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A letter on higher education
Originally written for and published in the Calvin University Chimes in November 2020 in response to proposed cost-cutting measures undertaken by my alma mater directed largely at the humanities. In 2018, I volunteered to help with a mock interview day at Purdue University. As a rule, the students I interviewed were very impressive. I scribbled,…
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Lake Superior Circle Tour, 2022: The drawbacks (and joys) of traveling by the seat of your pants
In the spring of 2022, I ticked an item off my bucket list: taking a circle tour around Lake Superior—the wildest, most remote of the Great Lakes. I started my trip in Houghton, Michigan, and drove westward in a clockwise circle. After crossing the border to Ontario, my trip took an unexpected turn. I got…
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Women’s March, six years on
Six years ago today, I was in Washington, D.C., for the Women’s March. As soon as I heard it was on, I planned to attend. I requested the time off work and started brainstorming what to write on my poster. Many were shocked by the outcome of the 2016 presidential campaign. I can’t pretend I…
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World Cup Reflection #1: Heartbreak
I’m Welsh-American. My fiancé is Argentinian. We had a wild World Cup. Neither of us are football fans. But the World Cup is about so much more than football. Over the tournament, I learned two things about football—as did countless millions of others: heartbreak, and joy. First, the Welsh side of the story. Heartbreak.
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Joy on the Journey: Top 5 Travel Moments of 2022
After a 2018 road trip along the Saint Lawrence Seaway from Michigan to Cape Breton Island, I started dreaming of going even further—all the way to the edge of the continent. To Newfoundland, and the adjacent French outcropping, Saint Pierre et Miquelon. I started mapping routes. I watched YouTube videos of people taking their cars…
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Welsh Travel Myth #1: You need a car
In November 2022, I spent two weeks in Wales—or Cymru, in the native Welsh language. There are quite a few misperceptions and myths about this small but mighty nation, and what it’s like to travel and spend time there. One of the biggest ones I hear is that you really need a car to experience…
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Yma o hyd. We are still here.
Traveling to Wales in November isn’t at the top of most people’s bucket list. And it wasn’t on mine, either. But when Wales qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1958, it shot straight to the top. You might think it odd because I’m not even much of a football fan. But…
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Lake Superior Circle Tour, 2022: There is still immense joy
In the spring of 2022, I ticked an item off my bucket list: taking a circle tour around Lake Superior—the wildest, most remote of the Great Lakes. I started my trip in Houghton, Michigan, and drove westward in a clockwise circle. I know that Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but Minnesotans will have…
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Lake Superior Circle Tour, 2022: An unexpected encounter
I had an unexpected encounter in norther Wisconsin, staying entirely off-grid for the first time.
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Lake Superior Circle Tour, 2022: Houghton and the Porcupine Mountains
When we set aside our daily routines for a few days or a week at a time, when life isn’t prescribed by work or school or social obligations, who are we? I remember when my family took vacations in a quiet nook of the northwestern corner of Michigan’s Mitten. I would find myself wishing for…