Sophia Vander Kooy ('20) is a political science and international studies major with an unofficial passion for taking creative writing classes. She was the Production Manager at the Anchor during the spring semester of 2020, and previously served as the Editor-in-Chief. She is also a member of the Women's Track and Cross Country teams at Hope, the STEP Community Outreach Student Director and the Co-President of Hope Yoga. Sophia loves writing, being outside, cooking, running and connecting with all kinds of people. She has found the space to be herself at The Anchor and knows that she is not alone in that.
Both the United States and North Korea have been using South Korea as a means of communication since relations between the nations of the Korean Peninsula sparked throughout the winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. On Thursday, both the White House and South Korea released statements saying that President Trump has accepted Kim Jong Un’s invitation…
Divisions can often make up the true barriers of the modern world. With classifications that separate countries from one another, the network of interconnectedness and similarities between nations can be hard to see. However, as these division shift and change with progress and regress, their definitions often do not account for the holistic well-being…
Syria, a country of 18.43 million, has now lived almost half a century under the rule of a dynasty of authoritative dictatorship and has, been fighting a civil war since 2011 that has seen over 500,000 casualties and nearly 400,000 of its own people living in siege. As the Syrian people continue to struggle, …
On Thursday, President Trump announced that his administration would soon impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum. The new taxes on these imported goods are set to go into effect next week. His aim with the taxes is to institute more of his “America First” mentality…
In the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting that left 17 dead, the student survivors of the massacre are looking to use their experience to voice their concerns and thoughts on gun control. President Trump invited the victims and their parents to meet with him and continue the sparked and previously media based…
In less than 10 minutes, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz committed the second largest school shooting in American history. 17 students and faculty members were murdered in a shooting at Marjory Douglas High School last week, marking the eighth school shooting of 2018. However, many student survivors are determined to make this massacre different. In the…
“Less than one year has passed since I first stood at this podium, in this majestic chamber, to speak on behalf of the American People and to address their concerns, their hopes and their dreams. That night, our new Administration had already taken swift action. A new tide of optimism was already sweeping across…
As of Wednesday, a total of 256 victims have accused disgraced gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of abuse. Last week, 156 women came forward to tell Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, of Ingham County Circuit Court, their powerful stories of how Larry Nassar sexually abused them as minors under the cover of medical guidance. This week, Nassar’s…
The amount of Americans that have to google the word “opioid” to find out what exactly this class of drugs includes is decreasing as the addiction epidemic across the U.S. rapidly filters into more neighborhoods, schools and towns. As reported by The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of opioid-related overdoses…
The past few years have been flooded with tragic public school shootings and as Marshall County High School in western Kentucky now knows too well, 2018 will not be the year to break the trend. Students Bailey Holt and Preston Cope, both 15-years-old, were murdered in the event. According to CNN, Holt died in the…