Topics

Thanks John Hancock, Lilly Tomlin, and a nurse at Boston General Bees have their honey, magnets have their North, and I have this thing about bookstores.  It’s an irresistible draw, an involuntary attraction.  And, if that bookstore has a coffee shop, the attraction level has mushroomed by a factor of 10—no, make that 20. My…

Remember what your mother taught you             One of my assignments at Hope College is to serve as co-advisor to our chapter of Mortar Board.  Mortar Board is the premier national honor society recognizing college seniors for superior achievement in scholarship, leadership and service. I get such a charge working with these students. They are highly…

Fast food, multi-tasking, and an Iraqi Jew A couple of Sundays ago, our pastor told us about his experience in seminary. He decided to pursue part of his studies at Jerusalem University in Israel. One day, he offered to pick up a fellow student, saving his colleague a long walk. Shortly after picking him up,…

3rd in a series of Thinking Outside the Box . . . Topic: Recruiting Students Whose job is it anyway?!? Do you think of yourself as a recruiter?  When I’ve asked public school employees that question they usually respond with a blank stare that indicates they think that’s the dumbest question they’ve ever been asked. But…

When I was a television anchor about 100 years ago, part of my job was to choose the stories that would be aired each evening.  I was what noted media theorist Marshall McLuhan termed a gatekeeper; deciding which news would get through to the television audience and which news would never see the light of…

What I learned from a falcon    Don’t you love those spontaneous “carpe diem” opportunities? They don’t happen very often. Whether you choose to seize the entire day or just connect for a brief moment, it’s usually a valuable experience when you do. I was reminded of this on September 16 when my wife and I…