Student Profile: Alex Greczek ’07

When Alex Greczek began looking at colleges, he knew what he was looking for. He wanted a “community, and a place where he could have good friends and professors who actually cared and paid attention.” He’s found just that at Hope College.

One of the first things that Alex realized about Hope after visiting the campus was that “It’s very relaxed.” He also discovered that the college is always very active. “You don’t have any problems finding things to do. There’s so much stuff that you can’t do everything.”

Alex has chosen a variety of things that he really enjoys doing during his time at Hope. He works with Special Ed ministries and absolutely loves spending time with the people there. Alex is a religion and business management double major, and his work within the community even has him considering the idea of working with Special Ed ministries in the future.

As an odd-year puller for the Pull tug-of-war, Alex made a core group of friends that helped form the sense of community he was looking for in a college. “Not only did [the Pull] push me to my limits, and pushed me farther than the limits, it showed me that I can do a lot more even in life that I thought I might not be able to do.”

Along with some of the friends he made through the Pull, Alex is a member of the Emersonian fraternity. In addition to the social events like kickball and a ski trip with the Sibylline sorority this year, members of the fraternity meet weekly for a Bible study, and the frat serves the community through participation in Dance Marathon (a charitable fundraiser for DeVos Children’s Hospital) and Relay for Life, among other things. This year the Emersonians even hosted a concert with bands from MSU and the Chicago area.

Hope has met his expectations academically as well. Alex has found that the professors truly care about the students and what they get from the classes. He also likes how “Hope integrates people’s faith into the education without overdoing it.” He has found his professors “very open to questions that the students have and very open to other viewpoints.”

As has been demonstrated through his experiences with the Pull, Greek Life, Special Ed ministries, in the classroom, and throughout campus, Alex has learned that Hope offers a strong sense of community in which everyone is very courteous and they’ll hold the door for others. Even more than that though, he said, “Everyone is just really passionate here.”

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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