Ready, Freddy... What?

(Chicago, Illinois)

Hope College gives everyone who studies abroad a large packet of information. This packet contains an orientation handbook filled with advice for students going abroad. Included are the TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR PARTICIPATING IN STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS.
The first thing listed is:

"1. You shall not expect to find things as you have them at home... for you have left your home to find new things"

-Hope College Study Abroad Orientation Handbook

Perhaps these seems obvious to you. However, I must continuously remind myself of this. As a person who finds comfort in the familiar, I will have to find new ways to be comfortable and consistently remind myself what my study abroad goals are. I am leaving this peaceful Midwestern town to experience something greater: to meet new people, to explore different theatres, to learn people's stories, to travel, and to experience new things.

Let the adventure begin!

(Elyria, Ohio)

"Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun"

After my freshman year of college my friend Colleen and I took a road trip through Michigan to Illinois. While on Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois I captured this image. A million pictures are taken at Navy Pier, just as a million pictures are taken of Big Ben. We take pictures to show others where we have been. We also take pictures to remind us of who we were and what shaped us into -- us.

I look at the shadows created by the family in the photograph. They have no idea what they have left behind. If they were to glance up and really think about it, they might acknowledge the sun, the intensity of it and the angle that it is at. Or, perhaps it is only the lighting designer in me that imagines this scenario. Even if they were to notice the sun, it is hard for them to accurately judge what the effect (the shadow) is of the things they can see (their selves and the sun). In the same way we have difficulty conceptualizing the full effect of our actions. Let us hope that the best of what we imagine is the reality for everyone else involved.

(Photo 1: Chicago, IL)

At the end of that same summer I was invited to Niagara Falls with a few of my friends from when I was younger. The trip was planned to end on the same day as I was to return to school. I decided to go with them anyways. After a summer full of internships and low-paying jobs, I needed a reminder of what spending time with friends can do for your spirits. We walked away from the Falls with the sun shining brightly: reminding us of the intensity with which we influence each other and the love that impacts us so greatly.

(Photo 2: Niagara Falls, Canada)

Running in Autumn

During my junior year of high school, my english teacher gave me a poem by Robert Frost titled Leaf Treader. I was a lover of leaves long before this poem. Autumn has always been my favorite season: the crunching of leaves, the running of cross country meets, the breathing of crisp, cool air. There is a beauty in the season that accompanies nostalgia of the past and concern for the future.

Robert Frost wrote:

I have been treading on leaves all day until I am autumn tired
Lord knows all the color and form of leaves I have trodden on and mired

Perhaps I have put forth too much strength or been too fierce from fear ...
I have safely trodden underfoot the leaves of another year

All summer long they were overhead more lifted up than I
To come to their final place in earth they had to pass me by

All summer long I thought I heard them whispering under their breath
And when they came it seemed with a will to carry me with them to

They spoke to the fugitive in my heart as if it were leaf to leaf

They tapped at my eyelids and touched my lips with an invitation to grief

But it was no reason I had to go because they had to go ...
Now UP MY KNEE to keep atop another year of snow.

(Photo 1: Dansville, NY)
(Photo 2: Grand Rapids, MI)

CHI

Chicago: The Windy City, Chicagoland, Chi-town...
A city this wonderful needs many nicknames.

10 Reasons to love Chicago:

1. The fountain at Millennium Park
2. The "El"
3. The Bean
4. Lake Michigan
5. Theatre
6. Marshall Fields Displays
7. The Chicago Marathon
8. The Art Institute
9. Specialty shops and restaurants
10. Barack Obama rally in Grant Park

10 Reasons to Love Chicago Summers reminded me of my love for the Millennium Park fountain.


(All pictures were taken in Chicago, Illinois)

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

(Holland, Michigan)

I applied for my passport last summer. I mailed off my visa application a couple weeks ago. I have booked my flight. The luggage has been purchased and the packing list is being compiled.
The to-do list is long and as January approaches I realize there is more to put in order outside of the government documents and class schedules. I need to prepare myself for leaving my good friends and family behind. I have moved to new places before. I moved down to Kentucky by myself last summer. Yet, leaving behind my cell phone when my good friends are usually just a simple "I need to talk" text message away, is scary. Who will I talk to when I am nervous for my internship interview? When I get lost, who will I call for directions? The answer is easy: People. I will not be alone, I just run the risk of being lonely.
So, I will bid farewell to my cross country team, the Dewitt theatre, the lake effect snow, the small midwest town and people who will always return my calls as I bravely jump that trans-Atlantic flight, hoping I meet new nice people in early in January.
And if I am lucky, perhaps I will make a few new good friends.

A Bike Ride to the Farmer's Market
(Holland, Michigan)


Roses and Manchester Cross Country Invitational T-shirt
(Holland, Michigan)


Disney World
(Orlando, Florida)


My residence on Hope College's campus
for the past 3 semesters: Timmer Cottage
(Holland, Michigan)