A Life at Calvin Unimagined

A life at Calvin

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine . . .�

Ephesians 3:20 NIV

Ask anyone—your mom, your teachers, older siblings—and they’ll tell you that college was the best time of their life. But this time, it’s your life. So how can you handcraft your college experience so that it’s just what you need to prepare for life in the real world?

Unimagined “You’re not going to be put into a box here. You’re not going to be told, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ What you can do and who you can be is all about the gifts God’s given you.”

Michelle Loyd-Paige Dean of Multicultural Affairs

Here you’ll find some raw materials to get started.

Start with the basics—like people, places, programs and passions—then overlay them with your own colors, your own textures, your own designs.

Each of the Calvin women profiled here chose five words to describe her Calvin experience.

Step into their stories . . . and then begin to craft your own.

As you do, you’ll create a Calvin experience that you never imagined, but one that—turns out—fits you best.

Meghan SUPPORTIVE CHALLENGING SINCERE YOUNG LIFE OPPORTUNITIES

She wasn’t going to stay. “One year at Calvin,” she told her parents, “and I’ll turn around and go to a good New England school.”

She just needed an adventure, she told them.

Meghan stayed at Calvin, even though her parents sent her to Michigan with an escape vehicle.

MEGHAN’S

MUST

READS

Why did she stay?

“I felt really called to go to a Christian college. I didn’t want to go to a run-of-the-mill college and lose all the progress I’d made after becoming a Christian in high school.”

For Meghan, it’s all about the way Calvin does faith.

“I couldn’t have left home without my sleeping bag.”

“I’m not used to integrating faith and learning, and I’m not used to intentional Christian community. But the result is these deep relationships that really push me to grow.”

It’s also about support—support she gets from an education prof who visits her as she teacher aides in a huge public school classroom, and the support she gives to first-year students though Calvin’s orientation program.

Faith and support are two things Meghan will need as she dives into her career pursuing love and justice in the inner-city classroom.

“This is a place where you are absolutely welcomed and needed. It’s a place where women of all backgrounds are not only welcomed, but are leaders and become important role models in our community.”

FAV CALVIN PR OF: Prof. James Vanden Bo

sch (English)

HOMETOWN: Windham, N.H. MAJOR: English with secondary ed, minor in urban studies CAREER GOAL: inner-city teacher

GILEAD

by Marilynne Robinson A beautiful letter written from an elderly, dying preacher to his young son sharing meditations on life, faith and love.

THINGS FALL APART

by Chinua Achebe A striking tale of life in an Nigerian village pre- and post-British colonialism.

THE BELOVED COMMUNITY

by Charles Marsh A compelling argument for integration of faith, social justice and racial reconciliation.

AMAZING GRACE

by Jonathan Kozol A compilation of stories depicting the injustices existing in America's cities—AIDS, violence, inadequate education and homelessness.

Miriam

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O EE SH COFF ee R G ff FAV ap Co MadC

Miriam was always a little bit green.

“Growing up, my mom and dad took us out into nature a lot, and I really loved that.”

So it makes sense that Miriam is a biology major, concentrating in ecology.

But it wasn’t always that way. In fact, until her junior year at Calvin, she was set on becoming a physical therapist.

Then she got a life-changing job offer.

“Help me care for the plants in Calvin’s greenhouses, ” said Dave Warners, professor of biology.

The plants (with some help from Professor Warners) changed Miriam’s life.

“Watching them go through their biological processes helps me to think through things in my life. Being around plants makes me grow.”

How has Miriam grown at Calvin?

She’s been challenged to consider how environmental stewardship impacts things like food production and global hunger, and she’s been pushed to take initiative in courses where she designs real plans to get government grants for projects.

In other words, Miriam has gone beyond green to embrace a vision for how to care for God’s creation so that all living things can flourish.

Spider plants

BEST PLANTS TO

GROW IN YOUR DORM ROOM

EXPERIENCE GREEN INVESTIGATION ACCESSIBLE PROFESSORS PERSPECTIVES

HOMETOWN: Grand Rapids, Mich.

MAJOR: biology, with a concentration in ecology THE FUTURE? Miriam wants to get a masters in ecology and work with the Peace Corps doing restoration ecology outside the U.S. “I couldn’t have left home without my hotpot for my tea.”

Aloe veras Jades Snake plants Christmas cacti African violets Bamboo

Christian

Christian’s look is seriously bohemian.

She loves playing with colors, layers and textures to achieve a sense of style that is both unique and comfortable.

She stands out on the path at Calvin because she’s always wearing something—like a hand-knitted headband with a rose on it—that’s just plain fun.

Labels aside, Christian is serious about more than fashion—she’s serious about connecting to a real community at Calvin.

• She connects with real people professors like the award-winning author Gary Schmidt, and her mentor Katie who regularly cooks her dinner and takes her to concerts and plays.

• She connects through real discussion over weekly dinners with roommates (sweet potatoes are a major theme for these) and in her literature courses.

FAV PLAC E TO SHO P: Urban Outf itters

COLORFUL PERSONABLE REWARDING MENTORING DISTANCE FROM HOME

• She connects by adventure planning a spring break missions trip to Mexico with her friends and teaching art and cooking classes for urban youth in downtown Grand Rapids.

Why is community so important to Christian?

“I was so used to having spiritual mountain-top experiences in high school. In college, I’ve learned how the Lord works so much more in everyday, ordinary life.”

It’s through ordinary people in her everyday life at Calvin that God is pushing her to become a seriously real, seriously joy-filled person.

Christian and her roommates love to cook with sweet potatoes.

The ingredient shows up in more than a few weekly meals they share with the Calvin guys who live across the street from them in their off-campus home.

SWEET POTATO PANCAKES * 1 cup all-purpose flour * 1 cup whole wheat flour * 4 t baking powder * 2 T brown sugar * 1 t cinnamon * Pinch nutmeg * 2 cups milk or soy milk * 4 t melted butter or soy margarine, plus more for greasing the skillet * 2 whole eggs or egg replacer * 1 sweet potato, cooked until tender, peeled and pureed

HOMETOWN: Budapest, Hungary MAJOR: psychology CAREER GOAL: counselor for third-culture kids “I couldn’t have left home without my stuffed monkey.”

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix together and whisk until smooth. Cook batches in buttered skillet on medium high temperature until bubbles form on the surface.

Then turn over and cook until dark golden brown.

Jorie INVOLVEMENT PREPARED FOR LIFE COLLABORATION NEW EXPERIENCES GENUINE

JORIE’S LIST OF C A LV I N EXPERIENCES NOT TO MISS • Go on a wilderness trip for orientation (not your ordinary orientation experience!)

In high school, Jorie was not a fan of group projects.

Why?

TOP OF T HE NeedtobrePLAYLIST: “Somethin athe’s g Beautiful”

“I always ended up doing all the work!”

Things changed when she took (what else?) Group Communication for her business communications major at Calvin. Learning about why people act the way they do in groups helped her to get over her tendency to take on too much while letting others get away with slacking off.

This lesson became priceless as Jorie started working on “O-Board,” the high-energy group of juniors and seniors who plan Calvin’s awardwinning orientation experience. This group works at such a fast pace HOMETOWN: planning activities for incoming students that collaboration isn’t an Hinsdale, Ill. option—it’s the difference between success and failure.

“I learned to be willing to ask other people for help and how to delegate.”

Now as she’s getting ready to finish her Calvin education by doing an internship at World Vision in Chicago, Jorie feels ready to handle anything that comes her way. To her teamwork skills add a killer resume, solid networking experience and social media skills—all polished in courses like business communications senior seminar and business writing— and Jorie is ready to go after graduation in May.

MAJOR: business communications CAREER GOAL: event planner

“I couldn’t have left home without my best friend Jessica.”

• Hang out in downtown Grand Rapids during the annual ArtPrize competition.

• Study abroad for at least an interim—try for a full semester, or both!

• Participate in intramural sports, even if you’re not athletic—you don’t have to be athletic to play wiffleball and dodgeball!

• Get plugged in to a campus Bible study.

• Volunteer in the Grand Rapids community.

• Do at least two internships.

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PIECE ATRE E H T FAV ear King L

SarahJean HOMETOWN: Sioux Falls, S.D. MAJOR: theatre CAREER GOAL: to work in a theatre company that uses theatre to raise awareness about important issues

“We cannot live our own life without the lives of others.”

Spending a semester in Hungary hasn’t been easy for SarahJean, but it has been good.

Really good.

Calvin theatre professor, Michael Page

Of course she’s had the quintessential Budapest experiences that you shouldn’t miss if you go there—she’s spent hours walking the romantic bridges that stretch across the Danube, journaled in hole-in-the-wall cafes and enjoyed the luxurious Budapest baths more than once.

Still, there’s something else that has made SarahJean’s semester abroad really good.

Studying theatre, Eastern European history and the difficult Hungarian language, SarahJean has been challenged to go beyond herself.

“By leaving familiarity behind, I’ve broadened the struggles which dominated my mind—concerns for my individual future—to focus on the harsh historical past that heavily shapes the future of Eastern European nations.”

ACCEPTANCE THEATRE COMMUNITY DEEP RELATIONSHIPS FAITH DECISIONS

“I couldn’t have left home without my journal. ”

She’s traded blissful ignorance for the feeling that she’s more alive and aware of the world than ever before. Now she knows that God is calling her to use her passion, theatre, to raise awareness about suffering in the world.

Thoughout this adventure, SarahJean hasn’t been alone. Her Calvin professor, Michael Page (pictured above), and her tripmates, have explored Hungary—in all it’s beauty and struggle—together.

DON’T LEAVE HUNGARY WITHOUT: GOING TO THE BATHS pools fed by ancient thermal springs, like the beautiful Gellért Baths EATING PALACSINTA a crepe-like pancake filled with sweet or salty food. One is never enough!

GETTING LOST IN DOWNTOWN PEST the side of Budapest east of the Danube River SPEND A WEEKEND IN SLOVENIA a beautiful country with a view of the Alps and the Mediterranean

“I love teaching at Calvin because of the quality of the students, both academically and personally—they’re great people who have a big view of the world.”

Dr. Amy SURPRISE ENCOURAGE UNCOVER WONDER WALK ALONGSIDE Professor Amy is a curious person. Right now she’s trying to figure out whether there’s a connection between bacterial infections and fetal membrane ruptures in pregnant women.

She’s also researching how chemotherapy targets certain enzymes in the human body.

But what really fascinates her?

Questions without answers— and students who aren’t afraid to ask them.

“I am always encouraged by the things I learn from my students, the questions that they come up with and the things they’re thinking about that lie on the edges of the sciences—the problems that haven’t been solved yet.”

She speaks highly of such students—like Betsy Breuker, who was her research assistant and extraordinary problem solver for two years. Betsy is now a first-year med student at Michigan State University.

For Prof. Amy, Calvin is just the right place for her to do cutting-edge research and develop mentoring relationships with her students at the same time.

“That it’s small enough for us to develop those relationships and also have so many research opportunities and great facilities available is really unique for a college.”

With all she does as a teacher and scientist, Prof. Amy has to work hard to maintain balance in her life. With a full-time job, two small children and a husband, it’s not always easy. “I try to be honest with my students about what it looks like to be in science and have a family. Trying to strike the balance between being a wife and a mom and a scientist is a challenge and I’m still trying to find my way in that. But it can be done.” She keeps in mind the words of a colleague, Calvin English proessor Susan Felch: “Don't think about life as a balancing act—it's never going to be even. Think about life as a dance—some things will lead while others follow. They might even change position over time. You just have to adjust and flow.”

HOT CAREERS IN BIOLOGY • Epidemiology • Genetic Counseling • Scientific Communications • Bioethics • Forensic Science • Computational Biology

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PhD in biochemistr from Vanderbilt

When Brooke was 18, poised to enter college for the first time, her life as it is now was truly unimagined. She chose Calvin for it’s academic reputation, but like most incoming students, had no idea just where it might take her.

Over four years, she studied English-language literature, grammar, linguistics and writing.

After graduation, she spent five years speaking Spanish—first teaching in Central and South America, and then studying pattern making at a fashion institute in Barcelona.

English major to fashion professional—how does that even happen?

To Brooke, it makes complete sense given the kind of education she received at Calvin, one she describes as “eclectic.” She may have studied English, but through those classes—and classes in other areas—she discovered her passion for language, global cultures and apparel arts.

Brooke ’04 FULL-BODIED ECLECTIC ARTS DEDICATED FACULTY DEPTH DESIRABLY CHALLENGING

YEAR OF GRADUATION: 2004 MAJOR AT CALVIN: English CAREER: pattern maker in New York City

IN:

FAV L Maya ECTUR Ange E AT C lou ALV

Brooke describes herself as a “continual student” of Castellano, a dialect of Spanish spoken in Spain.

Now that Brooke’s found her way into fashion in the big city, she misses what happened in her classes at Calvin.

“Calvin’s classrooms are intimate, relationally-engaged and always delightfully challenging!”

Moves to New York Moves to Barcelona to Teaches English to City to pursue career enroll at FD Moda immigrants in migrant in pattern making camps, learns how to sew and make patterns Interns with two Gets married, moves to Travels through European fashion Ecuador to teach English, Central America designers learns Spanish

“Professors were a sounding board for what my friends and I were unearthing about the arts, philosophy and religion.”

English major, Calvin College

The Calvin classroom was a safe environment in which to think new thoughts, explore unimagined places and ultimately, form a lifelong approach to the world.

Michelle is an extraordinary woman, but she didn’t always know that. She came to Calvin to

become a medical technologist and now, over 30 years later, she is Calvin’s Dean of Multicultural Affairs.

How did she get to where she is today?

It’s quite simple: people.

• the sociology prof who inspired her to change her major, kept in touch with her during graduate school and brought her back to Calvin to teach • the fellow sociologist (formerly, her professor) who invited Michelle to co-author a book with him • the co-workers who cheered her on as she became a dean at Calvin Now she challenges her students to become extraordinary people.

“We’re asking you to think about what God is calling you to do instead of telling you what God is calling you to FA PLAC do. We wantVyou to Eask TOthe SHhard OP questions about who you are and what you can do and how you can make an impact in this world.”

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logy from Pu

PhD in socio

Dr. Michelle BOUNDARY-BREAKING FUN COMMUNITY CHALLENGING LONGEVITY TRANSFORMATIONAL

For each of these women, Calvin offered an extraordinary experience-much more than they ever imagined.

START SHAPING YOUR CALVIN EXPERIENCE TODAY. A life that’s unfolding. The world that awaits. The gifts that are yours to explore-and God’s to use. It’s all happening here, at Calvin.

WWW.C ALVIN.EDU/GO/IMAGINE

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Office of Admissions and Financial Aid 3201 Burton St. SE Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4388