Spanish

I’m a born and bred Californian. Which, translated means that I’m a little snotty about beaches, and I need a coat twice the size of a Midwesterner’s to stay warm. I have two sisters who know me better than I know myself, a brother who I look up to (literally and figuratively), a mother who loves education with every fiber of her being, and a father who is the best listener I know, all of whom I miss very much. Here at Hillsdale, I enjoy being a part of the Mock Trial team, Honors Program, Waterman Bible Study, and the Buddy Reading Volunteer program. I love fall days, books that make me cry, Saga lunch conversation, French fries with ranch dressing, and laughter.

So many factors drew me to Hillsdale, but the first thing that caught my eye was its beautiful vision for education. I fell in love with the school as a junior in high school, sitting in on Dr. Whalen’s Victorian Literature class. I loved the world of questions, wonder and discovery. Something beautiful was taking place in that class, something I wanted to be a part of.

The richness of its community, both intellectual and social. Hillsdale’s beautiful academic vision is reflected in its community. Students are here to live and work together, striving toward excellence in the pursuit of truth. This common goal brings people together in a way that is, I think, unique and special to this place. This is not only true in the classroom but also around the lunch table and on the quad. Ideas, conversation, laughter, debate and friendship fill this place, creating the community I have grown to love.

I love education! After graduation, I would like to attend law school or graduate school and then eventually work, in some capacity, in the world of education.

The first time I truly experienced the world covered in white was here at Hillsdale. I love the snow. I realize this may not be unique to the veteran Midwesterner, but to a Californian it is a magical thing to see big flakes falling outside Saga’s windows. I also have eaten more Saga donuts than I care to confess, traveled to Boston with the Honors Program, locked myself in my room to write a paper for Dr. Jackson, performed a scene from the Eumenides with my English class for Dr. Bart, journeyed to Grove City College to discuss what it means to be liberally educated, and slipped on ice more times than most people will in a lifetime.

My professor stories begin and end with awe. I am so grateful for professors who allow me to walk into their office with questions, tears and unformulated thoughts and send me out again with answers (and, of course, more questions!), dry eyes, and new thoughts to think. My first real professor story was freshman year when I decided—scared to death—that I needed to learn how to go into a professor’s office without passing out. So I made the decision to practice in Dr. Gamble’s office. Panting and out of breath after racing up the Delp stairs to turn in a paper, I peaked in at Dr. Gamble’s office and loudly (I have no volume regulation) declared: “I’m scared to death to visit your office, so I just thought I’d come in to see what it looks like so I can come back again!!!” Dr. Gamble kindly held up his hands, looked around his office, said, “Here it is,” and invited me to come back and talk with him sometime. I’m pretty sure if he hadn’t been so kind I never would’ve entered Delp again.

Hillsdale’s core curriculum has challenged me to think long and hard about ideas, make them my own, and put them on paper. My freshman year Western Heritage and Great Books classes introduced me to a world of thoughts and ideas, some of which I had never encountered, that have and will shape the way I view the world. I would call my Mom and Dad, stunned, at something breathtakingly beautiful or thought provoking that I had just read for class. I couldn’t write fast enough to capture all the thoughts that were introduced to me in those courses. Not only that, but I wasn’t alone. Those classes helped me form some of my deepest and best friendships here at Hillsdale. All working on the core, classmates and I bonded over common experiences at the lunch table or in the library.

glambert@hillsdale.edu