Interested in events at Calvin and around Grand Rapids?

Looking for new opportunities?

Want free stuff?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, you should be reading Student News.

You don’t have to look anything up. You don’t have to commit to anything.

All you have to do is check your email.

Every morning, a wealth of useful information is just waiting to be discovered in your inbox.

Whether it is letting you know when deadlines are to apply for programs, what events are happening during the week or where you can get food just for stopping by, Student News is an easy way to stay informed about the goings-on at Calvin.

But unfortunately, many students do not see the benefits of Student News. They find it long, boring, and easily deleted without ever being opened. They argue that many of the stories do not apply to them, so reading it is a waste of their time.

I would agree that many of the stories are not going to apply to the majority of students. But almost every day there is at least one headline that influences each niche of people. The news topics range widely, encompassing all departments and disciplines, including sports, off-campus programs, and even non-Calvin entries directed at Calvin students.

The beautiful thing about Student News is that if you scan the headlines at the top and none of them apply to you, then you don’t have to read any of the stories.

But at least you know.

If you choose to open the Student News email every morning, take the time to read the headlines, and find that there is nothing there for you, you have “wasted” less than 30 seconds of your day.

If you instead spend five seconds deleting that email, you have the lost potential chance of knowing about a job fair or a guest speaker you are interested in hearing. You will not know what concerts are going on, when that informational meeting is or where to go for free pizza.

So Student News at its worst is neutral, not providing any particularly enlightening information, while not doing any damage either.

At its best, Student News can change your life. While Students News’s life-changing factor will probably be indirect, it should not be discounted.

When scanning headlines in Student News about a year ago, I read a blurb about summer employment opportunities. Reading further, I found out that a recruiter would be in Johnny’s the next day to talk to students. From my conversation with the recruiter, I ended up getting the job, moving to Philadelphia for the summer and coming back to Calvin a much different person. Had I just seen the recruiter in Johnny’s, however, I would not have stopped to talk. I would have breezed past without thinking twice about it, for no other reason than I didn’t know what their organization was about. But because of Student News, I did know, and I did stop to talk. And my life was changed.

I do not expect everyone to be deeply impacted by the time they take to read Student News. But I do strongly suggest that students do read it because it certainly will not hurt. In fact, it might do a whole lot of good.

Or maybe it won’t. But at least you’ll know.