Albion College Admission

Continued from April…

Towards the middle of my trip I decided that I really wanted to go to Fiji before I left for home; since I was so close and had the money … how could I not? After a few weeks of discussing I realized that no one else wanted to go. I sat and pondered my plans and decided that I was not going to lose out on this opportunity because no one else would go with me. I went to STA travel -which is amazing at planning cheap student trips- and planned my trip to Fiji. Ever picture I looked at just made me want to go more and more. Even though I was nervous about going alone I knew I would regret it if I did. My parents were fairly nervous about me going alone, but they knew that I needed/wanted to do this and that they could not stop me from the other side of the world. It finally came time to leave and it was bittersweet because I really wanted to go to Fiji but that also meant that my time in Australia was over. When I arrived in Fiji it was not what I expected. It was not the paradise that I had seen in all the pictures. I had to spend one night on the main land and then took a five hour boat trip to the island that I would be staying at for the week. Although, I was a little disappointed at first sight after about 30 minutes on the boat I began to see the Fiji that everyone was talking about. Fiji is made up of hundreds of little island that are absolutely amazing. Words cannot describe the trees, mountains, water, everything. When I reached the island I would be staying on, Taveewa, I was absolutely thrilled. It was gorgeous and we were welcomed by the staff as soon as we stepped foot on the island. They would yell, “Bula” (which means hello in Fijian) and all of the guests would yell “Bula” back. The island was very simple but the beach was awesome! I relaxed on a hammock all day and then at night went to dinner with people I had met, that were staying there as well. It was the most incredible week of my life. I was able to reflect on my experience in Fiji and have a warm relaxing week before I returned to the frozen tundra I call home.

Being able to take the trip of a lifetime is something I will never forget and I know that had I not attended Albion College I would not have had that experience. I learned how to be an adult, travel alone, take on new experiences, and function in the business world. Regardless of what happens in the future these life lessons will help me survive!

Continued from March 23rd, 2009…

So now it was time for classes to start and the concept of going to class abroad is not so much of a concept but a thought… aka it is really hard to do.  Especially when then sun I is always shinning and you can hear the beach calling your name.  I only had class two days a week, due to my internship, but it was quite difficult to go.  However, I did put a lot of time and effort into my internship; sometimes I even skipped class to go to my internship, because I needed to get something done or there was an important meeting that day that I wanted to go to.  For my internship I worked for the YWCA underneath the fundraising and marketing director.  It was an office full of mostly women but they were all very helpful and fun.  My first few weeks were pretty boring; I analyzed some stat, proof read the quarterly newsletter and updated spread sheets.  Eventually, I was able to do more things.  I was put in charge of the silent auction for the Mother of All Balls, a charity event held by the YWCA yearly to raise money to fund the Big Brothers Big Sisters program for the year, which required me to do many different tasks.  I had to gather information about the companies who donated prizes; organize the prizes in an easy to distribute way, package prizes together to create a better silent auction item and then create display boards to show the prize and all of the conditions of the prize.  The ball ended up raising $400,000 for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program which was a great feeling.   After the ball I was put in charge of the mail out of thank you cards to all of the guests and donators.  Besides the ball I also helped layout the staff monthly newsletter and took a day to go help with the in-school mentoring program.

Although class in important … learning about the business world and how to be a professional was much more valuable, to me, than classes.  When I remember Australia I will probably not remember that I went to class and learned about Australia’s perspective of the World from 1944 to present but I will remember the ball and how amazing it was to raise $400,000 and that I learned how to plan a party and write business letters and talk to CEO’s on the phone.

To be continued…

Looking back, I cannot believe the school year is almost over. I can still remember the first day I arrived on campus, scared to death that I wasn’t going to fit in. And for the first couple weeks, that was true. I did not make friends on my cross country team, my roommate and I were nothing alike, and I felt like I was the dumbest kid in every single one of my classes. Thank goodness that has all changed now. My girls from cross country are amazing to me; they put up with all my quirks and laugh at most of my stupid jokes. My roommate and I ended up being best friends, it turns out opposites do attract. And as for the feeling stupid, it turns out that is how every other freshman in my class felt. I was hiding behind my own fear of rejection. I did not take the time to leave my safe little box of my friends from my hometown. Now that I have, I realized how much more there is to life. That everyone has a different life story, and different circumstances that have shaped who they are. Even among our relatively small campus here at Albion, even among a small team are drastically different life stories. If you take the time to listen, really listen not like in class when you are just trying to stay awake, you will find stories that make you look at your own life in a different perspective. And isn’t that what college is supposed to be all about?
Bio

Katie Broekema is a freshman at Albion. She is from Schoolcraft and went to Schoolcraft High School. She is involved in cross country, track, Athletes In Action, and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Currently in her refrigerator she has many many water bottles, a casserole from her mommy and strawberries.

Every year, the Greek Fraternities and Sororities on campus gather in the Dean Aquatic Center to help Delta Gamma support their philanthropy. Each house creates a synchronized swimming routine which is then judged by a panel. The winning  routines this year were the houses of Sigma Chi and Alpha Chi Omega.

Watch videos from the ’splash now on YouTube!

Sigma Chi Anchorsplash 2009

Tri-Music-Greek Anchorsplash 2009

Delta Tau Delta Anchorsplash 2009

Other Anchorsplash Videos from 2009

Cooking
Our cafeteria, Baldwin, offers a good variety of food.  Most students would like to see some improvements to it, but I think that the staff down there is doing just fine.  The food in my opinion is pretty darn good. The only think I would like to see change is that a hot meal is offered all day instead of just the times during breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I sometimes go in there around three in the afternoon, but there is nothing that I want to make myself.

Besides that I love going to the cafeteria and eating with my friends. It is a great way to relax from the stress of class and homework. Then after were done eating, we will watch sports on the TV’s down in the Old Keller. I spend at somewhere between two and three hours a day in Baldwin.
Now recently Baldwin tried removing trays to see if they would cut back on waste. I wasn’t so happy about this. I run cross country and track which means that I need a lot of food to recover after practice. I’ll end up using two plates, a bowl, four glasses, a soup bowl, and a smaller plate for dessert. After running 10+ miles at practice, the last thing I wanted to do was go up in the long Baldwin line four or five times to get all my food. I understand were the staff is coming from, but it really inconveniences a lot of us.

When I don’t go to Baldwin, I like to cook my own meals as opposed to ordering form Hungry Howies.  In fact one Friday morning, I decided to cook breakfast for my girlfriend. Only thing is the stove in the basement didn’t have a vent over it. So the smoke from cooking collected and the fire alarm went off at 7:40 in the morning. I made a lot of people in the dorm mad. I swear I’m not a bad cook though; the real culprit was an ineffective ventilation system.  Ok, ok well I also forgot to open the window. Moral of the story cooking is better than ordering, but sometimes less effective than just going to Baldwin.

Bio

Mike is a sophomore studying biochemistry. Mike spends a lot of time running, and even has a little bit of a green thumb. Random fact: Mike’s favorite meal is defiantly dinner, especially when Baldwin has bread and soup night. The cactus chili and the chicken chipotle soup are delicious. Fact is he likes to eat a lot, and the best time to do that is dinner.