The Anchor: February 2020

WHAT’S INSIDE?

Hope’s Insta-famous wellness queen

There are several medical eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia, but many people also suffer from the lesser defined “disordered eating.” The BC Children’s Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre loosely defines disordered eating as “a term used for unhealthy eating behaviours and worries about body image.” They go on to mention that “some of the most common types of disordered eating are dieting and restrictive eating.” Disordered eating covers many of the problems people experience in their relationship with food and their body that do not fit strictly into an eating disorder. Anorexia, one of several serious psychological eating disorders, is characterized by an extremely reduced appetite or a complete aversion to food. Robleski described her daily struggle with anorexia to me: “It is like trying to live your life with another person inside your brain. This person tells you lie after lie after lie, but you cannot stop listening no matter how hard you try. Recovering from an eating disorder is all about trying to silence these voices in your head. It’s about feeding truth into your mind to combat the lies that have lived there for so long....

When I was sick, I was a shell of a person. I had no joy, no energy, no social life. Over the past three years, I’ve fought every single day to win these things back from my disorder. I am slowly defeating my disorder, but it has taken far longer than I ever imagined to become fully healthy again. I still struggle every day. But I have far more good days than bad days now, which is something I could not have said a year and a half ago.”

Robleski’s struggle with anorexia began around the same time as her Instagram page: “If I am being honest, my food blog was originally created when I was in a very unhealthy place. I started my Instagram at the same time that I was beginning to develop my eating disorder. It began as a ‘healthy eating blog,’ which it still is, but my definition of health has changed significantly since then... This is why Julia’s Plate is so important to me; as I have grown and changed, it has too.” Her most recent rebranding took place in December 2019, a short two months ago.

Robleski said that “When I started it [my Instagram], I did not think it would turn into anything special, I just wanted a place to post all of the food pictures I was taking on my

phone. It has been so exciting to see how it has grown and expanded over the last few years. I love connecting with the people that follow it, and I love being able to share my message with a lot of people.”

While some influencers may be popular due to their looks or style, Robleski has found that “my food blog has by far been the most beneficial tool that I have had in my recovery. Through Instagram, I have made incredibly valuable relationships with other people who have had similar experiences. When I first started treatment for my eating disorder, I felt so alone, and it wasn’t until I discovered this online community of thousands of people who are all walking through the same journey that I started to feel less ashamed and afraid.”

Robleski wanted me to add that “If anyone who reads this is struggling, I am always willing to meet and talk and point them towards resources for help.” She can be contacted through her social media pages and at julia.robleski@hope. edu. Additionally, CAPS provides nutrition counseling with registered dietitian Lindsey Fickwho, who can be contacted at lfick@creativedining.

Megan Grimes

Julia Robleski

Alessia Mainardi describes the travelpacked gap year she took after her sophomore year of college.

Why is hockey only a club? Players talk about why the game matters to them and the future of the sport at Hope.

Professor Yelding explains the story behind Black History Month and why it matters for us not just as individuals but as a nation.

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Dear readers,

As you are undoubtedly aware, this past week boasted one of the most controversial holidays of the year. Valentine’s Day is well-timed and handy excuse to celebrate, to mope or to buck the establishment, because all the card companies want is your money #wakeupsheeple. As most things tend to, the holiday pushed us into a somewhat existential headspace. For the past week or so, we’ve been contemplating what it means to love and the value of singlehood in one’s twenties.

Ruth:

To love something, one must first know it, and much of my life has been marked by a relentless pursuit of knowing. It makes sense, then, that I am someone who loves easily and loves well. The objects of my

affections are numerous and range from the sound of my housemate’s Keurig hissing and sputtering to the lights in Centennial Park that bathe every passerby in a soft, silver sheen.

I was once counseled by a very wise individual to ensure that the objects of my love are worthy of so high a designation. To know where one’s love lies, he told me, we need only examine how our time is allocated. Worthwhile pursuits are an investment in good character, and our time should thus be honored accordingly. As I find myself at the newsroom table for nearly the tenth hour this week, I can think of no better way to spend my time and invest my love. This publication and my hard-working friends who pour into it are in equal parts easy to love and worthy of my time. I rightly love Claire, my partner in crime, who

even-handedly dispenses levity and common sense during times when both are in short supply.

We are all vessels, and each and every one of us has a capacity to do good and promote that which is right – truth, beauty, compassion. In the same way, we can choose to carry the antitheses of these virtues. Let the objects of your love be worthy, and weigh carefully the things to which you devote your time: they will determine what you are filled with and what is reflected in your character.

Claire:

I don’t know if this is just me, but it feels like the temptation to be bitter and a tendency toward pessimism is strong this time of year. Maybe it’s all the pictures of happy couples in this single girl’s social media feed, or maybe it’s just the sheet of gray clouds that hangs over all these long winter days, but I often feel like I’m fighting with February to hold on to happiness. It’s so much harder to keep my heart open than it is to let it harden into loneliness and cynicism. I have to remind myself these days more than ever that love isn’t limited to romance.

Luckily, I don’t have to look far to find evidence of the love that surrounds my life. I see it in the letters my great aunt from New Jersey sends me along with all the other college kids in her life, and the two dollars she tucks in them to buy a soda. I see it in the sweetness of

Letter from the Editors

the ice cream and conversation my friends and I shared on the evening of my birthday last week. I see it in the kindness of the woman who cleans our building when we chat as I wash my dishes, in the handwritten notes my RA taped to the doors of each of her residents, in the cookies Ruth brought to the office and in the way that spring is spreading northward and the tulip bulbs are waiting in the soil even though we can’t see it yet, even though we forget that winter will ever end.

Whether you’re full of appreciation for life and fulfilled in your relationships this February or you feel like you’re slogging through emotional as well as literal slush, remember this truth about living in the great state of Michigan: the seasons change. The snow that burdens the trees in the Pine Grove will drip onto the ground to feed the new growth of grass below. The icicles that bend the eaves of buildings will melt away. And maybe whatever’s weighing you down will lift— just a little—just enough to let you breathe in the spring air.

Love,

Ruth Holloway & Claire Buck Editors-in-ChiEf

In the middle of a long production evening, our workspace is covered with leftover pizza, homework assignments, half-edited articles and a sense of ambient stress as we wonder how long the printer will continue to work. We wouldn’t want it any other way.

Ruth Holloway (right) pictured with Hannah Ashby (’21) at Winter Fantasia 2020

Claire Buck (top right panel) pictured with friends at the Amway Grand, the venue for SAC’s annual Winter Fantasia

CAMPUS&BEYOND

How does Hope select Resident Assistants?

Caitlin Babcock

The Hope College Resident Assistants (RAs) hired for the 20202021 school year were announced at the end of January after a long application process beginning in November. For most students, the RA in the hall is the person who is supposed to be there for you. They welcome students at the beginning of the school year and their job is to cheer students on and support them as the year progresses. But how did these people get to be RAs? Whether you’re thinking about applying next year or simply curious about the process RAs go through, here are the particulars of the application process and how applicants are chosen.

Starting in November, students who are interested in applying to be an RA have the opportunity to attend several Q&A sessions. These sessions give information to students about what residential life is like from a panel of current cottage, apartment and residence hall RAs. Individual dorms also host meetings for those who are interested so that they can come and learn about what the process is like. Applications open in January and involve answering essay questions as well as submitting a resume. In the essay questions applicants describe why they want to become an RA and what skills they bring to the table. Before being interviewed, each applicant is sent a list of specific skills that the interviewers will be looking for, such as crisis management and teamwork skills. Applicants can then use this list to prepare for the interview and to understand what kinds of things they will be evaluated on. Furthermore, the Boerigter Career Center offers mock interviews to prepare anyone who might feel unprepared for that stage of the process.

Each RA applicant then goes through two interviews: a group interview and an individual interview. The group interviews focus on how applicants interacte with each other in an effort to analyze how they might act on an RA team. The applicants have to solve puzzles or build things as a group. For the individual interviews, the applicants meet with the Resident Directors and one or two

current RAs. During the individual interview, the RD asks questions about the list RAs have received, such as how they have dealt with a crisis in the past or supported someone who needed help. They might ask how a prospective RA would respond to different situations. After RAs are chosen, those who stand out but are not selected are put onto a waitlist in case others don’t accept the position.

How does the Selection Committee choose the people who become RAs from the pool of applicants? There’s really no one answer. According to Camryn Hawes (‘22), a current RA for Voorhees Hall (2019-2020), there’s not a specific type of person that the Selection Committee looks for. She felt like the most important thing for the Selection Committee was how a group of RAs would interact as a team. Hawes never felt like the selection was looking for a specific type of person or personality. She felt that they were open minded and able to appreciate both extroverted and introverted personalities and even angled for a team with different kinds of personalities on it. She said that she “felt very supported” by the Selection Committee all throughout the application process. They were encouraging and tried to let the candidates

know that they were appreciated even if they didn’t get the job.

The candidates who become RAs are assigned to a dorm, although they are given the chance first to request a dorm of their choice. Hawes appreciated the fact that she was also allowed to describe why she wanted the dorm she had requested. Sometimes if the interviewers like an applicant but don’t think that the applicant fits in with the team they have been building, they will communicate with other dorms who might have more of a need for that student within their team. This is part of the reason RAs don’t always end up in the dorms they request.

In Hawes’ dorm about half the RAs had lived there before, and the rest had transferred from different dorms. She said she appreciated the diversity, saying that it was nice to have a balance of people familiar with the dorm and others who brought fresh ideas. Aside from building a team diverse in personalities and in dorm experiences, the Selection Committee tries to avoid having two or more people on the team who are already in a close relationship, especially people who are dating. Hawes assumes the reason for this is that a breakup or a fight between two friends could affect how the RA team interacts overall. It is nice to know that Residential Life

thinks about these things and is looking out for residents in this way. Some disappointment arose this year due to the fact that only about a third of the people who applied ended up receiving an RA position. This was because of the unusually large application pool and the limited number of positions to be filled. One drawback of the RA process at Hope is that there are simply less opportunities to find an RA position at a smaller college. However, Hope’s RA process is very transparent compared to several other schools. At some colleges, it can be confusing as an applicant to know what the Selection Committee is looking for. An editorial for the newspaper at the University of Michigan by Jillian Berman and Amy Munslow expressed frustration at the fact that RAs didn’t find out whether they got the job until well after housing applications were due, creating uncertainty for candidates who might not have a place to live if they didn’t get the job. At Hope, those selecting RAs make an effort to be as open and helpful as possible about the process. Additionally, they do a good job of acknowledging the needs of the applicants and making sure everyone feels supported. If you are interested in a position, do not hesitate to reach to Residential Life next November.

Voorhees Hall (pictured) is among the oldest buildings on campus and one of eleven residence halls Hope Res Life

In with the new: Campus Ministry’s new home

Chloe Bartz

The building itself is not what makes a house a home, but instead, it is the people within the walls of the house: the living, beating hearts that make it a safe and welcoming space in which to reside. It is this concept that eased the minds of many when the new Campus Ministries building was erected on the south end of campus, and the chaplains relocated their offices from Keppel House to the Van Andel building. This shift marked a new storyline in the history of Keppel House and Hope’s evolution of Christian identity.

Keppel House marked a shift in the history of Hope’s religious activity. It gave students and chaplains alike a place to turn conversations into conversions and speeches into service for the betterment of the individual believer and the overall Christian community in Holland. Long gone are the days of just fifteen to twenty people taking up residence in a single row during a chapel service. No longer is Chapel predictable and unwelcoming to a generation of Christians used to breaking the traditional barriers. Rather, students eagerly rush from class to chapel, praying their professors let them out early enough to find a seat. Uplifting and enthusiastic music notes float across campus, infusing everyone with a little bit more joy.

Keppel House gave Campus Ministries a place to foster spiritual growth on Hope’s campus. The

Dean of Chapel Trygve Johnson explained how the new building was conceptualized, saying, “when the Bultman center was designed in 2013-2014, it used to be that the music center was in the center of campus, but was torn down after the Jack Miller building was erected. I realized that when the student center came online in 2017, the center of gravity was going to shift, and students were going to be pulled away from the outskirts of campus, which is where Keppel House is located.” To stay central to campus, Campus Ministries would

aslo probably need to relocate eventually. Johnson began speaking to individuals and eventually maneuvered the relocation of Three House, a building that previously sat right where the new Campus Ministries House sits today. Three House was physically picked up and moved down the street, but the Delphi sorority house that also sat in the way of the new building was old and unsalvageable, so it was torn down, and the sorority relocated to a more modern cottage. The accessibility, need for space, and lack of creative options to accommodate all students were the three primary reasons for the construction of the Van Andel house.

A few of the features Johnson wanted to ensure the New Campus Ministries House possessed wer a study space, a library with “only good books that contain the best sentences” and a front porch. By adding open space, vibrant colors and light it was the hope of the chaplains that students would utilize the area in a way that the size limitations of Keppel House never allowed. Johnson himself noted, “that while college is a time of furrowed brow and serious studies, every student needs to find a place with color, pop, and a deep aesthetic to be able to relax.” The Van Andel Campus Ministries building was created to fulfill that purpose. While Campus Ministries only moved a few

Campus Ministries

Lakewood Construction

hundred yards, the centralization of the new building allows the Campus Ministries to assume a position not only physically in the middle of campus, but also psychologically, serving as a reminder to students about the Christian values Hope as an institution maintains. While the raising of the funds for the new building took a little over two and a half years, the end product was well worth all of the time and effort. Johnson stated, “I feel like I have a new job just based on the way the students interact with the new space. I feel more connected, and I get to see the chapel, which is always a plus.” The mission of Hope College is primarily to educate, but it is also to grow the spiritual body of an individual.

At the moment, the fate of Keppel House remains undecided; however, there is no question on whether or not the student body has embraced the new Campus Ministries building. By creating a warm, welcoming environment, complete with an open front porch and free coffee, there is no denying it is a space for everyone. Johnson stated, “I encourage all students to stop in. They do not need to have an appointment with a chaplain or be affiliated with chapel to come and visit; we created study spaces and a library filled with great books for the sole purpose of having students be interactive with us and the building.”

CAMPUS&BEYOND

Rivals reunite at Re-Entry Conference

Emma DesLauriers-Knop

Aside from learning how to do laundry or use an ID to get into a building, there is one thing that all new students at Hope College learn almost immediately after they arrive on campus: there is a massive rivalry between Hope and Calvin University. The rift goes back as long as most can remember. While predominantly manifesting in a highly anticipated annual basketball game, the tensions are there in almost every sport. Yet, on Saturday, amidst the swirling wintery weather, students from both Hope and Calvin assembled together to discuss something more important than a rivalry. They wanted to discuss something they all have in common: how their lives were changed by studying abroad.

While only in its second year, the Off-Campus Study Re-entry Conference, co-sponsored by both Calvin University and Hope College, boasts an impressive cast of presenters from an array of fields, all pertaining to the realm of global engagement.

The day started with the keynote address entitled “A ______ experience, now what?!” presented by Laura Nilsen Osborne of Western Michigan University. Osborne started her discussion with a story about when she first went abroad to the United Kingdom as a student. At the last minute, the professor who was supposed to be leading her and two other students in their experience abroad dropped out. This left Osborne and her classmates to scramble to find faculty approval, a task in which they eventually succeeded. With their approval forms signed, the three arrived in the United Kingdom, unaccompanied save for a list of names and phone numbers to get them to their destination. Osborne paused to mention that this was at a time when iPhones and Android devices had not yet been in circulation, so she and her classmates were truly traveling blind. Eventually, they arrived at their destination in Edinburgh, Scotland, and had the most incredible time immersing themselves into the local community.

Osborne, and the countless others who have spent any time off-campus, can express just how different one’s expectations versus actual experience abroad really is. There is so much that can happen that is not expected and

an infinite number of ways in which plans will divert from their prescribed path, but Osborne says that’s okay. “I was taught so much from people I never expected,” she explains. People in pubs, in the markets, classmates, kind strangers on the street, everyone is a teacher. Heads nodded vigorously in confirmation. Then, Osborne transitioned to the heart of her address: “take it forward.” How will those who have studied abroad use their experience and the knowledge they’ve gained and apply it in a way that is meaningful? That is the aim of this conference: to teach students how to develop the skills they learned abroad and hone them into a craft that they can apply to their future.

The rest of the day entailed three different workshop sessions aimed at different aspects of reflection and the application of studying abroad. The first, “Unpacking Your Study Abroad Experience,” was a presentation by Hope’s Kristen Gray, Director and Associate Dean of Counseling and Psychological Services. Her concern was primarily about the transition back to college after living abroad. “Even good change is stressful,” she explained. While it is great to be back on campus and reunite with old friends, it’s different and that is stressful. Dr. Gray also said, “campuses feel different because we have changed!” Some students report that they feel strange being back at college after having lived a completely different life abroad, but Dr. Gray affirmed that feeling and told attendees of the conference that it stems from the creation of your new self, developed and molded by the new experiences you had while you were away.

Dr. Gray also expressed that not everything about being abroad is

good. Often people have a tendency of putting other places in the world on a pedestal, yet they neglect to acknowledge that there is not a single place in the world that is immune to negative aspects of society and injustice. “It’s important that we also learn from the shadow side of where we’ve been,” Dr. Gray stated, pointing out that it is necessary to learn from both the good and bad aspects of the societies in which attendees studied.

After the first two sessions, attendees headed off to lunch in Maas Auditorium where students and faculty from both Hope and Calvin

mixed and mingled over what would turn out to be an intense game of trivia. (Turns out, if you put all of the faculty and presenters at one table, they will sweep the floor with the competition. Who could’ve guessed?) But all jokes aside, what had started as two distinct groups of students soon became one where both Hope and Calvin students were sitting with each other, learning from everyone’s experience abroad and teaching the others about their host nation. As the day passed and everyone progressed to the next two sessions, “Telling Your Story” and “What’s Next?,” the group became ever more mixed with students from both schools connecting over their study abroad.

When it came time for the event to come to a close and newfound friends to say goodbye, phone numbers and Facebook profiles were exchanged. What started as a conference to think about life after study abraod and the world beyond Hope College and Calvin University ended on a hopeful note as students of rival institutions came together to bond over a shared love of life abroad.

Emma DesLauriers-Knop

Hope College Center for Global Engagement

Iran’s underground Jesus movement perseveres

The fastest-growing church in the world isn’t a suburban megachurch. It doesn’t have a trendy Instagram or a famous pastor. Instead, it’s underground, it’s mainly led by women, and it’s in Iran. A documentary film, “Sheep Among Wolves,” reveals how the hidden roots of Jesus’ followers are exploding in the centuries-old, culturally Muslim country. In the film, an Iranian man says, “What if I told you that the mosques are empty inside of Iran? Iran is known as one of the most radical nations in the world exporting terrorism and exporting radical Islam, but when you go inside of the country, the mosques are empty. Would you believe me? This is exactly what is happening inside of Iran. God is moving powerfully inside of Iran.”

In exploring the dynamics of this unexpected movement, Sheep Among Wolves presents a challenge to American Christians: “Are you making disciples like Jesus did?”

This Iranian church looks quite different than a church like Pillar, Engedi or St. Francis. Perhaps most notably, the Iranian church movement has no dedicated church buildings. An Iranian woman says, “There are not people going into church buildings in Iran. [The government] is destroying all the church buildings. If there is a church, it’s all underground.” Instead

of gathering in a dedicated church building, groups of normally 10 to 50 people meet in homes, worshipping and praying together. They have no denomination affiliations and no governmental recognition. But they are expanding rapidly.

How is this happening? Leaders of the movement discuss a method called the “Disciple Making Model” (DMM). The goal isn’t just to have “converts” to Christianity—whom the film describes as people who just say they believe in God— but “disciples” who follow the teachings of Jesus in everything they do. An unnamed Iranian woman in the film shares, “Everyday I ask the Lord what part of my testimony I should share with the person sitting in front of me.” She describes telling a neighbor about abuse in her own life and how learning about a kind male figure, Jesus, had changed her life. The neighbor wanted to know Jesus. Sheep Among Wolves describes the community-based next steps for the neighbor: “If we

look at Christ, he started discipling people immediately after He called them. So, just as the Lord discipled people from the first interaction, we disciple people from their first interaction with God. They learn how to thank God, how to pray to God, how to minister to each other, and how to read the Bible.” In addition to learning about Christianity, new members are taught how to share their faith with friends, family, and even strangers. They join an existing house church or are aided in gathering people to read the Bible and worship together in their own homes.

The film addresses the real struggles and sacrifices of these Iranian people. In the country Christianity is illegal— both to practice and to share. It’s illegal to own a Bible. Reality for Iranian Christians means that they put their lives and bodies on the line every day for Jesus’ name. Instead of facing discouragement, the film describes an abundance of joy and life, despite these hardships. In the face of this true persecution, the Iranian church movement lives into Bible verses like 2 Corinthians 12:10, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

“Sheep Among Wolves” also addresses negative stereotypes of Iran. One documentary leader states, “When I ask most Westerners, ‘What do you picture when I say Iranians?’, the vast majority say, ‘I see all these angry Muslims shaking their fists and shouting ‘Death to America’, ‘Death to Israel.’ But the reality is— in the country—it’s nothing like that.” The loving nature of the Iranian people is highlighted through Sheep Among Wolves.”

Another notable aspect of the church in Iran is its leadership. The churches are mainly led by women. And the most predominant age group? 15 to 30-year-olds. While this role of women is still debated in Western churches, it is even more controversial in the culturallyMuslim country of Iran. But this church movement freely elevates women to leadership positions. One of the leaders says, “Jesus can use anyone, anyplace at any time. And He’s not afraid of the mess.” As they describe their church, they give brief biographies of the members. There is Fatma: a former atheist and failed suicidist who now oversees hundreds of churches. There is Shirin: a former Shia extremist and now church multiplier and disciplemaking coach. Describing their community, they say, “Everyone in this room, just several years ago— despite what they are doing now— was either addicted to drugs, suicidal, or in prostitution.”

More Iranians have come to faith in Jesus in the last 20 years than the 1,300 years since Islam swept through Persia-combined. Some organizations estimate that there could be as many as 800,000 to 1 million believers in the country. As “Sheep Among Wolves” highlights this previously untold story, it communicates the message: Jesus moves powerfully, using unexpected people and places, without needing church buildings or official ties. “I think we in the West need to learn from the church in Iran,” “Sheep Among Wolves” members advocate.

The documentary can be found for free on Youtube under the name, “Sheep Among Wolves Volume II (Official Feature Film).”

Kate Chupp

Sheep Among Wolves Film

Unsplash

Yes, we do need Black History Month

Professor John Yelding Guest Writer

Oh, the great dilemma of Black History Month! I know there is a Hispanic Heritage Month and an Asian American Heritage Month, but when is White History Month? That is often the response of too many Americans to the question of why our nation (and several others) celebrate Black History Month. Some respond in that manner because of a lack of understanding of history, while others do so because of fear and hate of the “other” in their lives. Among Black Americans there is debate about whether we should be celebrating Black History Month or African American History Month. For many of us, the answer to that question is driven by an understanding of the generation into which we were born or the context in which the terms are being used. Yes, there are multiple kinds of controversy surrounding Black History Month in the United States, but it is difficult to imagine a rational debate about whether such a celebration is historically justified or is still needed. For those who know little or nothing of the origins of Black History Month, I feel compelled to offer a brief overview of its evolution. The official celebration of Black History Month was initiated by Dr. Carter Woodson, a renowned historian who, along with others, discovered that in the century following the Civil War the most commonly used textbook in teaching history in American schools all but completely ignored the contributions of Black Americans, with only two even being so much as mentioned. In 1926, Dr. Carter initiated a celebration of Black History Week. The month of February was chosen because it included the birthdays of Dr. Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln. During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, colleges and universities began to place greater emphasis on Black history, with many of them creating majors and minors focusing on Black Studies. In 1976, Black History Week was officially expanded to Black History Month.

What does Black History Month mean to me? First, it is important to understand that I am a product of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. While in college,

I marched and peacefully protested. In early adulthood, I helped form an organization to demand equal rights for Black Americans in my own community. I witnessed on live television George Wallace block the admission of Vivian Malone and James Hood to the University of Alabama. I witnessed on live television Orville Faubus block the integration of public schools in Arkansas. I witnessed on live television police dogs and firehoses being used to attack Black American citizens marching and protesting as they sought to attain even the most basic of human rights in a country that, from its beginning, has professed freedom and equality to be the hallmarks of its establishment. As a child, I experienced just half an hour from Holland, Michigan, my grandmother (who was raised in Alabama) pushing me off the sidewalk and stepping aside herself anytime a White person approached us. I have experienced denial of access to housing I could easily afford for no

reason other than the color of my skin.

I have spent my entire adult life as an educator and know first-hand the too often continued shortcomings of our school curriculums at all levels. I also know that, even as textbooks have improved, the training of our teachers to fully engage in the teaching of diverse history, literature, etc., often fails to keep pace with the improved resources now available. Even worse, in too many places teachers simply refuse to teach what they don’t like or personally believe. Sadly, that is still also too often true in college and university settings. Having established the historical context for my thinking, I will now share a few thoughts about why Black History Month is important and will likely remain so for a significant period into the future.

As Black Americans, there are few things more difficult than facing the reality that many people around us don’t even acknowledge that we exist. They walk by us daily without speaking or even making eye contact.

Believe me, we know when they are intentionally casting their eyes aside or feigning attention elsewhere to avoid any possible need for even the most casual form of direct contact. Does anyone think we don’t notice when we are sitting by ourselves in a classroom or meeting and people would rather stand or sit in an overcrowded area than come sit by us? Does anyone really believe we don’t notice when others cross the street to avoid passing us on the sidewalk, lock their car doors while sitting at an intersection we are walking across or speed up their pace when they realize we are walking behind them? These are daily occurrences for many Black Americans, offenses that are unwarranted and undeserved. They are LEARNED behaviors. They are classic examples of why we need a Black History Month. As Black Americans, we need it because we have a demoralizing lack of knowledge about our own people and their history. On the other hand, White Americans can never be expected to understand a culture they have been so carefully groomed to fear (and even hate) without organized and systematic plans for educating them. How can Whites learn to respect Black Americans when their contributions to our nation have been systematically ignored and even denied. There ARE many White Americans who would love to learn about Black History. I have seen that thirst for such knowledge right here on the campus of Hope College and in several areas in Holland.

Unfortunately, even in today’s world of technology and widespread use of social media, it is a serious challenge to feed that hunger for knowledge when we have legislators and other government leaders (including right here in Michigan) proposing that we revise school curriculums to eliminate information and discussion of unpleasant parts of our history, including slavery, segregation and the civil rights movement (not to mention things like the internment of Japanese citizens, the Trail of Tears and the limiting and denial of women’s rights, etc.). Yes, Black Americans, White Americans, Native Americans, Latinx Americans, Asian Americans – AMERICANS need Black History Month.

See YELDING, page 9

Hope College Directory

YELDING, from page 8

In closing, I want to make it clear that Black history, like White history, must be a part of the daily story of America that is told in our schools, our news, our media programming and in every aspect of American life. Black history IS American history. The same is true for Latino American, Asian American and Native American history, and for the history and stories of LGBTQ+, special needs, women and other Americans

whose stories remain largely untold. As we continue to record that history and tell those stories, we must be sure to honor the authentic voices that have for too long been ignored and denied in traditional telling of American history. We need far more “other” voices telling the stories of their own histories, and we must learn to genuinely respect and fully value the oral history that has often been the only way of recording the

stories of those denied education and equal opportunity in our society. We can do better. We MUST do better. When we do, we will open the door to a future in which all races, ethnicities, religions, cultures and subcultures have the gifts they bring to, and share in, our nation fully welcomed and valued. I pray that each one of us will accept responsibility for doing what we can to make that day a reality. Celebrate Black History Month.

Celebrate ALL of American history. Help us learn from our mistakes and build upon our successes. Please, do SOMETHING to make a positive difference in bringing our deeply divided society together so we can, sooner rather than later, reach the full potential of our beloved nation.

Professor Yelding has been a faculty member at Hope College since 1994. He also worked for 25 years in public education and administration.

Celebrating champions of black history

Emily Voss

As January came to a close and we entered the first Black History Month of the new decade, it felt right to give tribute to some of the greatest leaders in the fight for equal rights. To celebrate the month that recognizes what has been such a long and necessary fight in our nation, listed below is a tribute to some of the brave individuals who advanced the cause of equality. Some are well known, while others have been hidden in the shadows for decades. In 1926, Carter G. Woodson established Black History Week, which is now Black History Month. Carter was a historian that took on the mission of enlightening the world around him by featuring black leaders in American communities. His dream of countering stereotypes manifested in what is now Black History Month. To continue his legacy, we must not reduce leaders within the African American community to the sum of their achievements, inventions or victories, but choose to celebrate the entirety of their lives and work.

Langston Hughes

Hughes was an American writer known for his poems, columns, novels and plays. He was a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Hughes first began to write poetry in his childhood when he was facing instability and hardship in his home life. His in-school writing served as an outlet for those emotions associated with a lack of security. He began writing and was published after graduating high school in 1921. He then attended university for one year before leaving to travel. “The Weary Blues” published by Knopf in 1926 was Hughes’ first official book of poetry. Hughes’ commitment to black themes and heritage was a hallmark of his work.

After graduating from Lincoln University in 1929, Hughes continued to publish, which convinced him to go all-in on his writing career. Hughes was a significant and courageous face in the civil rights movement as he brought to light the fight for black lives in his works.

ing to National Geographic’s article “Black Inventors: A Broader View,” the women were both born to formerly enslaved parents. Nicknamed the “Mothers of Inventions,” both began their careers in St. Louis, where their target consumers were underserved.

Malone began experimenting with hair products in her thirties. Using her skills in chemistry, she invented a hair product that was gentler than others used in the black community. Her sales soared, and her products were highly desired. She opened a school for black cosmetology and sold her products internationally.

Walker first got a job selling Malone’s products. She later invented her own product and became a market competitor to Malone’s sales. Walker was known to be the wealthiest African American woman in St. Louis in the year 1917 and still maintains her reputation for being the first black woman millionaire in the U.S. Both Walker and Malone hold legacies of supporting racial equality, women’s advocacy and black colleges and universities.

Hamilton just left me out by mistake,” she said. “But through the process of amendment, interpretation and court decision I have finally been included in ‘We, the people.”

Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States and the first African American to serve in the office. Obama was first elected in 2008 and won a second term in 2012. The son of parents from Kenya and Kansas, he was born and raised in Hawaii and graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School.

Before he made history as the first African American to ever take the presidential seat, he served as a State Senator for Illinois.

Madam C.J. Walker and Annie Turnbo Malone

Both Walker and Malone were American innovators in science and business in the early 1900s. Accord-

Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan was an American educator, politician and lawyer who was influential in the Civil Rights Movement in the mid-to-late 1900s. She was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction as well as the first African American woman elected to the United States House of Representatives. Jordan was well known for her speech during the impeachment trials of Richard Nixon in the 1970s and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the 1990s. One powerful statement from Jordan was in defense of her birthright citizenship: “I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander

Mae C. Jemison

Mae C. Jemison is an American astronaut and physician. In 1987 she became the first African American woman to be admitted into NASA’s astronaut training program, and in 1992 she flew with a team of six others, making herself the first African American woman in space. After her NASA career, Jemison continued to advocate for advancement and education in science and technology.

The list goes on and on and is just a small portion of the great success and influence of many African American heroes. As we open the chapter of February, be mindful to spend time honoring these beloved lives who have paved the way through history.

Barack Obama

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

‘Doubt: A Parable’ highlights value in questioning

Nicholas Church School in the play.

The play Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley aimed to leave audiences with mixed feelings as they walked out of the room. The play is set in 1964 at St. Nicholas Church School and centers on an accusation by one of the nuns teaching there that the head priest, Father Flynn, has been involved in sexual relations with a young boy who is the school’s first African American student. Throughout the play, the audience may side with one or another of the characters in the debate over whether the accusation is true, but is forced to keep doubting each of them. At the end it is inconclusive whether the misconduct actually occurred. Along the way, though, the audience gains an insight into human character and questions of ethics. The play’s director, Richard Perez, describes that, “While it has no easy conclusions, the play asks important questions about human nature and our desire to have definitive answers.” He adds that, “During the play we may make alliances with one character or another, but we never know for sure if we are correct in doing so.” Students will be performing Doubt again on February 20, 21, and 22, at 7:30 p.m.

The reason the word ‘parable’ is in the title is because it’s based on playwright John Patrick Shanley’s church experience. Raised as an Irish Catholic, he attended church every Sunday where his pastor

would give a sermon based on a Bible story and ended by explaining to the congregation what the story meant. Shanley loved the stories, but didn’t always agree with his pastor’s singular interpretations of the stories. He always had a desire to contribute his “two-cents” to the conversation. Speaking on “Doubt,” he says, “...what interests me is to tell a story and leave it to the audience to say, ‘Well, this is what it means to me.’” “Doubt” won four Tony awards when it first came out in 2005, including the award for Best Play. Shanley describes his play as, “an open door; it’s a dynamic process.”

The play takes on themes of racial segregation with a black student, who attends a majority-white private school at the heart of a scandal that affects his well-being. Although the Brown v. Board ruling, in which segregated public schools were proclaimed unconstitutional, was delivered in 1954, it wasn’t until 1976 in Runyon v. Crary that the Supreme Court declared that it was also unconstitutional for private schools to deny admission to students on the basis of race. Thus the play, which is set in 1964, highlights some of these issues with racism and segregation that were still going on well after Brown v. Board. Overcrowding and low standards of education in public schools in large cities often put students there at a disadvantage compared to those attending private schools, such as the fictional St.

One particularly striking scene occurs when Sister Aloysius, the nun responsible for the allegations, meets with Mrs. Muller, the mother of the African American student. Sister Aloysius expects Mrs. Muller to side with her and is surprised by Mrs. Muller’s insistence on her son finishing his education at whatever cost. Mrs. Muller knows that her son will face challenges throughout his life because of his race, and her biggest priority is getting him an education knowing that it will be key to his future success and way out of poverty. Because of the disadvantages their family faces, she sees the need for her son to finish school despite the challenges. She also recognizes that the weight of a sexual scandal would fall on her son, who would likely be blamed and criminalized. Tia Hockenhull (‘23), who plays Mrs. Muller, describes the character as, “very… tough-loving; she’ll do whatever she needs to do for her son to get the best education.”

When Sister Aloysius accuses Mrs. Muller of being a terrible mother for willing to leave her son in the school even with a potentially damaging relationship, Mrs. Muller responds, “You’re just finding out about it, but that’s the way it is and

the way it’s been, Sister. You’re not going against no man in a robe and win,” and in direct response to the accusation against her mothering skills, “You don’t know enough about life to say a thing like that.”

Mrs. Muller is actually an excellent mother who is doing the best for her son with the resources she has been given. The scene reveals the other characters’ ignorance of the emotional challenges that an African American mother faced in the 1960s.

When speaking about the cast of student actors, Perez says that, “Good actors are willing to take chances emotionally, physically and intellectually, and this cast was no exception.” The play posed some unique challenges for the actors. Two of them had to learn dialects, and one played a character much older than herself (Sister Aloysius is supposed to be about 50 or 60). In addition, Perez says that, “each character goes through an emotional rollercoaster that has pushed the cast to very vulnerable places.” When asked why Hope students should come see the play, Perez responds, “Because [it] is funny, thought provoking and reminds us that we are all on a spiritual journey and sometimes it is okay to have doubts along the way.”

Ben Douma

Ben Douma

Maxwell Lam (‘20) as Father Flynn

Rachael Fornoratto (‘20) as Sister James

Murder on the Royal Canal: A daughter’s grief

Zachary Dankert

11th of November, 1866

Detective Wright and I visited the Griffiths estate the day following the murder and visited privately with Claire Griffiths. The poor girl, still in quite a sorry state, controlled herself well and helped as much as she could. She and her late father had maintained a strong relationship, at times perhaps too strong. Claire had developed a sympathetic heart for the poor and working classes of Ireland, and thus parried words often with Lord Griffith in terms of what he should and shouldn’t do in regard to his business endeavors. She especially had qualms about his current venture, which would entail demolishing a section of Northern Dublin which housed various soup kitchens and shelters for the poor.

Claire had been down in Rathmines the evening of the murders. At first, she was reluctant to provide a witness to her activities. However, Wright gently, yet firmly, pressed her until she yielded. At once, her unwillingness made sense; she had been in the company of Peter Lawrence, her- at one timeintended. With the respect I have towards Lady Claire, I dislike the

idea of irritating still-fresh wounds, however, Ambrose insists I record anything of (possible) value, so here is the story:

The tension between Gerald and Claire had primarily began with when she first was courting Lawrence, a recent Trinity College graduate. It was whispered that the young man’s father had not only been a member of the Irish Confederation but had also taken part in the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848. It was also whispered that Lawrence held his father’s insubordinate beliefs. At first few believed Claire had chosen him for love; it was obviously only to anger her father, who had been one of the British sympathizers against the Young Irelander movement! It had been quite cold between father and daughter for a time, and it was most likely for the best. Lawrence was disgracefully removed from his position in Dublin’s muslin operations, and Lady Griffiths was forced to save face and reject him altogether. Perhaps the rejection hadn’t been as altogether as we were led to believe.

We arrived at the house of Peter Lawrence later that day. Instead his mother answered, explaining

that he wasn’t home but would be back in a week’s time; he had left for a supposed business venture. His mother informed us that, of the night in question, Peter had in fact told her he had plans to spend the evening in Rathmines with a girl and that was all she knew. We sent word that he return as soon as possible.

Nothing of much interest occurred until the 10th, when Ambrose and I went to talk with Michael Kennedy, Daniel Wallace’s business partner. The two of them had both been up in arms over Griffith’s plans to disenfranchise those living in Georgian North Dublin, who already have enough suffering on their plate. Daniel Wallace, in support of the working communities, had remained in Northern Dublin even when the upper-class had migrated south.

When asked about the beggarwoman Isabell Byrne, Mr. Kennedy responded that, yes, in fact, he had seen her before. He and Wallace had often supported a North Dublin soup kitchen. Kennedy said Ms. Griffiths, who offered her time there, would often converse with Wallace with Byrne

occasionally by her side.

Kennedy also confided that Wallace had been in an odd way the days before his death, deciding to spend much of his time in solitude and rejecting most social events. To be honest, Kennedy hadn’t seen him very much before his death, even though they had both been busy working in opposition against Griffiths. Kennedy recalls walking in on an apparently tense meeting Wallace was having with an unknown young man, about a week before the murder. Wallace had immediately ordered the man out and had rebuffed all of Kennedy’s questions.

I must say, I am not a large fan of the detective Ambrose Wright. I can never tell what he is thinking, and it is like there is a storm brewing constantly in his mind. I can’t help but feel in awe of the man, despite my feelings. One can dislike Ambrose Wright, but one can’t stop from holding him in the highest regard. I sincerely hope he unscrambles the mystery of this case, as I feel quite truly in the dark.

The Academy needs to strive toward diversity

Katy Smith

At the 92nd Oscars on February 9th, many spent their night celebrating the groundbreaking and record-breaking winners. South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho walked away with four Oscars for his film, “Parasite.” This makes it the first film in a language other than English to win Best Picture and Joon-Ho the first South Korean to win Best Director. Taika Waititi wins Best Adapted Screenplay for his film “Jojo Rabbit,” making him the first Indigenous person to be nominated in this category, as well as the first Indigenous director to win. Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver won Best Animated Short for their “Hair Love,” a picture that pushes for the normalization of natural black hair.

Celebrating these wins is necessary. However, once again the Oscars poked fun at the lack of diversity rather than showing

any actual improvement. Steve Martin and Chris Rock opened the ceremony with many jokes such as Rock’s line, “Cynthia [Erivo] did such a great job in ‘Harriet’ hiding black people, that The Academy got her to hide all the black nominees.”

Recently, every year presenters write material that calls attention to The Academy’s incessant diversity issue. Year after year talented artists of color, LGBT+ artists and women artists get “snubbed,” and it seems all that comes from it is more reason to make “woke” jokes. While comedy is often America’s way of calling attention to a problem, this is a real issue. A real issue that has been overlooked and perpetrated since the first Oscar awards ceremony. The reputation and status that The Academy holds over Western popular culture affects what kind of media the public is consuming and judging

(whether positively or negatively so), regardless of whether they want to believe it or not. This means, if The Academy is only congratulating film and art made by white artists, that is what the mainstream public will enjoy, promote and discuss.

The Academy should start reform by widening their scope and dismantling their seemingly deep-seated racist, homophobic, xenophobic and misogynistic tendencies. “Parasite” is a historymaking example of what looking beyond the mainstream West can do. Bong Joon-Ho wrote and directed a completely original work entirely in his native Korean language and won four Oscars, tying the recird of Walt Disney himself. Going forward, the Academy should keep in mind the warm reception of parasite by the public and film critic alike, and strive continually to recognize cinematic excellence

in non-Western countries.

Even though mainstream award shows can and do affect the public’s outlook, we all have the power to change what is and is not considered part of our popular culture. If we prioritize diversity in the media we consume, we can change the direction of the corporate eye.

So, Academy: you have a lot of work to do. This year’s wins feel like too little too late. There is more that can be done than allowing hosts and presenters to poke fun at the mistakes you have made. There are millions of artists working to put out new, inventive work everyday. Whether we like it or not, you are affecting what work gets popularized and discussed on a very broad scale. You are contributing to the narrative that only white people can do well in and outside of the arts. This is simply unacceptable. Work harder. Do better.

Alessia Mainardi’s mid-college gap-year travels

Alessia Mainardi (’21), an international student from Bologna, Italy, came to Hope College with the class of 2020 but chose to leave school after her sophomore year to pursue personal growth through travel. Many students choose to take gap years but often do so between schools—like between high school and college, or between undergraduate studies and graduate school—but Mainardi’s story shows how transformational a gap year can be at any time in your schooling. “In my 16-month gap year, I traveled to 14 different countries and took 46 flights,” she shared.

Currently a junior studying business with a marketing concentration, Mainardi is also a member of the Delta Phi sorority but says that her “biggest passion is definitely traveling.” Before leaving Hope for a year, Mainardi said she was “a nursing major, but was always very confused and indecisive about my major and future career because I was never passionate about something to the point that I knew I would’ve liked doing it for the rest of my life. Towards the end of my sophomore year, I decided to take a step back and take a gap year. As soon as finals were over in May 2018 I left for Australia and started to work as an au pair for a lovely family of five in Sydney.”

An au pair, as described by aupairworld.com, is “an unmarried young adult ages 18 to 30 years, who has no children and travels to a foreign country for a defined period of time to live with a host family. The au pair supports the host family with childcare and light housework.” In return, the au pair has a place to stay for the purpose of cultural exchange. “I found my host family on a facebook page called Aupair Australia,” Mainardi told me. “It is very common for people to seek a job this way because it is more intuitive than aupairworld. com and other websites. There are multiple Facebook pages, and they all have over 30k members posting everyday for job opportunities.”

During her eight month stay in Australia with her host family, Mainardi “went on a couple vacations with the family. We went to Withsuday islands and Byron Bay/Gold Coast. My host family was truly amazing and I enjoyed spending extra time with them on these occasions and

the trips were all paid for. The rest of my travels I did on my own or with family or friends,” she said, alluding to several of the other trips she took during her gap year. She also “was able to travel all around the east part of Australia. I also got the chance to go to Bali and other islands in Indonesia.”

After leaving Australia, Mainardi “went to New York City for a few days and then went back home to Italy for Christmas.” In the next two months, Mainardi packed in lots of traveling before returning to the U.S. for an internship. “In January and February of 2019 I traveled to many countries all around Europe including Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and many more,” she said. “In March 2019, I was offered an internship at MB America in Miami, Florida. MB America is a private wealth management company, and I worked as their marketing and sales intern. This experience helped me realize the passion I had for marketing and sales, and after just three months I knew that was what I wanted to do in life.” The experience of working as a marketing intern during her gap year is what inspired her change from a nursing major to business: “An aspect I love about the business major is the variety of jobs you can get and the endless options you have,” Mainardi said.

Her internship ended in June of 2019, but her passion for travel remained: “I flew to San Francisco and then took a road trip where my cousin and I drove all along the coast of California from the north to the south. After that, I flew back to Italy for about two weeks. I then decided to go backpacking solo in Asia for six weeks and visited China, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.” Naturally, my next question was about the safety of traveling alone in a foreign country. “There was not a single moment where I felt unsafe in SouthEast Asia [SEA]. SEA is one of the safest places for solo-traveler women and I would highly recommend it,” Mainardi shared. “Solo traveling provides you with the ultimate freedom that you can’t have if you’re traveling with someone. You can create your schedule and follow it without making compromises with other people. You’re your boss during the trip, and you can do whatever you want.”

“One of the biggest challenges when traveling solo is most definitely the level of safety. I never felt unsafe during my solo travels; however, before going somewhere I would always do research, and I would never put myself into unsafe situations. Some places aren’t the safest in the world by default, so when you’re traveling alone, you should know how

to take extra care of yourself. Your luggage, belongings and even pockets are an easy target, and you can’t leave them unattended for a minute. If anything happens to your belongings or yourself you will additionally struggle to ask for help. Although you will be facing many challenges and obstacles along the way, these events will strengthen you as a person as you’ll constantly be outside your comfort zone. Eventually, you will also learn how materialistic possessions are not as valuable as advertising makes us believe. Solo traveling is definitely a learning experience that everyone should experience at least once in their lives.”

Mainardi listed several other considerations for when traveling solo: “another interesting benefit is meeting new and interesting people. It’s a real challenge to force yourself to meet new people each day, but that’s the life of a solo traveler. You need to have more interactions with people not to feel lonely or bored. I am a very extroverted and a people person so I had no problem meeting new people, and I was rarely on my own. Traveling solo improves your confidence and talking or networking skills. Additionally, you will become more comfortable with yourself. As you start to explore new locations, you genuinely want to see and

Megan Grimes

INDONESIA - Mainardi traveled to Bali, Indonesia, where she visited the famous “Gates of Heaven” (pictured left), and traveled to Penida Island, southeast of Bali, where the right picture was taken on Nusa Penida.

@alessia.mainardi

make connections with people. You will learn more about yourself too. You will have enough time to spend with yourself and observe things around you. That way, you will definitely learn more about people, places and cultures which will give you other perspectives on life. One of the most challenging things is to plan and organize everything by yourself, but believe me, it also can be a huge benefit. Having expertise in planning and being organized not only is a great and necessary skill for travelers but for regular lifestyle too. Traveling solo means you’re entirely on your own, so you need to think of yourself regarding everything.”

I also asked Mainardi about how she planned her trips and what types of things she liked to do or look for in each new location. “I think it was a mixture of historic and cultural attractions and fun things to do. I went snorkeling with turtles, ziplining, swam with elephants and drove 500 kilometers in four days on a scooter in Vietnam. But, I also visited many historic places such as the Great Wall of China and the Grand Palace in Bangkok and temples,” she told me.

“For every country I visited I would have a very detailed itinerary with all the things I wanted to do in those specific locations. I spent countless hours doing research on the things to do for each and every single place. However, I always kept an open mind on things that other people I met suggested to do. For example, before leaving for southeast Asia I was not planning on doing the Ha Giang Loop (500 kilometers in four days driving a motorcycle on some of the most dangerous roads in the world), but then I met several travelers both in Thailand and Vietnam that told me that the Ha Giang Loop changed them

forever and was the best experience they ever had! So in that case I decided to give up other things planned and do the Ha Giang Loop, and I have to say that it was one of the best experiences of my life. It allowed me to discover the untouched parts of northern Vietnam that tourists usually do not visit. Listening to other travelers’ suggestions is probably one of the best things you can do because you can get better insight than on the internet. I think that for the most part it is important to have a detailed itinerary, but it is also important to be open minded and leave some space for other things you didn’t even know were an option.”

Mainardi also told me that “traveling solo was the best decision I have ever made in my entire life, it helped me learn more about myself, discover my weaknesses and my strengths, and improve my self-confidence. During my gap year, I learned so much more than what is on the syllabus of a class, giving me invaluable opportunities as well as insight and global perspectives that just cannot be taught in a classroom setting.”

At the end of her gap year, Mainardi returned to Hope. “After all that traveling I was ready to get back to having a routine and studying,” Mainardi said about her transition back to Hope. “Since the start of my gap year I knew I wanted to come back to college after those 16 months. My parents and I decided that it was going to be no longer than that because we did not want me to lose focus on my college degree and future goals. I always knew I was going to come back in the fall of 2019, so I think I was ready for it since the start of my gap year.”

Mainardi’s family was very supportive of her taking a gap year mid-college. “My parents saw how much I struggled trying to make a

decision for my major and they were the ones that suggested for me to take a gap year,” she said. “My parents believe that we are still young, and it is normal not to know what you want to do in life and sometimes all you need is to take a step back and have some life experiences that will help you understand yourself and grow as an individual.”

Mainardi’s parents also helped her finance her travels, but she also shared how she was able to afford all the different trips she went on. “My parents supported me throughout my gap year and I am so grateful for them,” Mainardi told me. “In Australia, I would make almost 500 AUD every week from au pairing and had no living expenses so everything I made from that I saved up for travelling. With that money, I funded my trips around Australia, Indonesia and part of my trips to Europe, and the rest of it was paid by my parents. Traveling on a low budget is more than realistic nowadays, especially in Southeast Asia. I was traveling on my own and staying in hostels which were between five to 15 dollars a night and some of them even included breakfast! Also getting around southeast Asia is also extremely cheap. Flights are about 40 to 50 dollars on average and overnight buses in Vietnam are also a cheap alternative. You can have a meal in southeast Asia for as low as one and a half to two dollars, making it really affordable for backpackers on a low budget.”

“I met some of my dearest friends during my travels,” Mainardi told me after I asked her about how she stays in contact with the many people she has met during her trips. “I think getting to know new people is one of the best aspects about traveling, I know I found lifelong friendships because of it, and I am so grateful for

it. I started travelling internationally on my own since I was 16 years old, so I am used to having long distance relationships with family and friends. Nowadays, there are so many ways to communicate making it easy to keep in touch, so I think maintaining a friendship is quite easy even with long distance. It’s all about how much you want that person to be part of your life!”

Mianardi told me that “taking a gap year was the best decision of my life and I would suggest it to anyone considering it.” She believes that gap years, especially to travel and experience different cultures, can give countless critical experiences that will apply to jobs later in life. “Nowadays our world is more globalized than it has ever been, and it is becoming more important for modern businesses to hire a well-rounded individual with experiences abroad. Taking a gap year and having the opportunity of exploring the world not only will help in the future career, but it will also allow them to grow as an individual because I think it is one of the most beneficial experiences.”

@alessia.mainardi

HA GIANG LOOP & THAILAND - Mainardi changed her plans to include this dangerous road trip through Vietnam (pictured left). The right picture features her in Thailand swimming with elephants.

@alessia.mainardi THAILAND - Mainardi traveled four hours to see Wat Rong Khun, also called the White Temple, in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

SPORTS

Hope hockey: A not so controversial club sport

It’s commonly said that when sports spectators enter an ice rink to watch a fight, somehow, a hockey game breaks out. Unfortunately for Hope’s hockey team, a fight is not the most controversial part of their sport at the moment. Despite being a commonly advertised and wellfollowed team on Hope’s campus, the hockey team is not considered a varsity sport. According to Noah Weigle (‘20), “The hockey team is still considered a club because the school would have to add another women’s sport to incorporate men’s ice hockey under Title Nine. I am not sure whether the absence of this attempt is due to funding, support or the feeling that hockey does not need to be a varsity sport. I know that there has been talk of trying to make hockey a varsity sport in the future, but I think it would be difficult having to change leagues from the ACHA to the NCAA as that would be a large jump in competition.” Austin Kane (‘20) noted it would not just be a change in the conference but a change in personal life if the hockey team was made a varsity sport. He said, “I know that the goal is for hockey is to become a varsity sport, but numerous changes would need to occur if that happened. Hockey is a lot different than other sports because of junior hockey. This is where players travel around to play junior teams in order to become skilled enough to play higher level hockey. A high school hockey player is rarely good enough to move on to NCAA hockey right away. This is why a lot of hockey players

will come into college as a 21-yearold freshman. Becoming a varsity sport would demand Hope’s hockey program to change its recruiting and yearly schedule. It would also require more support from the school.”

Hockey not being an official varsity sport has not been a deterrent for players that were recruited by the program, however. Skylar Miller (‘20) explained his own recruitment and the little impact the standing of the sport had on his decision. He revealed, “Coach Van Timmeren recruited me as a senior in high school towards the end of my season; I was thinking about going elsewhere at the time. However, when I came and visited and got a sense of not only Hope’s culture but also the culture of Hope Hockey, I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of. Knowing it was a “club” sport did not affect my decision one bit. I see it as just a label, quite honestly. We are a team that represents Hope College, and it’s a great community and culture. We draw a lot of fans to our home games, and the guys on our team really get up for those games.” Miller continued to reflect on the team’s goals for this season after 2018’s great success, stating, “ All the coaches and players know what our main goal is: to win a National Championship with the Hope community behind us all the way. When we won the National Championship in 2018, it was awesome to see all the support we got during that season. I still get chills thinking about when we won it and hearing and seeing how

many people were reaching out to us that night when the game ended.”

One of the advantages to Hope’s hockey team maintaining a club status is it allows players who love the game to play without having to play junior hockey before coming to college. Junior hockey is not for the faint of heart, as Kane explained his own path to becoming a Dutchman. He said, “ I played junior hockey for a year. My goal was to go as far as I could. But I had an injury (index finger was basically cut off) that

ruined my original plan for hockey. After 6 months of rehab and no hockey, I took a long time to think about my future. I came to the conclusion that academics were my priority, and I should find a career path. I received a call from Coach and one of my close friends who was the captain for Hope at the time, Garrett Gormley. They persuaded me to check it out. I immediately fell in love with the team and the campus and wanted to focus my studies in healthcare, and Hope was a perfect fit for that. The fact that it was a club sport did not affect my decision at all. Looking back now, it was one of the best decisions of my life, and I have become a part of the best family on campus. I really do not know where I would be or the type of person I would be if I had never found the hockey family. I’m grateful for every moment I’ve spent with them at Hope.”

Regardless of whether or not the hockey team is labeled a varsity or club sport, its appeal to players and fans alike has not wavered. Given the jumps in competition and the change in recruitment style the team would have to endure, perhaps the topic of when or if hockey will ever make the jump to a varsity sport is not so controversial after all.

Hope Athletics

Hope Athletics

Skylar Miller carries the puck across the ice, determind to help his team score.

Chloe Bartz

Intuitive eating is key: Stop diets for good

Hopping on and off diets is something that we know all too well. Keto, Paleo, and gluten-free are some examples of diets that are popular in our society today. While most people would assume that these will help to make you healthier and more energized, an intuitive eating coach would tell you differently. Kelsey McCullough RD (registered dietitian) is a pro in intuitive eating - quite literally. McCullough graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a bachelor’s degree and then travelled all the way across the country to Colorado for her dietetic internship. She is currently practicing as an Intuitive Eating Counselor.

Enough about Kelsey, what does she actually do? While it is hard to understand in our fast paced world full of diets and weight-loss scams, she actually works with people individually to understand their dieting needs. From there she will teach clients about the fundamentals of intuitive eating and help rewire their mindset from unhealthy eating habits to actually listening to their bodies’ needs. Intuitive eating has ten fundamental principles that assist followers to stay on track and understand how to eat.

The first principle starts with rejecting the diet mentality. That means that the diets that I highlighted previously are off limits. These diets will not help to truly make a change in your life, only temporarily cause your body to change and most likely

end up right back where you started. The next principle is honoring your hunger. This is a really important part of eating that most people completely ignore. From a young age children are told to “clean their plates” or “wait until dinner” if they are hungry. It is ingrained in us from childhood and causes consequences later in life.

So if you’re following McCullough’s teachings, eat when you’re hungry, and don’t eat when you’re not hungry. The third principle is to make peace with food. Understand that by depriving yourself of a certain food or food group you will ultimately end up giving in and “binging” on this food. Think of it like this: if there are no rules, there are no rules to break.

Next is to say “NO” to traditional “food rules.” Do you want dessert? Eat some. Do you want two slices of toast with lots of butter instead of one dry piece? Do it. Instead of rules you will be listening to what your body wants and needs and honoring it. Another key principle is discovering satisfaction. This may seem straightforward, but eating intentionally is something that takes focus and practice. Thankfully the result is a full belly and gaining a pleasurable experience from eating.

One of the biggest parts of intuitive eating is learning to deal with emotions, without the use of food. Too often we use food to cope with hard emotions and this leads to unhealthy habits. However, if you learn to deal with negative emotions separately from eating, then eating

becomes a pleasurable and fulfilling experience in itself. This will lead to a respect for your body - the eighth principle. Body shapes, weights and many other factors have a lot to do with biology. Each body has a weight that it is “happiest” at, straying from this weight often leads to unhealthy reactions in one’s body. Your body will do everything it can to stay at it’s “happy weight,” so listen to it. Do what your body wants, keep it happy. Stop comparing your body to those of others, it will only lead to more stress.

The next principle is exercise. It’s important to note that this does not have to necessarily be “working out” unless you truly enjoy that as a form of exercise. Intuitive eating uses exercise in any form that makes your body feel good. Noticing the difference in how your body and mind feel rather than how your body looks is vital to understanding the importance of this type of exercise. Even if you’re not someone who likes to exercise, this is a good way to find new activities to enjoy that include moving your body.

The final principle is to use very gentle nutrition to respect yourself. Don’t put too much emphasis on nutrition; do things that make you happy; live a balanced life. After all, this is a long term journey and lifestyle, not a restriction of food groups to change who you are.

These principles that McCullough uses are adapted from the book Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works that was written

in 1995. Because this is not a fad diet but rather a mindset, the information is still valid and works just as well as it did when it was written. Intuitive eating works so well because it is natural to our bodies. If we are low on certain nutrients our body will crave them, and listening to that is the best thing we can do for our mental and physical health. When babies are born they eat intuitively drink milk when they’re hungry and stop when they’re full. This is the simplest version of intuitive eating, and it proves that naturally and biologically humans are intuitive eaters at their core.

If you want to learn more about McCullough’s thoughts on intuitive eating or maybe even schedule an appointment with her, you can head to her website https://www.21stcenturyrd.com/ foodforthoughtblog/intuitive-eatingfundamentals. You can also follow her on instagram @the21stcenturyrd or on facebook at 21st Century RD LLC.

Kelsey McCullough

Kelsey McCullough

Annie Kopp

Kelsey McCullough

Kelsey MCullough poses for a photo featured on her website