Canada gives identity What’s with all those Canadians patches attached to backpacks everywhere? At first it is just a conversation starter, “So where are you from?.” It soon turns into a friendship based on common ground. Actually, quite a few Canadians come to Calvin with a web of friendships and acquaintances. As the patches are spotted and the conversations continue the web gets larger. This friendship web is not too dissimilar from their cousins, the offspring of Uncle Sam, eh Christian High. It is great to feel a part of a community; to belong to a larger body. We live in a society where support groups are sprouting up everywhere and the idea of community is widely being developed. It is hard to make it by yourself these days. Drawing strength from the group is the way to go. Yet, coming to college forces all of us to find out who we are and what we want to do with our life. Basically, college is a life reflection and life changing time, highly influenced by outside forces. At Calvin, we find out who we are in Christ and Christ serves as a model of what we can do with our life. Take pride in belonging to Him and wear those W.W.J.D. bracelets as a secure reminder of what we can do. Being Canadian is a start in developing that identity of who we are and we can take pride in that! --David Hoogendam, Class of ‘00