It’s quiet here. This is the first time in my life that I have been really and truly alone, accompanied by the ticking of an analog clock, whatever words I deem to utter out loud and the low notes of a passing train. My father is an essential worker who is keeping his distance, wary…
Despite all of the health concerns and unpredictability, my family did not postpone or cancel our vacation plans on March 13. We were blessed to rent a small isolated house with its own pool in Florida, putting down a deposit a year ago for my older sister, her husband and their son to accompany my…
The day when everything changed for me (I exclaim dramatically as I narrate the beginning of a dystopian YA film) began in regenerative stillness, a small waking exhale in the dark curtained womb of my Dublin apartment. Over the last few weeks I’d perfected my ideal morning routine, in which I woke to slow-plucked guitar…
Let me just start with a very important disclaimer: the world that we are finding ourselves in right now is exceptionally ludicrous. The world was already naturally unpredictable, chaotic and sometimes daunting. College students lived in a world of political division, academic responsibilities, relational obligations, extracurriculars and somehow finding the time amidst all of that…
“I hope that we can look back on this time, have a cure for this, and know that the human race came together differently,” reached over through the phone from Jennie Yonker. Although many are not often acknowledged, the Anchor would not be possible without infinite people coming to work, innovating and doing their jobs….
Three weeks after what was supposed to be the last day of school before spring break, I am reporting on the many athletes whose seasons were cut short. While I am back living in my off-campus house in Holland, Michigan, hundreds of Hope College athletes are living at home as they continue to attend online…
My parents’ house has never been what one would call “quiet.” Three kids with strong personalities will certainly make things interesting. Even now that I, the youngest, am passing through college, and my brother and sister are making their way at their ‘grown-up’ jobs, my house is not the empty nest that my parents were…
I’m sitting here at my shallow window sill, trying to keep my laptop from falling off my lap. A cold cup of coffee and a glass of water are squished between the right side of my laptop and the one notebook that holds all of the notes for my online classes. My phone is sitting…
COVID-19 feels like it’s straight out of history, yet it’s more present by each day we are living. Its economic predictions for future impact spans years. Its attachment to our human bodies reaches past the outside and touches our soul. Isolation is a term that asks a lot from our inner person. It asks us…
Hello to the college community during Week Two of our “Hope Online” Spring 2020 experience! Week One … which seems like a long time ago now … was a huge learning curve for all of us, and that includes The Anchor staff. How do I know what Anchor staffers have been experiencing? Well, I’m the…