# • 0 IMP~ A Tweet to Remember Every year, new students arrived on campus with anticipation for the Impact program. Impact helped transition freshmen into the college life by creating an opportunity for them to make new friends and get excited about the upcoming semester. The theme for this year was "So Fresh and So Clean." Students bonded through various social activities, including energy group sessions led by upperclassmen, themed dinners, silly games and devotionals. On the final night of Impact, participants attended the finale in the Benson Auditorium, where one Impact student won a $10,000 travel voucher to attend one of Harding's seven overseas programs. Dr.jeffrey Hopper, dean of the International Programs office, came on stage dressed in a Native American costume to introduce the contest. "The idea was that most of our students, coming from one of the 50 states, are really not Native Americans in the truest sense," Hopper said. "It was an attempt to introduce the idea of the different cultures that make up our country 2Qlmpact and the value of getting to know other cultures." To enter, students had to register for Student Impact and mention either @HUintl or # HUimpact20 ll on Twitter to automatically be entered in the drawing. "The International Programs office is seeking ways to increase our social media presence at Harding," Hopper said. "We also used Twitter to make the freshmen more aware that we do have @HUintl and want to point them to follow this Twitter account. We had over 300 valid, individual responses." On Aug. 20, the final night of Impact, two finalists were chosen randomly to be in the running for the grand prize. Hopper shot two arrows to pick finalists, one male and one female. Finally, in order to choose the grand prize winner, the Bisons and Lady Bisons soccer teams competed in a penalty kick shootout, each representing a contestant, and the winning team's contestant won the grand prize. Freshman Richelle Pettit from Ava, Mo., was the recipient of the grand prize, and freshman Tyler Nutt from Suwanee, Ga., was the runner-up. "I decided to attend the Greece program," Pettit said. "The one thing that really got me interested was the fact that I can walk where Jesus walked." Nutt, who received a $3,000 voucher to attend the program of his choice, found himself deciding between two programs. "Right now, I am torn between Greece and Australia," Nutt said. "Greece would be cool because it would put me right in the middle of all the history of the Bible, and Australia would be cool because the culture is so different and I hear it is beautiful." Even though winning the trip of a lifetime would be enough incentive for many students to attend Impact, the winners emphasized that the program, with or without the drawing, was still well worth the first college experience. "I really enjoyed Impact and felt like it got me much more prepared for what was to be expected in college," Pettit said. Jessica Boyd
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