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The Night of Nykerk

By Bethany Redeker

Tonight is a special night at Hope College. It's 

the night of the Nykerk Cup Competition! 

Nykerk is an 81-year-old tradition for Hope 

College women. It is a performance that is 

made up of three parts: a play, a speech called 

oration, and a song. 

Tonight, I am performing as a Nykerk song girl! 

For the past four weeks, I have been practicing 

for the big show.  

The show is about to begin! I watch as the audience 

quickly grows, and butterflies flutter inside my 

stomach. As I scan the huge crowd of people, I see 

faces of Hope College students and teachers, people 

from the Holland community, and my own family 

waving! Their warm smiles comfort me. 

The lights dim and the show starts. The play 

girls are the first to perform! They are a group 

of fifteen girls who dress in brightly colored 

clothing and heavy stage makeup. They look 

like silly characters from a book.   

Using big motions, enthusiastic expressions, 

and energetic voices, the play girls act out a 

funny story that makes the audience cheer and 

laugh. 

When the play finishes, it's time for oration. 

Oration is a an eight minute speech that is 

written and presented by one special girl called 

the orator. 

As she speaks, she glides gracefully across the 

stage in a beautiful dress. She captivates the 

audience, and we "oohh" and "aahh" at her 

poetic words and motions.

Finally, it's time for the song to perform! The 

nervous butterflies in my stomach begin to 

disappear, and I am excited to sing with the 

rest of the song girls!

There are 140 of us! Together, we line up 

onstage in traditional Nykerk outfits of 

turtlenecks, navy sweaters, and white gloves. 

A bright spotlight shines, and our music plays. 

We begin to sing a song that we have practiced 

for a whole month. With harmony, our voices 

blend together 

in one in powerful 

sound. 

With white gloves, our hands dance in exciting 

motions to the song. To the audience's surprise, 

we pull out props of streamers and paper that 

we stuffed inside our navy sweaters!

During the big finale, we pull out colored gloves 

to make the "H" in Hope! 

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