so many other students in the same field. Luckily, I was able to get a meeting and let me just say that that meeting was SUCH a productive time. My advisor knew exactly what I needed to take, what I could wait to take, what is a good course to complete over the summer or during a May Term, and what was recommended for me to take when I study abroad.

If you’re curious how we even register for classes, let me tell you how it’s done. First of all, all freshmen usually register in person, but sophomores and those with a certain amount of credits do it online. Basically, for online registration, your advisor gives you a PIN code and you log into your KnowHope Plus account and use that code and simply type in the CRN number and select which class you want to sign up for. Here’s a link that students use to see which classes are being filled up and which classes are still available:

Hope College Class Schedule »

This website is amazing, yet is the most nerve-wracking thing EVER! It’s so accurate and up-to-date that it shows when somebody takes a spot in a class and how many seats are available left in the class. If you are waiting for your registration time, it’s a race against the student body to register for your needed classes. However, when you are finished registering and you got at least most of the classes you wanted, it’s such a huge relief and you don’t have to think about registration again for a few more months!

Well, that’s all I have to report on regarding registering for classes! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or tweet me @hopeleslie15.

Holland is the Place to Be!!!

Holland, Michigan: When I told people I go to college here, their reaction is “Why? That’s in the middle of nowhere. The only thing that state has going for it is the fact that it looks like a mitten.” Well, Holland has a lot more going for it than people give it credit for. Despite the fact that the coolest college is there, here are some of the awesome things that Hope College and Holland has to offer that I’ve realized:

1. Tunnel Park Proposal! This video was brought to my attention by my brother. At first I thought this was just a cute lipdub proposal until I realized where it took place—Tunnel Park in Holland! That’s about 10 minutes from campus. When I saw this, I thought that it was so cool that a small town was chosen for this—especially somewhere that I spent a lot of summer days playing. Read about the proposal on MLive.

2. Windmill Island! Windmill Island is very popular place in Holland. If you haven’t heard about it, this is a small Dutch village with a huge Windmill and little Dutch shops. This is a very popular place during Tulip Time–there’s dancing and blossoming flowers everywhere!

3. Filming of “Virginia.” Although this is filmed in Saugutuck and not Holland, it has some big name actors in it including Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly. Something interesting I found out about this film is that it was filmed at my grandmother’s childhood home—it was really cool to see a scene of the house and having my family recognize it! What are the chances??? 

4. Filming of “Return of the Hiding Place.” This movie was actually filmed on Hope’s campus!!!! How cool is that??? My brother happened to be on campus working for the school when it was being filmed, and he said he had to take a double-take when he saw soldiers casually walking around. Here’s an article from the Holland Sentinel about it.

5. The Peanut Store! For those candy lovers out there like myself, this is one of the largest attractions to Holland. Don’t be deceived by the name of the store—it’s not a peanut store, but a wonderland of delicious candy. No joke, I probably have spent a cumulative 15 hours in that store during the course of my life. They have an assortment of chocolates, jelly beans, typical grocery store candy, seafoam, and some other randomly delicious treats.

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6. Hope College!
Most importantly, Holland has the most amazing school ever… HOPE! With the
great downtown area, it’s a good place for college life and is known for being
one of the safest cities in the country.

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Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @hopeleslie15!!!!

Intramural Season is Here!

Did you ever have a passion for a sport when you were younger but quit? Did you
always want to play a sport but never got around to it? Well, if you answered
“yes” to either of these questions, you are the perfect candidate for intramurals!
Let me give you a few reasons why everybody should play an intramural sport:

  1. They’re just plain fun!
  2. Good break from schoolwork
  3. Might find you have a talent in one of the sports
  4. Might find you don’t have a talent for a sport
  5. Meet new people

Freshman Intramural Experience: Last year, I played IM tennis (and won the less competitive
league with my partner Tim), soccer and ultimate Frisbee. I have always played
soccer and tennis growing up and since I quit a few years ago, it was so much
fun to pick it back up again. It could be frustrating if you previously had
experience playing a specific sport and join an IM team because you realize you
might have lost some skill, but it is fun regardless, plus you learn how to make
fun of yourself!

What’s really cool about intramurals is that the less competitive champions receive gray shirts and the more competitive champions get orange shirts. Also, when you win multiple intramurals, you eventually get a green shirt. This is one of the main motivators to play well, because everyone loves free stuff—especially shirts! Another cool thing about winning an intramural sport is that your picture is taken and is placed in the hallway of the Dow Center so everybody can see that you won!

Sophomore Intramural Experience: This year, I ventured out of my comfort zone and joined volleyball and flag football teams. Let me just say that I am SO glad I joined
them because I have had the most fun playing these than I thought I would. With
virtually no experience playing either one, I surprised myself with how well I
actually play. I’m still terrible, but I’m better than I thought I would be! After this fall season of intramurals, I plan on playing IM tennis and basketball in the winter and soccer, ultimate frisbee, and inner-tube water polo later in the year. I’ve never played on a basketball team, let alone an inner-tube water polo team, so it will be very interesting how that goes, but if you are on a team with fun and easy-going people, it’s fun no matter what the score is.

How to Sign Up: The first round of intramurals is just about over, which means the winter season is going to begin soon, so teams are going to have to be put together and registration must take place! The winter sign-ups start this upcoming Monday, so my tennis partner and I have to go through this registration process in a few days. If you are wondering how to even sign up for a sport, let me walk you through it. It’s so quick and simple that it’s pretty much idiot-proof:

  1. First, you go to the intramural website.  
  2. Click on ‘Schedules’ on the left-hand side.
  3. There you will pick a sport and team registration is on the left-hand side of that page.
  4. All you need is a team name and all of the participants you want and click ‘Submit.’

It’s really THAT easy. So, why wouldn’t you give intramurals a chance if it’s so easy to sign up and you will gain so much from it? I want to challenge all of you reading this to try intramurals and maybe you’ll love it and sign up for multiple sports during one season like I do!!!

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at hopeleslie15!!!

Adventures in Illinois

You know how people always say that breaks are supposed to be relaxing and stress-free? Well, my Fall Break was pretty much the opposite of that. Let me make it clear: this was one of the most fun breaks I have ever had because it was full of spontaneous adventures, but it was definitely tiring. Since I was not able to go home to California because the break was not long enough, I traveled all throughout Illinois and met up with a lot of people and did a lot of things. Let me give you a play-by-play of my weekend:

Friday: After finishing classes, I rushed back to my dorm to finish packing up my stuff for the weekend. I frantically ran to my friend’s dorm room and we headed out on the road for a 2.5 hour car ride to Illinois. The entire ride we listened to soothing, mellow, fall music—the perfect playlist for the beginning of the fall season.

Upon arriving, I stayed at my friend’s house and met all of his family and we headed to our other friend’s house who happens to go to Hope as well who happened to bring some of our other friends to Illinois, too. I got a tour of the town which was breathtaking—the changing colors on the trees and the feeling of autumn made me realize how much I really needed a break from school.

Last year, I went to another friend’s house for Fall Break and maybe it’s just me, but the feeling I get when I’m in another town during the fall and seeing the beautiful scenery and drinking apple cider makes me fall in love with the area and the Midwest. California and any West Coast area never gives me this feeling because there isn’t a change in weather. Anyway, later that night, our group went to a high school soccer game and walked around their town for a while. Even this seems somewhat hectic, but in hindsight, it was the most relaxation I was going to experience all weekend.

Saturday: I woke up and my friend drove me to Wheaton College, where I met up with a friend, Alex, from my hometown. We then took the train up to Northwestern University in Evanston. Coming from a background of little knowledge about public transportation, this proved to be pretty stressful for me. Once we got to Evanston, we met up with one of my best friends, Melissa, and she gave me a tour of Northwestern and I met her friends and got to experience what her life is like at college. Later, we made cookies for a potluck at one of her friend’s apartments—let’s just say that pumpkin-spice cookies are to die for. After meeting more people, we headed out and got some custard and later watched Friends—seriously one of the best shows ever made. It was hard to believe that it was only Saturday after all of the things I had done and the traveling I had done so far.

Sunday: It was time to head out of Evanston and back to Chicago to visit my other friend, Shannon, and brother. This is the point when I started getting used to traveling around by myself. Though I spent little time with Shannon because she had homework, my brother and I spent the day walking around the city, catching up on our lives, going to see Perks of Being a Wallflower, and eating some amazing/high-caloric food.

Monday: This is the point during the fall break where I realized that it was starting to wind down. I took the train from my brother’s school to Chicago and then back to Wheaton to hang out with my Hope friends again. This was the most stressful traveling experience because I had to coordinate which Metra train and CTA subway to take in order to get back. During the rest of the day, all of my friends and I watched some television, played football, took a walk through cornfields, threw corn at each other, played cards, went to Portillo’s, and simply hung out before we had to head back to school the next day.

Tuesday: Fall Break is almost over! My Tuesday was used for getting packed up and heading back to Hope for a short week. Upon arriving back at school, there was still some homework to be done before classes started which is always a bummer, but the past four days of complete freedom from classes was absolutely amazing! I definitely learned how to navigate public transportation during this weekend, to say the least. The best things about this weekend besides visiting friends and family was gaining an appreciation for time off, being thankful for my friends who welcome me into their lives and towns and simply enjoying the fall and this time of year before winter comes.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @hopeleslie15.

Super Saturday

Don’t you love Saturdays? It’s the weekend, so you can sleep in and leisurely do your homework and still hang out with friends. Well, this past Saturday was pretty eventful for me. The campus can be pretty boring on occasion, but this Saturday was full of a LOT of stuff. It was pretty monumental in multiple ways: I got my first package of the year from home, the Pull on Black River took place, and it was my roommate’s 20th birthday. Let me just walk you through this day. Ready? Here we go:

MY FIRST PACKAGE! On a lazy morning, I usually check my email looking for any
updates from professors or clubs and when the magic words “Mailroom
Notification” pop up, I’m the happiest person alive. I think most people here
at school will agree with me that getting a box from home is one of the best
feelings ever: you feel like it’s your birthday because you get something
special in the mail plus you usually get food or some sort of goodies in that
box that any college student would love to have.

I got this notification on Saturday, so I was super pumped
to go to the mailroom to get the box and see what kind of random things my mom
and dad sent me, but of course I walk over to DeWitt right when it closes… meaning
I have to wait until Monday to get it. Ugghhhh!!!!! It’s so frustrating to know
that a box is waiting for me to open it, but I have to wait 36 hours to get it.
Monday came and I opened it and the first thing I saw was a bag full of York
Peppermint M&Ms. Have you ever had those???? They are so good that I ended
up eating half of the bag in 2 hours…oops. Next, I got some pretzels, almonds,
cashews, Chewy bars, NutriGrain bars and the best of all… a homemade coffee
cake! I know you guys probably don’t care what was really in the care package,
but it made my day twenty times better. Whenever I’m having a real bummer of a
day, getting that email turns my entire day around. Not only do you get some
awesome stuff, people are jealous of you. That was just the beginning of a great weekend.

THE PULL! As a
few other people are posting on their blogs, they are talking about the
legendary Pull that went on Saturday. I’m an Odd Year, so I’m completely
biased for the sophomores winning this year. Last year, we won as
freshmen and the theme we had this year was “Perfection,” so we had to
live up to that title. After a little over two hours on the rope, 2015’s
Pull Team won for the second year in a row (which is very rare)! Not
only did we win, but we set a record for gaining the most rope for Odd
Year (a little under 80 feet). If you don’t know what Pull is, look it
up on YouTube because it’s SO MUCH MORE than a simple tug-of-war. It’s
intense. No other word can describe it. After three weeks of ridiculous
training, the freshmen and sophomores “tugged” it out and put on quite a
show. What’s even better than winning was seeing all of the pullers and
their moralers hug each other and celebrate. All of the blisters and
bleeding paid off and created some amazing memories.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!
My roommate Cheryl turned 20 on Saturday too, so it was a pretty
monumental day for everyone. With such a hectic afternoon with Pull,
everyone was pretty drained from all of the excitement. Regardless of
how tired we were, Cheryl and I managed to head over to Good Time Donuts
for celebratory donuts followed by an awesome game of Apples to
Apples. This may sound like a pathetic birthday, but it was so much
fun!!!! If you have a good group of people playing, it can become the
most entertaining game you have ever played. I know this is not the typical sort of birthday, but “typical” is so overrated, right? Since we couldn’t finish
the night off with playing a board game, we watched the amazing  Matt
Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum. What a great movie. Seriously. It’s so
good. Watch it.

With a pretty crazy week this week, I’m so ready for fall break next
Monday and Tuesday. I’m sure my next post will be all about my
adventures. I’m heading to Chicago because I can’t really head to
California for a few days because it’s definitely not worth the long
travel and pricey ticket. Anyway, until after fall break, have a good
one!

What’s this Liberal Arts Stuff People Like so Much?

During senior year of high school, everybody was trying to
figure out what kind of school to go to, what state to live in, what programs
schools offer, and many other factors that go into choosing the “right school
for you.” Most of my friends decided to stay on the West Coast, so they applied
to schools such as UCLA, USC, UC-Davis, Berkeley, and others like them. My
question is: what do those schools offer that a small one doesn’t? And after
researching the differences, I am SO GLAD I decided to go to a small, liberal
arts college like Hope for numerous reasons:

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1. Small classes—you aren’t just a number in a lecture hall.
There is no need for a microphone to ask a question during class because the
sizes of each class are around 20 people… perfect for getting questions answered
and actually getting to know your professors.

2. Don’t have to declare a major right away—Going into college, I had no idea what I wanted to major in or do with my life, so a liberal arts college was the perfect fit. Liberal arts schools like Hope allow students to change
their mind on a major multiple times and allows students to
dabble in different areas of interest to help figure out what path to take. This has been very beneficial because after taking some courses in different subjects, I was able to narrow in on what interested me.

 3. Shorter walk to class—compared to other universities where
you have to leave 30 minutes before class in order to make it there on time, a
small school like Hope allows you to leave your dorm about 5 minutes before
class and still make it in time. This is perfect for those people who want to be in their nice, warm bed for as long as possible and still manage to get to class.

4. Friendships—at Hope, you see familiar faces all the time and
get to know people easily; however, large schools are completely different. You
may see one familiar face in one day and see 50 people you’ve never seen before
and could easily never really see again. Now is that the kind of campus you
want to be on? (the answer is no). It’s so much easier to get to know people on a small campus because chances are, you will see them quite a bit and they will probably end up in one of your classes at some point.

5. A sense of community–Hope
is a great place to get to know a wide range of people and come
together as a student body. For example, a majority of the school will
go to events created by campus ministries or dorms. I bet large schools
don’t have a Waffle House night, dorm movie nights, go to Chapel or the
Gathering on a regular basis, or have a thing called Pull or Nykerk. Large schools with 20,000 or more students will rarely have campus activities like these but will solely rely on sporting events and Greek life to be part of the school.

So let’s go back to that question: What do larger schools have that small ones don’t? Well, small schools have a tighter-knit feel and make you feel apart of the school, which is awesome and beats out a large campus any day.

If you want more proof why Hope is such a great college and place to be, check out our profile on Colleges That Change Lives.

That’s all for this week! Follow me on Twitter for campus updates!!

Feelin’ a Little Homesick?

It’s that time of year when the first round of tests are on
the brink. NO!!!!!! I STILL WANT SUMMER!!! Stress, the feeling of being
overwhelmed and pressured to get an “A” consumes everybody’s minds accompanied by
a lack of sleep, lack of a social life, and a lack of a proper diet. This is
the time where I would love to go home and have a home-cooked meal and forget
about the stress for a few hours, but that’s not a reasonable request for
people, especially those who are far enough from home where they cannot simply
take a short car ride to be back home. For those of you who are not in the
Midwest and are thinking about going to Hope, this fact can be scary and
intimidating because Mom and Dad aren’t around to give you a hug and
encouraging words to keep you going. Instead, you have to depend on yourself to
get through the rough times, but don’t forget you have RAs, friends and a great
community to turn to if you ever need to talk things out sometimes.

For me,
being 2,000 miles away from home did not bother me at all my first year at Hope. A lot of my friends
from Michigan became homesick the first few weeks of school, but for me it was
the opposite. I knew in the back of my mind that no matter how much I wanted to go home and hug my parents, it wasn’t a plausible request; I basically had to
suck it up. However, when December rolled around, that’s when I got homesick
because I realized how much I really did miss my family and the anticipation of
seeing them that month made me miss them more! Some friends thought the fact that I didn’t
get homesick much was pretty strange, but freshman year is so busy and filled
with new experiences and learning that there isn’t a whole lot of time to fret
about not being at home.

“You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it’s all right”

— Maya Angelou

In
contrast, this year was completely different from
freshman year. For instance, I became homesick the first week of school
because
I already established friend groups and knew the campus and its
activities
already, so I had already settled in my new home for the year. I was
pretty surprised by this considering I had little difficulty starting a
new life away from home during freshman year. I guess it’s the fact that
we’re all growing up that makes me anxious and wanting to be home in the
familiar and safe place that I grew up in. Now is the time when anxiety
and reality kicks in and I start asking myself questions like, “Will I
end up going home for summer again?” or “How many times will I see my
friends this year because they’re all starting their own lives?” or even
“Did I pick the right major?”. These are the questions that scare me
because nobody knows how things are going to turn out in the long-run,
but all you can do is move forward and rely on your relationships and
knowledge to get you through difficult times. Everybody has to grow up
at some point, so college is a key transitioning point in most peoples’
lives.

Getting back to being homesick, I believe everybody gets homesick
at some point in their lives—some sooner than others—but
that’s what makes us grow and become the independent young adults we
are. Thank goodness for technology such as Facebook and Skype because even when I’m thousands of
miles away from family, or a few states over from friends who are in
college, technology helps relieve that
homesick feeling and can help ease the heartache of being separated from
the people you spent most of your time and life with back at home. Like
they say, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” and I believe that this is
dead on. For me, the longer I’m away from my friends and family, the
more I appreciate them when I do get to see them. This is because it’s not simply
the fact of seeing them that makes me overjoyed, but the little quirks
that usually annoyed me, make me happy because it reminds me of them. I
definitely believe that being homesick is completely okay because
everybody experiences it. Feeling this way can help show your deep commitment to the people
you love and the capacity to feel that way towards other people in a
new surrounding as you grow into who you are supposed to be at college.

I’m aware that this is a more personal blog, so feel free to leave any comments or concerns about being homesick you may have and I would love to write back 🙂

California vs. Michigan

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–>     A lot of people ask me why I chose to leave sunny California and move to
Holland, Michigan to go to school. My response usually baffles some
people because they don’t understand why I would want to be so far from
home and have little opportunity to visit friends and family during
breaks. Well, to put it simply, I wanted to be more independent, try a
new setting and atmosphere, and branch off from my comfort zone. Though
it is difficult not going home for Fall Break, Thanksgiving, Winter
Break or Spring Break, I have come to realize that I have amazing
friends who welcome me into their homes for some of these occasions,
which makes me extremely grateful for the great people on Hope’s campus.
Since people do wonder and ask me about the differences between my life
back in California and my life here in Michigan, I though I would share
some differences between the states.

1. WEATHER: California is always warm! When I’m at home where some of my friends stayed in California for college, they will complain when it gets cooler than 60 degrees. I quickly learned that you have
to appreciate those days in Michigan because they are very rare later on in the
year. There’s also absolutely no snow in Southern California… the closest we get
is hail ever seven years or so. Also, there’s no real change in seasons. Spring
and summer are pretty much the same. Fall has some falling leaves and winter
consists of a few rainy days but mostly clear skies…not exactly a “winter
wonderland,” but it’s nice if you want to go to the beach on Christmas Eve.

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–>

2. PEOPLE: I have noticed while being in the general Midwestern area that the people out here, especially in Michigan, are a lot more down-to-earth and generally friendlier than those I
was around in California. Nearly everybody in Michigan, especially at Hope,
smiles at me and opens the door for me, but in California, you get weird looks
if you say “hi” to a random person and there’s no real concept of common
courtesy. There are also a lot of stereotypes of Californians, which is not
always fun because they are usually negative ones.

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–>

3.  
WATER: If you’ve ever looked at a map from
second grade until now, you will realize that California is next to the Pacific
Ocean, whereas Michigan is near the Great Lakes. A major difference
between the two is that the Pacific Ocean actually has waves while Lake
Michigan does not have waves at all in comparison. You are actually able to
surf and boogie-board in California, but there are hardly any boats and
ski-does there, which is a real shame. Michigan certainly has that going for
them. The beaches are completely different as well. Those in California have beach
shops, restaurants, clothing stores, and some sketchy random stores. A huge issue in California is that it is
nearly impossible to find a parking spot at the beach. It’s all metered parking and is
a real hassle when you have to parallel park while impatient people are waiting
to go around you. Michigan beaches don’t have nearly as many people and the
whole atmosphere is different. People are there to just hang out with friends;
those in California are there to get tan skin.

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4. ENTERTAINMENT: Holland, MI is known for Tulip
Time and having a cute city with not a whole lot of other attractions. However,
in Orange County, CA, there is Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, the multiple
beaches (Huntington, Newport, Laguna), South Coast Plaza (a very high-end
mall), Sawdust Festival, and Hollywood. This past summer I was lucky enough to go into Hollywood a few times to see the filming of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jeopardy! and Conan! It’s such a great experience and I recommend it to anyone who is in the area (plus, it’s free!). Like any other place you get accustomed to, it gets tiring and monotonous. Though California may seem exciting and
all, it gets boring. Once you have explored and been
to those places, you don’t have the urge to really go back, at least for a
while.

These are just a few comparisons between the equally awesome states, but I thought I would share a little of my life and the differences I have come across while being at Hope. That’s all I have to share fore now, so follow me on Twitter and I’ll talk to you soon!

Take a Breather!

Want to know
what kinds of things go on during the weekend at Hope College? Brace yourself
because there is so much activity going on, it’s insane! This past weekend was
completely filled with student life. Seriously, there were more activities
going on than time in the day to do them all. From sporting events such as
soccer and volleyball, to Fall Bash, a Dodgeball tournament, SAC movie event,
and having Chris Carter appear at the Knickerbocker, I definitely had to budget
my time in order to accommodate as many of these events as possible. Although I
was not able to go to everything because I had to allow at least a little time
this weekend for some productive studying, here’s a preview of student life.

1. Volleyball: It was opening night and the Lady Dutch were competing against Adrian. Of course Hope students filled the student
section, but what was more exciting was the impressive defeat of the rivals. No
other team could dominate like our fellow Dutchmen!

2. Soccer: The first home soccer game was played at Van
Andel Stadium with the bleachers filled with anticipation of the first game.
Although it was windy and raining, a few brave Hope students still managed to
wear paint on their chests despite the cool temperatures.

3. The Mentalist: Chris Carter made another visit to the
Knickerbocker this year to provide freaky, yet entertaining mind readings on
Friday night. He was able to tell somebody’s random life fact and locker
combination from high school. He was absolutely amazing! How does he
do it? There is no way he is cheating or provided information beforehand, which
made the experience even more intriguing and unbelievable. All of his acts are so mind-blowing that you leave the Knick completely amazed and shocked at what some simple body language can tell. It’s truly amazing!

That’s all for now! Follow me on Twitter 🙂

Back For Another Year!!!

Well, hello there! 
If you were looking for a blog to learn more about Hope College and
student life, you’re in the right place! This is my first year doing this blog
for Hope College, so let me introduce myself first and foremost. I’m going to
answer all of those questions everyone asks during orientation: Where are you from? Santa Ana,
California. What year are you? Sophomore.
What are you majoring in? Exercise
Science. What’s one random fact about
you? I love mint chip ice cream. Now that you are briefed with who I am and
where I’m from, let me update you on the first days back at Hope this year.

Move-in Day: Three words can describe this: Hectic,
hot, oh and very hectic. If you’re like me and have your dorm room on the third
floor and with absolutely zip air conditioning, you’d agree with me that
jumping in Lake Michigan was the one thing I wanted to do the most. Even though
the heat and humidity was not the highlight of the day, I forgot all about it
after all of the excitement of seeing friends from last year and simply people
you recognize on campus. The atmosphere was so uplifting and exciting because
everyone was so pumped for another year at Hope and making new memories. If
you’re a prospective student and think that moving in is the most overwhelming
experience ever, don’t think that. Although it’s scary, you will never feel
alone. Seriously. All of the orientation leaders run out to your cars and help
bring your bags to your room and BAM! You’ve already made like five friends
without even having to do anything. That just describes Hope and the
friendliness it exudes all of the time. 

Groovin’ the Grove: There is such a sense of
community on this campus, it’s unbelievable. No other school will have worship
and singing activities in the center of campus, but they sure do at Hope. Each
year, Hope has the worship band playing in the Pine Grove for about two hours
in which everybody is singing along, grooving, and something I noticed this
year, was getting bug bites. It was ridiculous how many bugs were out that
night, but nobody really cares when he or she’s with friends and just have a
good ole time.

Movie in the Pine Grove: What a great way to get the whole campus together! Since The Hunger Games was being shown, it was especially fun sitting under the stars with friends and quoting every line. What great timing because right after the movie ended, the sprinklers went off and got only a few people wet! All I can say is: REFRESHING!

“May the odds be ever in your favor”

— The Hunger Games

Waffle House: After the first week of classes, the only thing people were thinking about was the weekend ahead…especially how much we wished we had Labor Day off. Despite the feeling of being overwhelmed, Hope Ministries had a Waffle/Pancake night that offered a great stress-reliever. What better way to start the weekend than eating some chocolate chip pancakes and winding down in anticipation of the following week.