I was born a brat, of the military variety. My dad served in the Air Force so I have lived in a decent number of places. I was born in Bury-St. Edmunds, England, then we moved to St. Louis, Illinois, then Enterprise, Alabama, then Ramstein, Germany, and then finally Omaha, Nebraska, where my dad retired. I was homeschooled through 8th grade, largely because we moved around every three years and it was easier. I went from my class of one to a public high school class of 640, my freshman year. I have three siblings and a golden retriever, (so make that four siblings) and every person in my family has been born in a different state. I've grown up camping and hiking, so I love anything outdoors. I love soccer (and basically any sport (except curling or cricket), argyle socks, red and orange trees on crisp, clear autumn days, college football season, and tea.

Why did I choose to attend, and why I still currently attend are two different questions. I originally did not want to attend Hillsdale. I wanted to go to a big, East Coast university with a reputation and a big city nearby . I had heard Hillsdale had good academics, but I didn't know much about it. I didn't know there was anything special about Hillsdale. I eventually came because God shut many doors in my college search and Hillsdale was the only one that was financially feasible. So rather begrudgingly, I packed my bags and headed for Michigan. [continued below]

The reasons I choose to attend Hillsdale are the phenomenal quality of the students, the amazing community, and the academics that make me think in ways I was never taught before. The students here are not only exceptionally gifted in terms of intellect, but also in terms of being good human beings. The students at Hillsdale are here for the purpose of learning and growing themselves; one does not just end up at Hillsdale, you know what you're getting into. The people here care about you and genuinely seek to know you and grow together. I also have been incredibly challenged to grow in my faith since I have been here. Godly men and women have helped mentor me and help me grow past Sunday school answers and reasons for my faith, and to make it my own, through the various ministries and Bible studies on campus. All this creates an incredible community. Within four weeks of being here, I could walk into almost any room on my hall and not feel intimidated or awkward about carrying a conversation. The same people on your hall are the same people you see in classes, in the cafeteria, in the library; there is a constant interaction and dialogue between all students of all groups and classes that creates such a unique environment. Lastly, the academics have opened my eyes to so many things of which I had been ignorant. The classes are taught with a much more philosophical slant than I had been taught at my high school. As my first semester history professor said, at Hillsdale "we are taught to think in terms of why things happen, not just how they happen." In my high school, and at most colleges, one is just taught the how, in mostly cold, scientific terms. When the why is brought into the picture, human nature is explored and all subjects become much more alive and interdisciplinary.

Your guess about my plans after college is probably as good as mine. I have a few ideas, but nothing certain. I would be interested in joining in the Air Force as a pilot. I would also be interested in being a teacher, and eventually a college professor. Another idea I have been toying with is becoming a missionary-archaeologist. I would love to work somewhere in the Middle East with this. The tricky thing about a history degree is that there is no specific job lined up after school, such as there is with accounting, biology, or business. Which is almost a curse, because I have so many choices to choose from!

Too many to count. One time I was launching miniature basketballs down the hall of my dorm with a full-sized water balloon launcher (that was painful when they returned fire with their own), or the time I found myself in a duct tape boat in the middle of the arboretum pond attacking a rival dorm in a naval battle, or all the times I should have been sleeping but either decided to discuss the finer points of Aristotle's effect on Christianity at 4:00 a.m. or take a late night, tandem bike ride around town. I could also point to our hall raids on the other side of the dorm, or our make-shift indoor soccer matches in the basement, or being able to have good, fun potluck dinners and movie nights at the Paul House (a campus-owned, off-campus house). I would continue but you'll just have to ask me in person. And please forgive my lucrative uses of "or."

My favorite professor story is not contained to one, singular moment, but is more a narrative of interactions. I have taken several classes from a certain, unnamed headmaster who also teaches college classes. This professor starts out, and ends, every semester with his "match speech." In this speech he talks about how our lives on the earth are short, but the effects of which are eternal. He challenges us to live lives of love, caring, and zeal. I cannot do any sort of justice to this speech (you'll just have to take the class yourself), but through it, I was struck by what a great man he was, and how much he cared for us as students. Not just to teach us marketable information and job training to ship us off into the world, but to take the time to genuinely know us and to help shape us into good human beings. He also tells certain jokes everyday that everyone knows are coming, but they still somehow manage to get funnier each time you hear them.

Hillsdale's core curriculum has helped shape the way I view all the disciplines. It lays the groundwork for the basis of knowledge you will pursue all four years. It shows Hillsdale's dedication not just to teach skills to its students, but to teach them true things. It helps in the indirect sense of iron sharpening iron, because since everybody takes these classes, you often find yourself engaging in dialogues with people of completely different majors, but because you all come from the same foundation, these discussions can be had. The core has laid the stepping stones for which I can best step into, and have a competent knowledge of, all disciplines.

gholt@hillsdale.edu