A big part of my excitement about attending Hope College was related to the internship and mentoring opportunities. As a student of Political Science and Philosophy who is planning to work in Development and Business in my home country, Nigeria, it was important to me that I felt supported throughout my four years. Fortunately, Hope has been on top of the game.
I started off my first year with so many pillars of support. From my first year academic advisor, Professor Charles Green, to my mentor, Professor David Myers, and my host parents, Paul and Alyssa Cheadle Pearson. These individuals, who I leaned into for different needs, helped me survive my first year at college, six thousand miles away from home. This was especially true when the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic hit and myself and other international students were stuck on campus. Their freshman year mentors, thoughtful about my wellbeing, banded together to make sure I had all the groceries I needed to survive. Together, these mentors and myself also set up a virtual book club so that we could all stay connected and engaged even though global uncertainty raged on.
Throughout the rest of my years at Hope, I would add more individuals to my list of mentors. These people would come from all corners of the campus and would even end up including President Scogin who has gone as far as to support me in my graduate school applications. In this way, I think that Hope College is unique because the staff and faculty here really do care for the whole student and are not simply concerned about grades. They want to walk beside you through any aspect of college life that you let them into and it is a walk I have been excited to take with their enormous support.