Student Profile: Kim Hauser ’06

When Kimberly Hauser spent a semester abroad at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, she discovered both an opportunity to explore the outside world and a reminder of how much she values the Hope community.

“I have always wanted to travel and live in a different country,” says Hauser. “I continually learned new things about myself, people I met and different cultures as well. And it has proven to be an enriching and wonderful opportunity, one which I am very glad I took!”

While Hauser thoroughly enjoyed the challenges of studying abroad, she also found that they made her appreciate the supportive environment at Hope.

“There is such a sense of community and welcomeness in and surrounding Hope College,” she says. “I love the fact that at Hope I know or recognize most of the faces that I walk by on my way to class. I love the fact that I can stop by a professor's office unannounced and sit down and have a half-hour conversation with them.”

She considers her relationships with Hope faculty members an important part of her growing experience.

“Professors at Hope are not just concerned with grades and papers but have a genuine regard and concern for their students' academic, personal, and spiritual well-being,” she says.

Hauser has appreciated the way that Hope’s Christian character manifests itself college-wide. She says, “Hope is unique in that its Christian community has become such a large and integral part of the school without it being forced upon anybody.”

Through her involvement with various volunteer groups, Hauser has found that this spiritual involvement and sense of community extend outside the boundaries of campus.

“One of my favorite non-academic experiences at Hope was participating in a spring break missions trip my sophomore year in Loysville, Pennsylvania,” she says. “A group of students and I spent a week at a farm for men who were recovering from a variety of problems and/or addictions from their past. This was one of the most enriching experiences of my life.”

A religion and psychology double major, Hauser hopes to extend her spiritual interests as well as her passion for volunteer work in her future after Hope. “Although I have yet to develop a distinct vision of a vocation within my fields of study, I have been thinking about a post-graduate career in theology and possibly going on and teaching at a collegiate level,” she says. “But I think that for several years after I graduate I would really love to travel and perhaps do missions work.”

This profile was written by Melissa Sexton, a 2005 Hope College graduate from Kalamazoo, Mich., for the 2005-06 Hope College Catalog.

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