Starting with a A fter driving three days from California, not sleeping or shaving, and feeling like a general bum, coming here and having people approach my car to help me unload showed just how much people care" said Robert Alden. Student Impact received typical reactions of caring from all of the freshmen and transfers. However, greeting and unloading was not the first activity of the week long event. After the success of last year's premier run, co-directors John Scott and Karen Sullivan were chosen for the fall. Part of the success of the program stemmed from the visions of the leaders. Scott said, "Impact was a way to ease adjustments, like a big hug, to welcome students and parents and make them feel at home.'' Impacters mainly dealt with attitudes towards the changes that came with a new administration. In energy group sessions and general assemblies, leaders stressed the importance of a positive attitude and a submissive spirit in dealing with the high standards expected. Energy groups consisted of 12-15 new students and three older student leaders; they met daily to discuss such topics as study habits, rules and spirituality. S tudent Impact gave everyone, new stu ents and returning students., a chance to meet people and to grow closer. 10 Student Impact Student Life splash "Student Impact is a great way to get adjusted to your new surroundings as well as meet new people. - Matt McDowell Besides serious talks, Student Impact was a time for having fun and making friends , "Instead of us starting out as a bunch of different people from different places, we started out as a group of friends," stressed freshman Joyce Woodell. Some planned activities that made this bonding possible was an evening of getacquainted games. A few of these were a campus wide scavenger hunt an ice cream social, a nerd contest, and a free-for-all water balloon fight on the front lawn. Attitudes, adjustments, fun, and friends all combined to make Student Impact great. A final ceremony brought all the ingredients together to give the real significance. Scott said, "Student Impact is more than just a hello committee...at the closing ceremony, it all fell together for me. The purpose was for them to see Jesus living in our lives, and to point to Him." Star Search 1987. David Slater performs during the Student Impact talent show to a packed George S. Benson Auditorium. Slater attended Harding before he became famous by winning the top male vocalist award on the nationally acclaimed show, Star Search , hosted by Ed McMahon. - photo by Steve Beliech. Squeaky clean. One ofthe activities to aid new students was the unpacking ofcars and washing of windows. Mike Foster, a sophomore from Jonesboro, AR, busily washes a freshman 's car window on August 24 - the first day of Student Impact. - photo by Ed Wilson.
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