HNR 300 Spotlights
Laken Chapin
Laken Chapin: Having taken HNR 200 twice now, I can say that it is a course that gets me involved and pushes me out of my comfort zone all in service to an experience that I found on my own. After taking HNR 200 in Summer 2021 as a student missionary in West Michigan, I wanted to continue in taking a second credit that followed in the same path as my first experience. In the summer, I was a student on a West Michigan Summer Mission through Cru and in Fall 2021, I took a leadership role as a key attender and student involved in more aspects of Cru.
As a key attender, I helped to lead a Bible study with freshman girls that lived in Traditional Style housing, and I also helped to host or set up Cru events where an extra pair of hands was needed. Being a key attender meant being a face that always showed up to events as a constant resource for new students to get connected. In this experience, I have really had to put myself in new situations of reaching out to freshman and maintaining connections throughout the school year with students that I met. In helping to lead Bible study, I had to come prepared to participate in discussion and help direct it in a manner that emphasized learning and growth in our group. This led to me making some rather unique and close friendships first semester along with having some really deep and meaningful conversations with girls that grew to trust me and be vulnerable with me.
On the tail end of this position, I have been able to grow as a leader and as a Christian as I have become more confident in embracing hard or scary conversations. I am comfortable in discussing topics of faith and religion with strangers and students who do not practice Christianity or are interested in it, all while respecting individual beliefs. I feel like this position has helped me to mature in that regard and just be a resource for anyone around me. In December, I was invited by Cru staff to start leading the Bible study in Winter 2022 rather than just helping, and I am excited to also grow in that capacity in the future. I’m not sure what my final HNR 200 credit will look like, but I know that I will be able to reflect on it in the same way as this one. It truly was a semester of growing and stretching to be both a better person and a better Honors Student.
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