Student Profile: Robin Baker ’10

Robin Baker chose to attend Hope because, she says, “I knew I was going to be challenged, and that’s what I wanted.”

Now a junior, Robin has certainly been challenged over the past two years. In addition to her sociology major, she has kept busy with many extracurricular activities, such as the Pull tug-of-war, spring break mission trips, the Phelps Scholars Program, Nykerk play, Nykerk oration, and the Sigma Sigma sorority.

She wouldn’t have it any other way.

Having served as the even-year Nykerk orator last year, Robin looks forward to the challenging task of coaching the evenyear orators for the next two years. She also serves as the Chaplain and the Sisterhood Enrichment Chair for her sorority and is an advocate for Hope’s Greek Life.

The Phelps Scholars Program, a program for first-year students that promotes cultural diversity, was also a good experience for Robin. “You learn a lot and you get to meet a lot of different people,” she says. “It’s a good way for first-year students to know a group of people immediately when they get here.”

She has also appreciated the college’s approach to spiritual life, valuing that the campus ministries office makes many opportunities available while also giving students space to explore issues of faith their own way. “Hope has something to offer anybody,” says Robin. “Religious life is great, because it’s something that’s there and available to you. It’s a big support system. But if it’s something that you don’t want to be involved in, I don’t think it’s pushed on to you.”

Activities outside the classroom are of course only a part of Robin’s experience. She also stays busy with her coursework, including her sociology major. Even as she has appreciated the way that Hope’s personable size has enabled her to become involved in many activities, she has also appreciated how it encourages personal relationships between professors and students in a way that enhances the academic experience. “Everyone wants you to do well, but especially the professors,” she says. “They make themselves really available, and they take a genuine interest in the students.”

As a busy student herself, Robin has noticed that taking on many extra activities seems to be a trend at Hope that says something about the nature of the campus community itself.

“Hope students are overly-involved and extremely busy, but I think that’s something that makes Hope so great—the fact that everyone does get involved in so many things,” she says. “Hope students are really passionate about everything they do.”

This profile was written by Danielle K. Johnson, a 2008 Hope College graduate from Kalamazoo, Mich., for the 2008-09 Hope College Catalog.

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