10 Under 10

Every year, the Holland Bowl Mill creates beautiful wooden bowls that are used as the physical awards for the college’s “10 Under 10” award recipients. Below the recipient’s name and graduation year, the bowl states that each is “an agent of Hope living faithfully into their vocation.” While this year’s recipients’ vocations range from social work to art education to medicine, they have all used their unique talents and passions and their Hope educations to impact their local and global communities.

The 10 Under 10 Awards are designed to highlight Hope’s young alumni and demonstrate the amazing things they are able to accomplish in the short amount of time since their graduation. The 10 alumni who are honored with this award represent the many, many more graduates who are serving as amazing role models for current Hope students.

On the pages which follow, they reflect on Hope’s role in their journeys. For Q&A interviews that share more about each and why they do what they do, please visit the college online.

hope.edu/10u10awards22

Sara Duhr Bazydlo’12

Licensed Clinical Social Worker at John D. Dingell VA Medical Center

“Hope College provided a space for me to gain a deeper awareness of calling and purpose. Along with being encouraged to explore vocation, faculty and staff at Hope helped me to identify my gifts and gain skills to make a greater impact.”

Allix Hutchison’17

First Grade Teacher at Hudsonville Public Schools

“My time at Hope was irrefutably the best four years of my life. I learned so much from the hands-on experiences offered through [teacher-education] field placements, and I would call my mom on the drive home almost every week to share something new I learned from the teachers with whom I volunteered. I credit Hope with shaping me into a better teacher, mentor, advocate, leader, friend, colleague, encourager and Christ-follower.”

Josh Cooper’17

Voter Protection Director – Democratic Party of Illinois 2022 Coordinated Campaign

“I have never once questioned whether or not I was competent, qualified or that my experience was applicable in my professional, spiritual or philanthropic endeavors. My activism is rooted fundamentally in my Christian upbringing and the values that were instilled in me by my parents who reared me. It was in college that I learned HOW to think, not just what to think.”

Alecia Ivery’13

Midwest Lead Consultant & National Trainer at The Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport

“Hope helped me find the understanding of my faith and belief on my own. Going out of my comfort zone and joining the Gospel Choir helped me when I graduated to continue taking risks and finding leadership roles.”

Nicholas Leonard’12

Art and Design Education Visiting Lecturer at Northern Illinois University

“When I went to Hope College I knew I wanted to be an art educator. What I was not expecting was the influence of Hope in bringing my career into a larger life calling and a way to glorify God. In teaching art, I do not expect every student to go out and become a fine artist, but I do expect every student to encounter images that can influence their thinking. I now see my calling to equip people to be more aesthetically aware in their daily lives to recognize the greatness and glory of God and His creation.”

Isabel Morris’15

Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at New Mexico Tech

“I am so grateful for the values Hope successfully helped nurture in me (service at a local and global level, holistic leadership and a sense of calling or vocation). Taken together, the experience of a Hope education is indistinguishable from where I found my calling and readied myself to follow it.”

Samantha Poon’14

Attorney, Department of Homeland Security

“Being a student at Hope helped me to better understand myself in a world around me that often looked very different from me and held different values than my own. The Phelps Scholars Program helped me to know what it looked like to bring diversity, equity and global citizenship into everyday life. The continuing community I have from my time at Hope has been invaluable.”

Marco Tori’12

Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / LCDR, United States Public Health Service

“I developed an appetite for research to contribute to the broader scientific community while at Hope. My research has transitioned from organic chemistry to health services research in substance use, but I gained important skills while at Hope. The theme of service continues to be a guiding light in my work as a public health doctor in Boston and as I transition to working for the CDC in an elite epidemiology training program.”

Alexandra Vroom’19

Registered Nurse at Trinity Health – St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor

“I could continue to recount many other impacts my Hope education has provided me with, and I do so freely with people in casual conversation. One would be surprised at how often my patients say, ‘Hope College in Holland, Michigan? Why, I heard that’s a great place to be! What did you think?’ after I tell them where I graduated. I love affirming their assumption and recounting my positive experiences.”

Eden Collins’12

Assistant Professor of Art at Stephen F. Austin State University

“At Hope College, I learned how to thrive in an environment of discipline, rigor and scholarship that simultaneously valued altruism and giving back. The passion of the professors, the expectations placed on me in the classroom, and the culture of volunteerism on campus have all permanently impacted the way I engage in my career and as a volunteer.”