Alan Babbitt (00:04):
Welcome to the Hope College Athletics Orange and Blue Podcast. My name is Alan Babbitt, sports information director here at Hope College, and in our fourth season, bringing you conversations with Hope student athletes, coaches, staff and alums, and talking about this wonderful place of Hope College and our wonderful Hope Athletics program and how it's a place of academic success, competitive excellence, and transformational experiences. Here for our fifth episode this summer. Two more shining examples of that Junior midfielder AJ Boucher from the Hope College Men's Soccer team, and senior Kara Anderson, team manager for the Women's Lacross-. There we go. Thank you, Kara, for the assist of course, and to have been on a wonderful seed trip and we are going to talk about that and as well as their experiences at Hope. Welcome to the Orange and Blue Podcast. Kara and AJ, thank you.

Cara Anderson and AJ Boucher (01:07):
We're so excited to be ere. Super excited.

Alan Babbitt (01:10):
Obviously we've got to do an introduction, let people get to know you a little bit. We'll start with you AJ. Tell us about your journey to Hope College. Where'd you grow up and how did you end up here?

AJ Boucher (01:22):
I kind of have a unique story, I grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan and stayed there my whole life. I went to college my first year of college. I went to Western Michigan and I was close to home there, so Western is right in Kalamazoo, so I was about 10 minutes away from my house. I was always a homebody.  I just felt right to stay close to home, play soccer there. That was a big part of it as well.  I want to stay close to my family, have all my family come to my games and play for my hometown school. So it felt right to make that decision, but after my first semester, I made the choice to leave Western. Western still has a great place in my heart. I think it's a great school, but I needed a change. And so one of my best friends, Seth Walters and also Matthew Davidson on the men's soccer team, they both were loving their experience here at Hope and I knew they were loving it because I talked to them pretty much every day. And so I told 'em, Hey, I'm looking to transfer here, and I think hope would be a good fit for me. I visited Hope my junior year of high school and loved the campus, loved the people here. I made that switch to Hope and I couldn't be happier right now.

Alan Babbitt (02:49):
What are you studying, AJ?

AJ Boucher (02:51):
I'm studying elementary education here at Hope.

Alan Babbitt (02:55):
Cara, tell us about your journey to Hope and being involved with women's lacrosse as a team manager.

Cara Anderson (03:06):
I grew up in Adrian, Michigan. I went to Illinois Christian School, so a pretty small school. I graduated with about 50 kids. I grew up playing sports my whole life, so soccer and basketball was it. It was my life with my sisters and my school. I absolutely loved it. Getting into high school, I was still loving sports, but realizing that there's so much more of a world out there and that I wasn't in a mindset to be committed to playing sports for four years in college. My identity had been wrapped up in sports up until that point, and so I was ready to kind of branch out and figure out a little bit more of who I was. I was really nervous about that. But then senior year of high school, I ended up having a hip and back injury, so it kind of sealed the deal that sports wasn't going to be it for me. When I was looking at schools, I knew that I wanted faith to be an important part, but I wanted it to be optional. I wanted a school that I felt like still at a small school feel, but I was meeting a lot of new people then I wanted a place that would be a little bit further away from home. I was ready to kind of tread my own path, have some new experiences, and so I decided on hope. I loved my visit, I loved the location. Then my freshman year, my roommate was on the women's lacrosse team, her name's Caroline, and she was talking with me about how they needed a new team manager. And in my high school, we didn't have lacrosse. I never had watched the lacrosse game in my life. I had no idea what the sport was, so I thought it was ridiculous that she wanted me to be their manager. So I told her over and over again, this will not happen. I don't want to manage. I want to play a sport, but I'm not going to. And so one day Coach Keegan found me at a soccer game and she was like, you're Kara, aren't you? And I was like, do I want to say yes to this? So she was like, we need to talk. Let's talk about how you can be involved in our team with the girls. I need some help. And so we talked and I decided that I would do it, and it was such a big blessing for me to find a place in the sports world again, to be on a team and to support the girls in that way. So

Alan Babbitt (05:30):
What are you studying, Cara?

Cara Anderson (05:31):
I'm studying social work.

Alan Babbitt (05:33):
AJ, for you as a student-athlete, what is it about the sport of soccer that means so much to you to invest your time in and enjoy, especially being here on the Hope Soccer team? How has that helped you as you've grown?

AJ Boucher (05:56):
Soccer's been a part of my life for my whole life. My mom was a huge soccer fanatic. She played soccer all up until senior year of high school. She loved it. She was my first coach back in the AYSO days. Soccer's been a big part of my life. And then, coming here to Hope and playing, it's meant a lot to me. Just being a part of the Hope community and honestly the guys, that's the biggest thing for me is being a part of the team culture here at Hope. That's been my biggest plus is because we're so connected and those are my guys and I love them all. So just playing with them every single day in the fall and most days in the spring. That's been my favorite part of being involved in the sport year at Hope .

Alan Babbitt (06:46):
Cara, The men's lacrosse program is a very rich, established tradition. Women's lacrosse is newer as a varsity sport, but the last couple of years it's had put together breakthrough seasons as a servant leader with this group. What has it been like for you to watch this team grow into an MIAA champion and making back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament?

Cara Anderson (07:08):
I love the girls and for me as one of their supporting staff, I suppose it has been so cool for me to see the girls work hard in the offeason for them to show up at practice and get to a point where they just love each other so much and they work hard, but for them, it seems like they are playing on the field for each other. They have so much deep love for each other. And growing up in sports, I think that success comes when you love your teammates and when you're willing to sacrifice and serve one another. And so to see the girls do that every day at practice and when they're playing their games and whether they're on the field or on the sideline to be their biggest supports, that has been such a joy for me. I love them all deeply. And so it's so cool to see them love and support each other, and the success is amazing. We love to win. We won't complain about that, but in my role, I love seeing them just love each other and realize that there's so much more to the game than just the wins, but we love the wins too. So

Alan Babbitt (08:22):
We're recording this inside the College Aadmissions building and it's busy time with students coming and looking at Hope. Tell us about ,each of you, your role here and what you've done this summer to assist setting up the next generation of Hope students.

AJ Boucher (08:38):
I mean, we're both working as tour guides here in admissions. A big reason why I wanted to be a tour guide is because I've enjoyed my experience so much here at Hope, and I just want future students going into college to come to help. I want them to have the same experience I've had here. I found so much joy in a bunch of different areas. I found my faith here, and I just want the same experience for future college students.

Cara Anderson (09:08):
I worked in admissions as a tour guide all last year, and then Tucker, one of our admissions reps, convinced me to be on summer staff as a tour guide. And so I'm one of our team leads for our eight tour guides. I take out tours, I help with scheduling and assigning tours, and then helping with some scheduling things within the office. And then I'm also in charge of our projects and innovation within our team. So helping make these summer experiences, especially for us tour guides, ones that can help build our resume and develop us as professionals, as well as having some fun too.

Alan Babbitt (09:49):
As part of a busy summer, you also went on a sea trip to Costa Rica and part of a program here, Sports Evangelism to Equip Disciples that's really gaining traction as a must do activity. I'll start with you ajAJ. What intrigued you about doing a SEED trip?

AJ Boucher (10:09):
Dan Hesselbein I have to shout him out here. He approached me and he's like, Hey, I think you'd be a great person to go on a SEED trip. He went to Costa Rica the year before and absolutely loved his experience, and he approached me and said, you have to do this. I love Dan and he's a mentor for me, and so I'm going to listen to him. That's the reason I applied and that's why I was intrigued

Alan Babbitt (10:39):
For you, Cara.

Cara Anderson (10:40):
I also knew a good number of people that went to Costa Rica last year. Dan being one of them, Kerrigan, my friends, Marie and Luke, there was a good number of them. They all encouraged me to do it. I wasn't sure about how my role as a manager would feel on a team of athletes playing sports. Even though sports were my life. I talked with Cindy from Campus Ministries and was pretty much like, what are your thoughts on me going to have a SEED trip? And she was like, you need to do it. I don't know why you're questioning this. We had a few other conversations and she was like, just apply and see what happens. So I was really thankful for the opportunity to get to go to Costa Rica. I felt very blessed by the fact that I got to go.

Alan Babbitt (11:30):
Take us through a little bit. I know there's a lot that's packed into that, a lot to experience, but just take me through some things that stood out to you about some of the things you did. What did you guys do there and how did that shape and impact you and transform your life?

AJ Boucher (11:47):
I think I'm going to talk about the sports side of it a little bit more. Obviously I'm an elementary ed student here at Hope, so I love the kids. And part of the reason I wanted to go to Costa Rica was because we had that opportunity to work in elementary schools there. And for those of you that don't know, Costa Rica is huge into soccer. They call it football there.  that's their main sport. And that was another reason I wanted to go there as well.  we would go to elementary schools and we'd kind of be their gym teachers for the day, and we'd run 'em through different sports. So we had lacrosse, soccer, basketball. We did some jump rope, we did some bubbles, so we blew some bubbles as well.  I just loved it because for me at least they all loved soccer. Every single one of 'em that was their favorite sport. And I think for me, it touched me because it brought me a new joy to see that to my sport. I think I appreciated soccer a little bit more, coming back to the Sstates, and honestly, it is given me a reason why I want to be a coach in the future. I want to see kids with that joy that I saw playing the sport that I love in Costa Rica. I want to see that joy here in the States. I think right now,  soccer's growing, but I want it to get to a point where it's the most popular thing and it just brings that joy that I saw in Costa Rica. So that really impacted me a lot on the sports side.

Alan Babbitt (13:34):
And I'm forgetting, pardon me, but did you guys have to work through any language barrier at all? Was it Spanish primary?

AJ Boucher (13:42):
It was Spanish, that was what they spoke there. Luckily for me, I took Spanish, all of high school, all of middle school, and honestly in elementary too. So I felt pretty confident in myself talking to them. I knew the main words for soccer and Spanish and here balloon, stuff like that. So I felt pretty confident at least talking soccer with them, which is all I really needed.

Alan Babbitt (14:17):
I would imagine it's just the sport can be a universal language, connecting people that maybe obviously have never met.

AJ Boucher (14:24):
A hundred percent. I mean, I didn't even have to talk to them. The ball does the talking and especially playing with those kids. It's the same here in the States when you're showing them some tricks showing them you dribbling the ball, they're usually in awe. And so that kind of does the talking, which is awesome.

Alan Babbitt (14:45):
For your Cara, what was something that you experienced there that stood out to you?

Cara Anderson (14:50):
One of the things that we got to do was we took some water filters out to some different reservations in the mountains on the southeast part of the Panama border of Costa Rica. And to me, that was some of the coolest things that we got to do. The water filters are good up to 20 years if they take care of them well. So we did some sports camps with the kids out in those communities, but we also got to give them clean water. And so one of the days we were up in the mountains, we had just finished a sports camp. It was super hot. We were all toasted and we were setting up some of the water filters. And one of the girls on our team, I can't quite remember who it was, I think it was Maddie Grayson, she asked one of the little girls that she was with, do you want some water? Or the girl asked if she had any water. And Maddie, for the first time for that girl could have been like,  I have clean water. And so we took 'em over to, it made me emotional. We took 'em over to where we had the buckets of water. Me and Kevin had to go up over 400 yards to the nearest water hose. And so we filled up the buckets, took 'em over the trucks, and we got to hold the water filter and pour water into their mouths. And for a lot of those kids, it was the first time that they ever had clean water. And so we sent all those kids home with the buckets so that they could take clean water to their families. And so knowing the impact that we just had on those kids' lives and those family's lives where they can have clean water and the benefits of health benefits and just what a gift. And so to take that away, we are so blessed here. We have clean water, and then in those communities, they rely so heavily on each other and on the community that's right there. And  taking them clean water was such a gift. We got to share the gospel with the water filters. Jesus makes us clean and he doesn't care if we're dirty and messy and no matter what, we come out clean and crises us as clean. And so just the combination of all those things was such a gift, really shifted my perspective. And as we talked with the rest of our team, I know that that was a huge thing for other people too.

Alan Babbitt (17:22):
With this future trip, I know another part of it is you're spending time and there's intention on crossing up. So you're not just going with teammates, you're going with different sports, different athletes, students maybe, but don't really know. How did that impact just you as a person, just getting to know different people from different sports and making a connection with them when you're off in a new place and totally out of your norm, it's not you're back here and here at Hope.

AJ Boucher (17:51):
I mean, for me, there was no other guy soccer players on the trip, so I was kind of going in blind for the most part. But what I realized is hope students are hope students. And that's what I love about campus, about Hope College in general is that, and it's a big reason why I chose Hope is because of the people. And I saw that on the trip. I think for me, the biggest part, we all gave testimonies in our time there, and it was just crazy to see that the more comfortable we got with each other, the more time we spent with one another. The testimonies got longer and longer and longer and longer. And I think that just goes to show that we got closer and closer as the trip went by.  I'm super excited, super stoked to go to the different games in the fall and the winter and the spring this next year because pretty much for every sport now I can go and cheer on somebody new. So

Alan Babbitt (18:49):
For you, Cara, what did that, especially as someone who felt maybe a little bit on the outside as a team manager and not an athlete, what did you experience as part of with your group?

Cara Anderson (19:00):
I had already known a lot of people on our team through a few people. I mean, AJ and I, we worked together. And then a few of the other people on the team, I have known, we've known each other. But once you are in an environment where you're fully with people and you get the raw version of everyone that changes things for sure. But for me, all growing up sports was who I was. Everyone in my high school and my middle school, I was like, Cara, the basketball, soccer, and every other sport I could play person. And so then when I came to Hope and no one was seeing me in that way, I would joke that I would be the nar. I was like, you guys don't know. And for me, truthfully, that was really hard for me because that isn't me. I'm deeply competitive and I love sports. And so going into the environment where I know people saw me as she liked to play sports, but not an athlete, that was something that I wasn't sure how it was going to go because the true side of me is insanely competitive. And I think Kevin wma, on the very first day we were at this basketball clinic playing against these guys in one of a more dangerous cities in Costa Rica. We were playing basketball with them at a park and had this clinic. So there were guys in probably their twenties, and I was ultra competitive. Kevin was like, Kara, who are you? He was like, I've never seen this side of you, but you're not going to lose to them. And I was like, well, no. And so for me to be in an environment where my hip and back, I had surgery last semester, so I was healed enough to be myself. It was so fun for me to be like, this is the real version of me. And it felt like for the first time at Hope, I was with a group of students that got to see me for me and who I was. So I was a little nervous about it. But then having the chance to have people leave and be like, I understand more of Kara now because sports is a huge part of her and competitiveness. And more than just wanting to serve the lacrosse girls, which when I can't be competitive is a challenge. So that's been a big growth for me. So that was super cool for me to have a new group of people where it's like, you guys know part of me, but here's a lot more of me was a gift for me and the journey of myself, but was super special too.

Alan Babbitt (21:37):
How did this trip help you grow your faith?

AJ Boucher (21:42):
I think for me, the biggest thing was going to Costa Rica and going up in the mountains. They were so kind, provided us with the best hospitality. We went to, I think it was a pastor's pastor's house.  they were just so kind. Even though we couldn't really speak to them, they were all just smiles. And I think that for me, they know where we're coming from. They know where we're coming from the US, they know what we have here in the US and yet they're just so willing to be there for us in their country, even though they might not have as much. And so for me, I could see God giving them joy, like God giving them joy through this experience in that way. That's how it touched my faith, I think.

Alan Babbitt (22:46):
For you, Cara?

Cara Anderson (22:48):
 for me, one of the things that I was praying going into the trip was I want to see more of how big God is, but I want to still feel his closeness, even in a place that's so unknown, I don't really know all these people I'm going with, but I know that God can be the one thing that's going to be consistent for me. And so that was something that I was relying on going into the trip of, may I grow more in knowing who you are, God, but can I also rest in the fact that we are close and you are my safety? And then same thing for me, going into the mountains, we were really disconnected. We didn't have any service, no wifi. And so in our free time, we just would go and explore the mountains. And one day it was me and Tucker and Kayla wma and call. We were like, let's go sit in the river and just explore. So we were swimming up and down the river, some of the girls left and then Carl and one of the pastor's sons came, and Carl and the pastor's son went fishing, and it was the coolest thing ever. But we found ourselves not lost, but lost in time. We left and we were there for three hours exploring the river. And in so much awe of the world, God created and so much peace and so connected with each other that when I left Costa Rica and that experience in itself, I have been trying to be more intentional about let there be moments of me just getting lost and who God is and the things that he's given right in front of me. And so through the experience, never in my life in the States, we don't have time to just disconnect and to just think, I'm going to go do this, and I have no end time in sight. That's just not the reality of the life we live. And so I saw more of who God was in those moments where I could connect with people just exploring and just admiring like, oh, there's a cow over there, or Look at this fish they caught. And I dunno, that was one of the coolest things to me that I keep going back to in my mind.

AJ Boucher (24:57):
I think just to add on to that, my mind is just so fixated on the materialistic part of society, and that's just what we're thinking about all the time here in the us. And by going to Costa Rica, I was able to see that I want to be more intentional with more relationships because that's what their intentions are in Costa Rica, and that's why they're so happy. And honestly, that's why we were so happy going there is because we got to spend time with our team.  I think I just want to be more intentional with relationships.

Alan Babbitt (25:39):
You guys have done a great job of sharing it, but there's somebody, you'll probably run into somebody this year, and for you to try to be that Daniel, be sine for you, Kara, who would mentor you, what will you say to someone's like, Hey, I don't know a seed for me. What would you tell them that why they should seriously consider applying for a seed trip?

AJ Boucher (26:01):
I think for me, the biggest thing I can say is that it truly changed my life. It changed my perspective on how I view life and honestly how I need to be more grateful of the life that I live here. And so I guess I just want to tell all the new coming guys, everybody coming in, everybody that hasn't experienced seed, that they need to go, they need to go because it changed my life and I'm confident enough to say that I know it'll change their life in some type of way as well.

Alan Babbitt (26:39):
What would be your message, Cara?

Cara Anderson (26:42):
I, there's something about taking risks and doing things that are unknown in such a safe way. What a unique opportunity that it's pretty safe financially. We're very blessed by Sawyer to have that financial help. These trips have been gone through, so many students have gone, it's such a safe risk to take. You're gone for 10 days and there's so much chance to grow. At the end of the day, you could grow so much and your life could change. And if it's, for some reason, which we've never heard of this not an experience that you love everything about, it's only 10 days of your whole life and you're in a new place, new perspectives. God is going to do exactly what God's going to do. And if you apply for a seed trip and he puts you on a trip, you're on that trip with those people going to that place for a reason. And so there's a level of risk in everything we do in life, but where's the fun? And just staying in every safe space and where's the chance to grow. And I think especially in a space for athletes and people with that mindset, you've never done anything. There's no growth that hasn't been comfortable. You go and you compete and you do the hard things. That's just part of the life and that is so filled with so much joy. So I just think that there's a level of risk to everything we do, and God is going to be God no matter what you choose to do. He will teach you all you need and protect you. So that's what I would say.

Alan Babbitt (28:25):
Awesome. Thank you both for the conversation. I know we have some students we're waiting to learn about Hope College. We want to get Cara AJ too. But appreciate you joining us today. And yes, we will be having another episode in the Hope Athletics Orange and Blue podcast here in a couple weeks. But thank you for listening and have a great rest of the summer. Thank you, AJ. Thank you, Cara.

Cara Anderson and AJ Boucher (28:48):
Thank you so much. Thank you.