HUF transcends student harriers Florence , Italy. Birthplace of the Renaissance and home of Harding University? Harding University has been thriving in Florence (HUF) since 1980 and the two are a dynamic partnership. Each semester, the Italian campus offers challengingclasses,housinginits ownvilla and Europeantravel to40 students.Thecampushas some full-time faculty members and a few teachersfromtheSearcycampuseach emest;er. HUF supports fall , springand summer classes eve:ryyear. In the spring of 1996, Dr. Ken Hammes took 24 women and 18 men to Florence. Junior TiffanyWatkins said, "Just being in the villa with our group was the best experience. We all got to be so close." Scott Schwieger agreed. "We had no cliques in our group. We all would do things as a group. Traveling with each other was so much fun.' However, traveling during HUF is no ordinary thing. "You have to get used to not showeringandlivingon trains. Onetime Iwent 11 days without showering,"Schwieger said. "You also have to learn how to live out ofyour backpack and survive on crackers and peanut butt;er. The experience is amazing. It's almost too bigfor words. It's somethingyou've seen all your life in pictures and then you're seeing it right there in front ofyou." Al though the experiences were wonderful , students did have some adjustments to make. ''Before Iwent overthere, I was almost angry about things whichwere different from America, like having to pay to go to the restrooms. I learned to blend Randie S eeber, Melissa Gilmore, Rhonda Jump and Kellie Davenport help with the harvest ing of olives from Harding's property during the fa ll . The olives are used to make oil which the school uses throughout the year. Photo by Dr. Carl Mitchell. 34 HUF with them and not try to Americanize them. I didn't mind the differences at the end of the trip because I had accepted their culture," Watkins said. The summer program is designed for students who are unable to attend any other time. Junior David Richmond said, "I was signed up to go in the spring but, as a chemistry major, it wasn't possible. The summer programwas great because, instead of losing a semester that I needed to be here I gained an extra semester toward graduating. And since it was during the summer, the whole trip felt like a huge summer vacation." The fall groupwas accompaniedbyDr. Carl Mitchell. "Having the Mitchells on our trip was great because they knew the area really well. We got to do a lot of neat things that most groups don't get to do, like seeing Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius ," Sonua Bohannon said. Students found that goingtoHUF in the fall canbe beneficial becausemoney from summer .~obs is still plentiful. "I worked three jobs Lll summer just to be able to make the trip. 3ut it's all worth it, every dime ," Russell 3rown said. ' Getting to know all the peoplewas a great ~xperience," Brown said. "It's not likeHarding Nhereboys are on one side ofcampus and girls :ireon theopposit;e side.We all livedright there. Everyonewas 3,000 miles awayfrom home. We broke outofourHardingcliques andmet people we neverwouldhave ever talked to otherwise. We're like family now." - Sara VanRheenen
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