Student Profile: Jennifer Fait ’09

When Jenn Fait began her college search from her home back in Southern California, she recalls that, “I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for.” When she visited Hope’s campus, however, she discovered, “I just loved it. It felt right. It just clicked that this was the school that I was meant to go to.”

What ultimately caused her to attend Hope were the college’s strong dance and science programs and their willingness to work with her ambitions. “Every other school I looked at, when I said I wanted to dance, that was the only thing I could do or if I wanted to go pre-med, it was just that.”

She is just as pleased with what she found once she started attending classes. “You always read about it when you’re looking for schools that the teachers are approachable and the classes are so small that they get to know people, and I thought, ‘Well, every school says that!’ But it’s really true here.”

In addition to majoring in dance and biology, she is also involved in the Nykerk song competition, Pom-Pon Squad and a Bible study through campus ministries. Taken together, it all makes for a busy schedule, but the responsibility of college life and time management is something that Jenn learned to handle early on. “It’s hard to learn that you don’t have the same schedule as everybody else and you might need to go to bed at 11 or 12 instead of 3 or 4. The first month of school I just stayed up but then I realized that I need sleep.”

Now that she’s settled into a routine, Jenn can breathe and enjoy her weekly Bible study with about a half dozen other women from Dykstra Hall. She says, “It’s really nice to have a connection in a smaller group” in addition to the larger group settings of The Gathering and Chapel.

In addition to her dance classes, Jenn is part of the Pom-Pon Squad that does routines for the basketball games. About the experience, Jenn says, “I’ve always wanted to be on a dance team and perform in front of huge crowds at the game—there’s just so much energy.”

She also enjoyed a taste of that energy through her participation in Nykerk Song. “On the day before the competition, when we wore our song shirts, I walked around and saw other people in them and felt an instant connection.” That instant connection is what originally drew Jenn to Hope College, and she has started off her Hope career in full speed.

This profile was written by Bethany A. Katerberg, a Hope College senior from Grand Rapids, Mich., for the 2006-07 Hope College Catalog.

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