Month: July 2017

Although everyone who looks back on the events of the Holocaust would describe them as an unparalleled evil, I am guessing many are similar to me in that the sheer numbers of those exterminated by the Nazi powers seems hard to grasp. The Holocaust seems to be a distant atrocity crusaded by a few men with unspeakable darkness in their hearts. That is exactly why the preservation and displaying of these acts are so important. Continue reading “Solemn Remembrance”

After months of waiting, the day is finally here. When I was first visiting Calvin, I knew two things. First, I wanted to go to a school that would help me grow in my faith. Second, I wanted to go to a school with a strong engineering program. Now, Calvin met these criteria, but there were other schools that met these criteria. However, one thing that stood out to me at Calvin was the possibility to expand my knowledge of engineering in the context of another culture. Thus, after I made my decision to come to Calvin, I knew that I wanted to do the Summer Program in Germany. Continue reading “My Thoughts Before the Trip”

The past week has been exiting, hard work, and tiring. After we dropped off our bags at one of the most interesting hotels I have ever seen, we went out and started touring and getting our bearings. I was impressed with the ease of travel getting to and from our hotel to central Berlin. I had a delicious Rostbratwurst for lunch, though I probably would have thought almost anything delicious because of how hungry I was. Continue reading “Exhaustion, Food, and Water”

As a high school junior and senior, I was excited for college. It was fun to take college tours and make comparisons. One program that stood out was Calvin’s Summer in Germany program. It was an interesting program from the description. The Summer and other aspects of Calvin, lead me to choose Calvin for college. I told myself that if I did choose Calvin, I would go to Germany no matter how hard it may be. This is one of God’s challenges that he has put in my life. Six weeks in Germany to take an engineering class and a German language and culture class with peers. After being excited and nervous for the program it begins. Continue reading “Better Late than Never I suppose…”

I remember my first time visiting Calvin College, for the Fridays at Calvin program back in October 2015. My parents and I were scattered about the lunch with the professors, doing reconnaissance on whether this was where I would want to spend the first four years of my post-high school education (spoiler, it was). I happened to sit at the table with Professor De Rooy. He talked with me and my fellow prospective engineering students about a lot of things, from the Engineering program itself, to the careers that graduates tend to get into. One thing I remember talking about in particular, however, was this certain Summer Program in Germany, of which he spoke very highly. It sounded cool and interesting, but I was still kinda overwhelmed from the blast of college life I’d been getting over the previous 24 hours. Still, it stuck with me, and as I talked with more and more Calvin Engineering majors, past and present, I only heard good things about the Summer Program in Germany. Everyone said the same thing, that if I get the chance to go, take it. So, natürlich, when I heard about an upcoming meeting for prospective SPIG students, I made sure to be there. One thing led to another, and now I’m here on my way.

Continue reading “More than Engineering”