For his Honors English 10 students, English teacher Jordan George decided to return to his alma mater, Hope College, but, this time, as a teacher.
George turned this year’s visit to Hope and Davenport University into a learning experience for his students, creating the perfect way to give them a subconscious headstart on thinking about future college decisions. Formulating a research-based project involving extensive analysis of universities of their choice while also getting personalized feedback from numerous letters they had to write was the perfect lead-in to the field trip.
Not only was this an educational experience for the Honors 10 students, but it was a defining moment for some FHC alumni, as well.
“Hope had all FHC grads lead the campus tours,” George said, “so there were about 15 FHC grads that were Hope students leading those tours of our students. That was a really cool full-circle moment to see former Rangers like [alumni] Zoe Lipke and Jack McNamara leading groups of our sophomores around campus.”
Seeing some familiar faces along the way helped ease some of the worries that may have been caused by thinking about the next step after they graduate from high school. The sophomores have quite some time before they are required to start thinking about what that future holds, but sophomore Chris Goodell, one of the many sophomores on the trip, expressed his gratitude for the timing since it made him realize early exactly what he desires in a college. For him, not everything revolves around schoolwork.
“I’m looking more for the social aspect and community part of different colleges,” Chris said. “It’s not just about the careers and how much money you can make out of college, but about the stuff you can do there, as well. Not everything is about academics; it’s also about having fun and meeting different people.”
Alternatively, sophomore Paulie Erickson, who took part in the visits in 2023, had a different perspective.
Whereas he felt the trip was focused mainly on the basics of the schools’ functions—such as building layout and social opportunities—he emphasized the importance of taking into account the deeper aspect of the visits. Instead of treating the day like a vacation away from school, it was essential to look into the true reason for going to college in the first place: the classes.
“[It’s important to] start thinking about which campus you like the best, how many people were there, and looking at their programs,” Paulie said. “Further exploring the colleges and not just saying, ‘This was a nice trip, and they had a nice dining hall,’ but thinking about why you actually want to go there [is helpful].”
During his visits in 2023, his class visited not only Hope and Davenport University but GVSU, too. For him, the most helpful part of going to three schools was that he could easily compare campus sizes and their key takeaways, and after his trip, he undoubtedly knew that he preferred the larger community that GVSU offered.
Because this year only provided visitations to two schools, Paulie emphasized the fact that this year’s students shouldn’t stop looking for schools after this trip. The more colleges they can visit before they apply somewhere, the more varied information they will acquire to help pinpoint the college that best fits their wants and needs.
“I think those who were on the trip this year should definitely go to visit a campus this year that’s larger because they only went to [GVSU] and Hope,” Paulie said, “which is strange to me because those were very similar schools, size-wise. Just keep searching. I signed up for a bunch of newsletters from colleges, and just a couple of weeks ago, I went to a University of Chicago seminar, which was really informative.”
Much like George’s own advice, Paulie’s objective is to get onto as many different campuses as possible.
Although Chris and Paulie are looking for different things to take away from any colleges they visit, they agree on a crucial part of the trip: both expressed that the group of people they stuck with made them enjoy the whole experience a lot more. Not only did they make new friends throughout the day with people they didn’t really know, but Chris appreciated how much they helped in processing his opinions on each place they saw.
“Try to plan the trip around a good group of friends because they’ll definitely help while you’re there, and they will see things that you won’t see,” Chris said. “You can take other people’s opinions into consideration, as well.”
Despite the fact that there were a multitude of benefits to this year’s Honors English college visits—including getting to know people in their class better—George has made it clear that the purpose of the day away was all about familiarizing his students with what their college life could look like. The transition between relying on parents to living alone in a new environment is challenging, to say the least, but he has confidence that this experience has alleviated some of that anxiety.
“Our hope for the trip is that it’s all about exposure for the students,” George said. “For many students, this is the first time they’ve been on a college campus, and it gives them a chance to see what life on a college campus is like. It’s valuable for students to see people just a few years older than them going to class, going to meetings, and doing social things on campus. Hopefully, it provides a picture of what life could look like for students that plan to go to college.”
