WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Soon Ramen: Looking Back

Episode Date: September 8, 2026

Last one, best one! Join Lily, Ky Nam, and Ashlyn for the last time as they reflect over their college years and discuss some takeaways.Thank you for listening to Real Ramen Hour! We love you all!

Hey guys, welcome to real ramen hours, where we have real conversations about real food, real things, and a very real college today. But first, we're going to have Keenom share a lovely recipe. So, recently, it's, I don't know, should I go dessert or a main dish? Because I have a thought for each of them. is it the pig skin dessert no it's it's almost like a coffee drink that i usually make and it's really good okay let's do that let's do that that's a good thing for like a cold i mean a warm summery it's a hot day it's hell week cold coffee sounds really good okay so if you're ever met a Vietnamese, you can always expect that we will never, ever, ever hate a coconut coffee. And I feel like it is in our blood to always love coconut and coffee or together. So usually this is how I grew up making it. So you would like either an espresso shot if you want a stronger flavor, you know, more concentrated and then you add ice into it. Have you seen the Vietnamese coffee where it's filter to the dripped?

the dripped drip coffee you guys can look it up Vietnamese traditional way of making Vietnamese coffee you know what I you know what I'm talking about

you can use a French press or you know expression shot from your like coffee machine or something along that line and then or if you don't have you can use instant coffee

and then you would add up a spoon of sugar per two tablespoon of instant coffee and then you pour hot water in it And then you use, like, an electric mixer. Like, you know those, like, handheld electric mix.

A little whisk thing. And then you mix it up really good. Sometimes I want stronger flavor. I'll put a little bit of coconut, like, flavor thing in it. Like, extract. Extract in it. Or pandan flavor, depending on, you know. And then I'll whisk it into, like, it literally will foam up in front of you.

Like, it literally will become this really delicious thing. And then I'll have. coconut milk and and and or coconut cream usually and and and we add ice and we kind of make like a like a like a coconut slushies and we add it into the coconut coffee instead of straight ice because it built the flavor up so you like grind it with the is it crushed ice or so it's usually the coconut milk and then ice together yes and then how do you make that into a slushy the ice and the You use a blender. Oh, so you like blend it together.

Yeah, you blend it together. It's like a slushy. Or some people just don't want to deal with it. I know I've done that. Like my cousin just like make little ice like coconut ice cream and she bought coconut ice cream and she frees it into like little ice cube and then she'll add it in into her coffee. Oh, that sounds good.

And it will like melt out like at one point and it's just like a dessert that you can slip on during like the summer. Literally I drink this all year round. it became kind of an addiction and my mom had to step in and intervene. That sounds so good. You guys to try coconut ice cream. If you guys don't, you know, like don't have time and like are not, you know, can't find all these ingredients, you just buy coconut ice cream.

Expresso. It slaps so hard. Oh, that sounds good. It is like one of the best easy dessert that I've ever tried after a meal. Now I want some. I feel like coconut ice cream is kind of. I know. I don't normally see that in the store, but I mean, I like it. I like coconut. Because I buy them up when I see them. Okay. Keenom is depleting the stock.

Do you have a favorite? Well, Talenti. Okay, good. Talenti. We're not, we're not, um, we're not advertising for them. But yes. Yes. Talenti. We really like coconut ice cream. Okay. Good to know. Okay, what is your favorite, like, flavor brand? for ice cream for ice cream i mean tilenta you can't beat that but for more like a more budget option that's still expensive but it's still it's it's more in the middle zone um have you had tillamook ice cream i think so yeah they're coming like these taller round cylinder tubs yeah they don't have

as many basic flavors though um it's usually they usually have like a lot of not like chunks That sounds weird. But like brownie bits or cookie dough bits, which I don't like that as much. But they have a really good peach flavor, strawberry, vanilla. Like the more basic ones are really, it's super creamy. Like it's the kind of ice cream you take out of the freezer and you can scoop it immediately. Like it doesn't get all hard and, yeah, it's very creamy. Yeah, I would say I really like to want to do two, but I think because I'm technically lactose,

tolerant. So sometimes I try to get dairy-free options. And my favorite dairy-free options so far that I've tried is So Delicious. Caramel, it's called. It's a caramel, salted caramel. So-Delicious, Salted Caramel. And I think they use like, So-Dilicious also, so-delicious is the name, by the way. Also has other dairy-free options, but they use different bases for them, and I liked the salted caramel the best. Oh, it's cashew milk. Okay, so if you're allergic to cashews, no. But it's really good, and it tastes like real ice cream. Okay, but here's my hot dip or hot take or whatever you call them. If you're in, if you're like one of those person who have to be dairy-free and love chocolate, but have no other options, go Jenny's hot, like dark chocolate ice cream you will never go back you will never go back i tried them at an airport once because i was i

didn't want to eat dinner and just wanted ice cream so real and so i tried it and i was like this tastes like real ice cream like like i have never ever ate an ice cream that literally tastes like dairy-free and everything so close to the original that i'm like it's better than the original like it's better than having dairy in it and i was like huh interesting yeah yeah i never went back I really want to try that. Dark chocolate truffle. Dark chocolate ice cream from Jenny. Sounds good.

So a certain politician during COVID have her refrigerator stocked up with this one. And that's how I think. I'm not going to name names, but you guys know who it is. That's funny. That's how I knew of it. Well, speaking of politicians, we go to a very conservative school. What a transition, Molly. You know what I was going to transition?

I just have to tell you guys because I was proud of it. Speaking of ice cream, we have a soft serve machine in our cafeteria. And we used to have ice cream at AJ's. Yeah, it used to be really good. Maybe we could later talk about as a point of critique to the college. We'll first talk about what we love about our healthill experience and how we got here and all the good stuff. And then at the end, we might expose some things. in a helpful way

we love this college like we both all three of us have loved our experience yeah yeah we support our alma mater what's the word alma mater

how do you say alma alma alma mater mutter alma mater alma motto I can't say it but let's say I can say it

alma mater you have like a British pronunciation I can't say motto like how do you say it mater mutter I can't.

I cannot. She's so sophisticated. She can't even. No. In class today, I keep saying, you know, competitor. I can't. It's a competitor. I kept doing that.

And I was like, oh, no. Is that how you read it in your head? Yeah. I do that too, like, when you read something in your head and then you say it out loud and it's like, that's not how it's pronounced, actually. Yeah. Anyway, let me ask the first question. Okay. Okay.

Sorry, I have to put it out. I got to cut this out. Okay. How did you know about Hillsdale and why did you decide it to come to Hillsdale? Lily, you go first. I mean, pretty simple story. I had to apply because my older sister went here. Like my parents had this rule where you have to apply where your older siblings go.

And I'm very different from her. so I wasn't very interested. And I had visited Hillsdale before, not as a prospective student, but just as a sibling. So, yeah, I wasn't interested because every time we visited, there was like three feet of snow everywhere. And she just had, she's very intellectual and had a lot of nerdy friends. So I had a certain impression from the college. Also didn't really have anything else to compare it to. But I decided to come here.

Well, actually, so I applied just because my parents made me and I was like, okay, let me focus on other colleges. Didn't want to visit Hillsdale, didn't want to interview, nothing. And then come like January, I get a letter of deferral. And they're like, if you are interested in like being accepted, we would love to have you for an interview. And I was, my pride was hurt because I was like, well, if my sister got in, I have to get in too. So. Yeah, I mean, I just didn't think. Hills. It wasn't on my list of like more prestigious schools. So then I felt like I had to prove

myself. So then I visited and interviewed and actually saw it as a prospective student and really liked the culture that I saw. I'm not, I wasn't super academically driven. Like I don't think I've ever really thought about grad school that seriously. So I was more looking for a place where I could find friends, find a husband. And, well, maybe not that. But my sister found a husband there. So I knew there were quality people. And, yeah, I had a really good impression.

And so eventually it was between that and Baylor. And Hillsdale was also closer to my house. So it wasn't a very emotionally led decision. It was just kind of like, okay, pros out ways of cons. He seems like a good place. I liked it when I visited. Yeah. What about you, Ashlyn? So I came also, well, when I first visited Hillsville, it was also because my older sister was here. And my older sister also knew Lily's older sisters. That was cool. But I think, yeah, so I've had two older sisters here. We're all two years apart. And so I overlapped with one of them for two years, which I was. was really cool. But my eldest sister, when she applied, I think it was because we were like listening

or my dad was listening to like some talk shows like Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levine, and they spoke very highly of Hillsdale. And she was like applying several different colleges and they're like, well, might as well just apply to this one and see what happens. And she got it and she came and really liked it. So the two of us, my second oldest sister and I both heard about it and like applied because of that. But I visited Hillsdale, I think the spring before I came here or the fall, I forget, because my sister was graduating that year. And so we just came for visits. And I also really enjoyed like, The campus seemed really nice, and I liked the thought of having small classes and not just being, like, in a rat race. And professors were really nice.

I got, like, a personal tour of the chemistry department, which is fun because I was interested. I was going to major in chemistry then. And I also was, like, I was very interested in music, not necessarily as a major, but I didn't think Hillsdale would have a good department in music because it's a liberal arts college. It's small school. But when I visited the music department, I noticed that there were like some, like, great professors there, too. And, like, a lot of opportunities. So that also helped me a lot in figuring out whether or not I wanted to come. And I also got to call a previous music student who had graduated and knew my sisters.

And he, like, gave me some info on the professor and how the department worked or the music. area of things and that really helped me with my decision making so yeah it was also just yeah as I said super friendly environment looked like really good professors nice campus etc. Keenom what about you um well uh I went to a high school in the United States um well um you know from when I was 13 to I guess 17, 17-ish. So, like, in Asian culture, it's very common to be competitive. Let's say I'm not that competitive in comparison to a lot of, like, I think the Asian, like the expectation that I would have to be because my parents are very much, they are Tiger Asian parents,

but they're not that, like, you know, like, they're to as much as they care about my academic they care about my like maintain personal health mental health and everything so they are like not big but I guess growing up like I went into a school that I'm just going to say it's very competitive like everyone is just trying to outdo one another it's just it's not a good mindset to have as kids who's growing up especially really far away from her parents um so yeah I just became very competitive myself, unfortunately. But I think COVID really took a hit on me as a person because I really have to rethink about like, why do I go to school? Like what is really in education and everything? Like all those big question that you would ask yourself, usually your

senior junior or senior year and trying to figure it out. But like me as a sophomore in high school, I had to really think about it because at that point there were just, you know, like I was not allowed to come back to school for the rest of the semester or whatever and there's no flight anywhere to school. So that was just really sad. But eventually. Didn't you get stuck somewhere? Yeah. Like your parents couldn't find you? Yes, we're not going to name's word. Unfortunately. But yeah, it was just very like not scary situation. It's just so like, I don't think I will ever relive it again. Like, I would choose to do it again because it makes me a better person.

But I just don't think it could ever happen again because it's how crazy of an experience it was. If you want a personal story, come see me. But that's usually how it went. And after everything that I went through, I really was like, I don't want to go somewhere similar to my. high school again because it's like like a race that is never ending like like people just spiral in the same like you know because it's a very like college prep school so people were just all they really care yes they're you know of course they hear about other thing but it's just so like I don't see the end of it and I feel like at that point I'm slowly like really realizing

how faith is so important to me and I feel like I would never grow my faith. if I'm not led by the right people and not be in the right environment for it to grow. So I really start looking at other schools and stuff like that. And then one of my family friends recommended that I listen to Rush Limbaugh. Common theme, huh? We're recording in the Rush Limbaugh studio right now. At Hillsdale. Yeah.

And that was really eye-opening because everything that is like you know like come to hillstow you'll figure it like you know like the idea that if you come to hillstone they really teach you how to think that was just something very new under my playbook um because usually if your nation there's like a rule that's set out you just have to follow it and you know match it with everyone else yeah usually the message of colleges are come to this university and you will get a good job not you will learn how to think like hilltale promised me nothing okay like let me tell you like that I literally don't even know why I'm like when I applied a hillstone I'm like boy I don't even know

what major what classes I literally went in as like a liberal art person like you know like you know how people like I want to be a researcher or whatever like I truly went in not a clue what I'm going to do with me up until junior years guys so like I'm one of those people um and I guess yeah I figure it out because I'm graduating in less than 14 days 14 oh crazy yeah 14 days yeah 14 days yeah Yep. So yeah. All thanks to Rush Limble, my family, friends, and most importantly, God. Yeah.

Because like as soon as I apply guys and I got in, I'm like, yes, no more wasted money on Common App. I'm happy about it. Yeah. That's great. No, but also like picking the right school, I feel like, was really a blessing that could have not come from anywhere else because why else would God put me in this one place at this one particular time.

And also, like, coming from the agent standpoint, because we're, Kian and I are both international, it's very providential that God put us here because Hillsdale, although it's pretty well known in America right now, it is not well known internationally, particularly in East Asia. Hills who? Yeah. So we'll be like, people will be like, what college do you got to? I'll be like Hillsdale and they'll catch the H. And they'll be like, Harvard?

I'm like, no. Sorry guys. They're like, Princeton, Stanford? And I'll be like, it's in Michigan. And they'll be like, Michigan State? U of M? U of M? Because they know like people in Asia, they know either the Ivy League names or they

know the state school. Yeah, U of M is a big one in the Asian community. Don't know why, but apparently it is a big one. But like even if I said, even if I said like university of, I don't know, I'm from my family, some of my families in Alabama. So if I said a university of Alabama, they would know that more than Hillsdale because they're like, oh, that's a state. She goes to big state school or something.

No, because like it's usually really funny because they'll be thinking that, oh, like, what's cool did you get into? Like, usually, you know, there's like a certain rank that people kind of, Asian kind categorize people together by certain, like, except in rate number that you get into. Going to Hillsdale, I literally was just not on a playing field with anyone. else like I'm on my own playing field like because I have to explain to them what he'll so is and they're like oftentimes they're like eh and I'm like okay yeah I don't yeah like and I feel like it humbles me but I also know we're not here to be like impressive to anyone I feel like it's I'm on like sometimes I'm on a mission that I'm not trying like like you know to prove not to them but like to yourself a little sometimes sometimes like about like you're not here for the name you're actually here to learn and I like that really took the humble and pride out of me. Definitely.

I mean, I'd sorry. It took the pride out of me and put the humble in me. Although nowadays, with all the ways I know. The nation is talking about Hillsdale, I feel pretty brown. I feel pretty brown.

I'm like, oh. I will say, like, once you get out of that bubble of like, I don't know, the kind of more, maybe Asian or like,

just kind of more general mindset of how people view college, once you get out of that and enter into, the Hillsdale bubble or the conservative bubble, you do face a different kind of pride of coming here. So it's like, okay, you're learning to be humble in, you know, the site of most of the world. But then there's just like really niche bubble that thinks you're like the smartest person in the world and like you're going to the absolute best school and like you are the top quality person. So there's that also kind of like weird almost idolization of Hillsdale from like that I see from I don't know donors or the girls.

grad students. I'm like, wow, I bet you just know so much about Aristotle and Plato. And I'm like, okay, like, there's this thing called marketing. And like, every college has that, but that's not necessarily reflective. No, I just, it's just, it's a funny two-second story. I literally went somewhere and I'm like, like, what college do you go to? It was like a pastor in the South. And I was like, oh, I go to Hillstale because I know what the South really know Hillstone. And like, the Sullyners do. Oh, you don't say. I'm graced by the South. the present of a hillstall student i'm like i am like okay i'm not that impressive like i you know like when somebody say something like i'm so thankful that he think so highly of me but i don't like i don't know

if i should be hinked like i know i'm like a solid student who's trying to learn but i don't think i'm like that's solid of a student yeah it's kind of funny it's also funny how like we're in the midwest year we're we're up north in michigan but like when you talk about hillsdale up here like nobody really no either they don't know about it or they have negative connotations with it but when you go down south you're like celebrity status like every single person receives hillsdale's newsletter like we were in this tiny little um this tiny little what is this called like locally owned restaurant in this off the grid tiny little town on the way somewhere in alabama and we're in there and my dad has a hillsdale shirt on or something

And some guys like, I get their magazine, I donate to them, whatever. And we're like, whoa. Yeah. So it's fun. Or like sometimes you go to the airport and you have a wholesale sweater on all the guys, like, sorry. All the guys? Well, all the guys, older guys, you know, or like, yeah, older women's. When I walked down the plane, all their eyes will look up at me and give me a net, like a little knock.

Like once a about not. Yeah. And I feel like, wow. I feel like so known by like these people like when I don't actually know that at all. Yeah. That's true. Well, I guess following that, what would you guys say are maybe some contrast between the Hillsdale image? Just because it does have like a huge global image, like that's how we get the funding because we're not funded by the government.

So Dr. Arne, that's like his superpower of like getting donors, getting, you know, getting that network. but then yeah I guess we have as we've found out there's a difference between that and the actual students or even between the professors and their beliefs versus the students so what do you guys say the student culture is like um I feel like I don't know I feel like depend on who you talk to too like yeah like the student perception is really important depending on who you talk to because there are some students, obviously, are more involved with the college than others. Yeah. Should we talk about fundies? Well, frats versus fundies would be the term.

And then there's the independence. Do we each, let's all take one. Okay, I'm going to take the... Frats. You know the most about that. Okay. Frats. Okay, we want to take funnies.

I can take fundies. Okay, I'll take independent. Okay. So the frats are... I guess there's the Greek culture, or you would call them, they're the one who bring the like the real culture to like, you know, party life in Hillsdale, but also they have a lot of like social, like what's I call? Competence.

Like, I don't know how like, yeah, competency or. Charisma? They have a lot of charisma. They know socially aware. That's how we're using the words be socially aware, which I found it hard because I feel like they have, they just know how to talk to people and really I have to give them this they really when they're talking to you they actually listen for the details that you're telling them and they will remember and when they talk to you next they will reiterate it back where I feel like I don't know if they

really care about me but I do feel like when they talk to me they seem like they care about what I'm doing and I feel like that's something that everyone kind of lacks a lot of the time and I feel like that is a skill that we should all learn how to do like care about the other person. Like, I don't know if they really care. Like, you know, like, I don't even know if I, like, no, but I just feel like, at least make the effort. They have, I know what I was going to try to say. You know how, like, they have a lot of fundraising events?

They do that really well. Like, you can't deny that, like, you know, they try throughout the semester to host a lot of the event, trying to be helpful to the community, which I do give hands to that. Yeah, that's an interesting analysis. of them but I'd say that's accurate like yeah like of course you know party cultures and there's always exceptions to these groups we're stereotyping a lot because it's very hard to condense this many people into into categories yeah yeah in general I would say that yeah well fundies are um it's gonna be harder to say and like make it sound more involved yeah fundies I would say um it's it's not a compliment

to be called a fundy but it's almost a like a term of indebted yearment if you're using it on a freshman because it's almost like a right of passage like I think every freshman goes through this very brief period could be a week could be a semester could be a year could be two years could well okay that's when it gets problematic but more if it's limited to the freshman year it's just this very large enthusiasm for um the classical virtues and for philosophy and for learning and for being in like an academic place because coming out of high school depending on what high school you're at it kids it's really exciting to be around people who actually like learning um and so you're always striving for that intellectual

conversation you really want to impress your professors so it comes from like i would say like a good place in your heart but um it's it can easily turn into a huge annoyance to your classmates yes and you will yeah some people just are not it's the total lack of social awareness you people can see right through your pride you'll make really i don't know unnecessary comments in class take up the professor's time soak up an hour of their office hours and just i don't know guys help me i'm trying to like so funnies are how do i say this very nicely but i'm going to say it because funnies are people who refuses who refuses i refuse us refuses to really um be a part of this culture really like be a part of the bigger hillstone culture instead of just like

focus on the academic like just no like doing instead of like you know how like they just only accept certain part of hillstone not the other where i think the frats except all part of hillstow actually the hillstone culture and everything in that sense i don't know how to say it but it's just more of like i feel like some of the frats can be funny like you know like some of the frats actually went through the funnies period and they outgrew it and you you know, become. Yeah, like, I honestly don't think it's much of a problem. I don't think so.

Yeah. But funnies are, yeah, you just ask too much questions. Yeah, I think. Yeah, I think a lot of it is what you guys are talking about, just like not being socially aware and just making unnecessary comments. Because a lot of these things, a lot of, a lot of fundies like to like play devil's advocate in some ways and just constantly be like, but what about this? but what about this? But what about this? Because this, Aristotle said this, blah. But at the end of the day,

I think a lot of these things you could think through yourself in your own head without having to just waste time on it with the professor or like classmates or people trying to talk to you about other. It just comes across as like they're trying to prove themselves and how smart they are. To me, Fred has had a certain, I think everyone have a certain kind of pride. Frat has a certain kind of pride. Fundies has a certain kind of pride. And independent has a certain sense of pride.

So I feel like it all very different. But the funnies are like the pick me girl. I noticed them more. Unfortunately. Yeah, I was literally thinking back to our conversation of pick me girls. It's like, yeah, it's just a little more out in the open. Easier targets. Easier targets.

That's basically how it is. I have a certain look. Sometimes they'll dress a little, you know, wear a vest, wear an old-fashioned hat. or, you know, just a little more pilgrim or something. I'm thinking of like the long skirt. I don't know. But it's, I mean, I mean, no one like despises a fundy or like we can be annoyed. But it's just, it's a term of kind of like frivolity and dear men like, oh, ha ha, ha.

Like, oh, it's a funny. I don't think we ever go up to somebody and call somebody else out for being a funny. Like, we just know, like, no. It's, you don't think of individual people. No, you think it's a group of people. Yeah. Kind of like Greek life. You know, like when you're defining you're not thinking of like, oh, this certain person.

Yeah. Okay. Correct me if I'm wrong because I'm trying to think about like how exactly describe independence. So I might be saying this wrong. But they're like the people who similar to Greek life also could be fundies in the first place. Like I think that's true of all he'll sell students. But who grow out of that become very like socially competent. figure out how to dress and everything well.

But they also like, they also kind of distance themselves from the Greek life culture in a way. But also distance themselves from the fundies. And from the fundies. And kind of like they don't want to be a fundy because that's like socially unaware. But they also don't want to be Greek life because that's like a lot of partying, drinking. And they want to be like the more preppy like super. which yeah super like classy I'm better than this vibe like sometimes classy more posh vibes like who actually like get the morals and don't want to be partying and drunk whatever um and yeah that's

kind of what I think about independence in a way I mean that's like obviously I mean I guess we're all independence here hopefully no I'm not I'm just a regular person can I not be a regular person Well, I mean, we're not like in frax. We could expand it to way more categories, but independent is kind of the catch all for the rest. Yeah. Yeah. Well, independents, they're also the jocks, athletes. And they're like.

Oh, the athletes are their own category too. Yeah. Like, I feel like he'll still have so many, but like the most noticeable one or like if you have to separate into three, it would be that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Like, I feel like we all have very different personality. But we just don't, I feel like we just don't want to be tied down. No, that's true. Like we don't want to be tied down by a certain group. people because like sometimes I feel like if you're tied down to a certain group of people, you always only hang out. Yeah. I know that's a good clarifying point because I think like one thing about like being a fundee is a lot of people don't necessarily want to associate with the fundies in some ways because they're a little can be

kind of annoying. So like the independents try not to be tied down to that group but they also don't want to like have to follow the rules of like sorority fraternity et cetera. So they don't want to be tied down. So yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. That's true. And also at the same time, you want to hang out with whoever you want to hang out and not really care because sometimes I don't know if that's true here at Telstale but sometimes if you hang with a certain group like your friend would be like hey you shouldn't hang with that person or something just because of like connotation almost included to hang out and I feel like an defendant will just be like I don't want to follow any of these movies or these are stupid I just want to be talking to whoever I wants and I feel like

that is how they could hang out with whoever a frat or For Monday, any day. Yeah. Yeah. That's also one thing about Hillstill is it's a small college. So everyone knows who you're hanging out with and what you're associating yourself with, which can be kind of pressure some. But you really shouldn't like, you really shouldn't give in to that either. I feel like frat fundies and all these people, you guys all have a certain kind of pride.

I have a certain kind of pride. And I feel like. I think we're very clearly. articulating the primary vice of Hill-Sill students. Which I will say it's not, not every college has that specific culture. Like I was talking, my sister,

she goes to a public university. It seems a lot more like her circles and what she's seeing is more of a problem of kind of like insecurity, which is leading to a lot of selfishness. It's just a different, I don't know, it's a different culture that kind of,

You know, they're all, they all have social media. It's a different thing. Hillsdale, not many people do. But we, we have a very, like, particular type of pride, I think. And because it's a small school, it can kind of fester and grow. Like, we all, it grows off each other. A very certain personality type comes to Hillsdale. I feel like all of us are very confidence because, okay, not going to learn.

Yeah. Like, we are all very confident. Insecurity, I wouldn't say is, like, a big problem at Hillsdale. Yeah. I mean, even, like, the quiet ones. are confident in specific thing. Yeah. Like I don't think I,

I don't think I would necessarily consider myself to have been like socially confident when I first got here, especially since I was coming from Taiwan. Whereas I think Kina was very socially confident. So like there's, there's a difference. But I think I grew in that confidence as time went on and I was like confident in other things.

Like, I don't know. Maybe freshman year I was definitely more focused on studies. So I was like very confident in the way I studied. and things like that. So as far as like our own particular culture goes, I think it's a little bit unique, so I just want to talk about it for a bit of just kind of our far-reaching friend group

and how that kind of formed. And well, what I really want to talk about is why you guys think we have lasted, all like 20, 25 of us, have all kept up good relationships over four years, whereas I think in a lot of other circles we've seen break apart, come back together. You know, we've seen a lot more friend groups kind of morph and change.

Yeah. I think we are more intentional without time with each other. I feel like I've never been that, like, I've never been that way until I came to Hillsdale. And I was like, oh, you actually have to be intentional with your friendship with people. Because I feel like in high school, friendship was more of like, I see you at school, you casually hang out, you don't do much, you don't plan much, you just see them. Right.

And if you see each other, if you have free time, hey, you want to hang this weekend. like come over or whatever where in college everyone is busy like you have to plan hey you want to grab a meal at this time that was kind of a culture shock to me i'm like what can't drop everything and come hang out with me in this moment you know that kind of thing um so it really make me intentional by like hey schedule a meal with people try to keep up with that hey let's schedule a picnic hey let's schedule a night that i can make dinner for everyone or hey let's schedule um time that we can take a picture at press ball hey let's dance at press ball hey like yeah being intentional i feel like is one of the biggest thing that have kept friendship together yeah and i think like for the size of our like

freshman friend group which is pretty like what were you saying 20 20 25 yeah i think that's just the number i would see on like group chats there's just a lot of a lot of people that we know and not everyone i think one of the reasons why we've still kept together well is that not everyone tries to be hanging out with everyone, I think. Yeah. I think that's a big important thing, actually, where you're not, like, obligated, feeling like you're obligated to have the exact same,

yeah, relationship with every single person. And so when you do see one person that you don't see often, then you, like, have a good time with them, but it's not, like, oh, I had dinner with this person. Now I need to have dinner with this person, and I have, you know, things like that. And, like, for example, like Presbyl, we'll have like a group chat and we'll be like photo this time be there at the photo line and a lot

of these people like you haven't been able to interact with much but we all get a photo together because you know things like that so that that's been something yeah and be ready to do spontaneous thing too i don't know like sometimes i'll just drop stuff and just be like i'll have something to this bad five but i'll be sitting in the dining hall with friends until like the dining hall closed because i was like doesn't really matter my professor will not be grading at five so that's a good that's a good point though because like I think when you when we talk about scheduling things it kind of sounds like oh well maybe the friendship's not organic maybe it's not natural but that's on top of all the spontaneous things yeah because the spontaneous things like he was saying that's just not going to happen you don't have

the same classes with people you don't run into them enough to have that be the foundation for your friendship um I also want to add I feel like a lot of us I think freshman year a lot of us came together because we lived in the same hall. Yeah. But then the way that branched out, I think, was mostly through Bible study. Yes. No, I was going to mention that too. I think that's how, because it's easy to find connections with people who are close in proximity, again, like high school.

But I think the connections we made after having, you know, that foundation of a few connections. was in finding other Christians. And I think that's always been an encouragement, because I think we used to have, like, testimony nights, Bible study nights. And that's honestly some of, like, how we know each other.

The most time I've spent with some of the people in the friend group. Like, I haven't had much time beyond that, but they've been open. They've shared their personal spiritual life with me. And I think that's just like, I feel like I know them so well, even if I haven't hung out with them. very much over the years.

And I feel like we can always drop a conversation and pick up a conversation very fluently without friends without like, you know, having to be like, oh, how are you? Like, you know, that kind of awkwardness. Oh, no, I haven't reached out. Yeah. It's just more of like, if we see them, we'll be like, hey, how's it going? Because I feel like recently on Sunday, I was able to catch up with, like, Rebecca, who if I've not seen much.

Hey, Rebecca. And I feel like, shout out to Rebecca. And I feel like she's really busy. like I was so glad that I have like you know that little one hour to catch up with her and I would very glad I'm very happy to see her and I feel like always bring me joy when I get to recatch with people yeah no but yeah definitely we were very blessed with a lot of friends freshman year or people in the same hall or building freshman year that were actually very serious about their faith and wanted to grow in it and I think that also has kept us together because like we don't always

agree perfectly on our theological views, et cetera. But even, there's even been friendship drama. Like, it's not like we've all been all happy all four years. Yeah. Yeah. But, like, it has,

those that, like, are willing to grow in their faith are always, like, we can call each other out and they might be offended at first, but they'll, they'll improve, like, they'll, they'll, they'll be convicted because they, they read the Bible and they know that they need to change and things like that. So like, um, or just like subtly admonishing each other in love. I feel like sometimes like, yeah, that's one of the bigger things. You know, like in high school, you have a crash with somebody. Let it burn and like you never, never reconciliate.

Oh, yeah. Like, because your pride is kind of big in high school. I don't know. My pride is still kind of big. Same. I feel like in college, you know those relationships are going to be precious. And like you're never going to be living in the same space with people ever again. Like, you know, we're never going to live like that in college.

I mean, after college. So these are the relationship that you know you have to like build on. And because you love them, you really don't want to. Like, I don't know. It's just like the maturity just finally hit when you're in college. And you just want to build that relationship to be something more. stable than just like a four years or like a couple years friendship that as soon as you graduate you're like I can see myself sending Christmas cards to a lot of these people like you know what I mean like and I

feel like and we're yeah we're gonna plan on having a address book hopefully yeah if like if I'm in town where someone I know an old college friend is like I would feel comfortable asking if I could stay with them right I needed a place to stay yeah So, yeah, and I also maybe want to say, like, I think part of it has been just, like, not anything we can control. I think it's just been a blessing from God that we've had continuity for all these years. Like, it's just kind of crazy to think about because I know other Christians who maybe, I mean, I don't know their whole story, but I would think they also sought out Christian friends at the beginning, but maybe they were wrong or maybe they had the wrong impression of someone. and their friend groups broke away. So I don't think this is something we can be like, do this.

And then you'll have friends for four years. Like I think it was also just a blessing that God just graciously gave us all. And we didn't really do anything like particular. We weren't like scheming to be like, how do we hold this group together all the time. Yeah. Also something I like about a lot of, well, I've noticed about a lot of our friends is that, one thing like when you grab a meal a lot of them are like how can we after the end of our conversation before we live they're like how can we pray for you and that's like a really sweet thing because

it's not like we see each other all the time and it's not like they're catching up with us all the time but when they think about us they'll be like oh this is something she wanted me to pray about I'll be praying for her about that and just that knowledge yeah yeah yeah so we've been blessed at hillsdale a lot yes we're get Christmas card. I'm excited. Yes, better send me Christmas card. Wait, Lily. Yeah, we're getting a baby this year.

In the pictures. I'm going to send you the baby. I'll send you a picture of the baby. Yeah. You better send the baby, actually. You can come here and babysit. Yeah. Just one closing note, because I did want to say this for the Hillsdale episode. Well, I hope this isn't too long.

I will say like I would recommend most people to come here I think because of the people like what we've been talking what we've been gravitating towards in the conversation is how much we love the people in the culture and how different we all are and how we can all appreciate each other and still be friends with each other but I would just want to warn someone who's like a Christian coming to Hillsdale because it does call itself a Christian college but the college itself is not where we've grown in our faith it's not through our classes and it's um you'll you'll find some maybe destructive philosophies um that kind of just seem close to the truth like they'll talk about virtue but they won't talk about the fruits of the spirit yeah or they'll talk about doing what is good but not what is righteous I guess like they're just not going to be speaking in biblical terms and that can very subtly shift your kind of moral grounding yeah so I just I don't know do you guys have thoughts I just wanted to put that out there all quick. If you're going to Hillsdale, I feel like along the time that you're going to spend in the

classroom, you should spend equally as much time with friends who are of the faith and people who actually bear the fruits and also find a solid Bible study group. Like if you can be grounded, you know, as soon as you possibly could, it will be very beneficial, not even for just your spiritual health, but also your friendship self for the rest of the four years that you're here because you need people. I would have not gotten through college

if not for my friend. So I feel like that was really important. No, I would agree. And I would say, I think not just Hillsdale, but any Christian college, any college that calls itself Christian, don't go in assuming everything they teach is what the Bible says

and every like it's right and how you should be thinking go in assuming it's not a Christian college and operate from that um in a in a way like it's i don't know it's nice to have a lot of people who are of the faith but like just you know like the berians in the bible who were always they were listening to paul i think it was paul right or somebody and they were always they were listening hard to him but they were always testing what he said with the scriptures. And so they weren't just straight believing him because he was well known or something. Right. And that goes for friendships as well.

Like a lot of people will say they're Christians and they might think they're Christians too. And maybe that can be, you know, maybe you think you're a Christian too. But you'll be challenged in your faith and they'll be challenged. And maybe you'll find out they're not actually living a life that's pleasing to the Lord. So keep that in mind. Yeah. But we love Hillsdale. You do.

We've been so blessed here. We're going to miss it. Yeah. Yeah. But we're ready to move on. Hopefully. At this moment. Can we place a bet on who will cry at graduation?

Yeah. Oh, I 100%. Oh. Yeah, I was going to bet on Ashland. No, who cry more? Who miscaros can run first? Well, you know, these pregnancy hormones are pretty crazy sometimes. So if you catch me on a bad day.

I think I think Keenom is going to cry. but maybe not during graduation. No, I'll be crying way before. Yeah, I think you'll be crying. Yeah, no, I wouldn't. Or yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll be like, no. And then if I see my friend crying, I'll be like, no.

Not yet. We have to take all the pictures first, and then you can cry. I will cry when I see people cry. That's my problem. Like, I cannot. Yeah. Yeah. All right, well, speaking of which,

go home and enjoy a good meal. with friends, good friends hopefully. And, you know, sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron in the word. And yeah. Bye. That was solid. That was really sentimental.