Breaking tradition by building a future While most students pack up their bags at the end of high school and head to college, some wa it to further their education. Most of Ha rding's students came stra ight out of high school, but many were in the category known as nontraditional students. Because they were o lder than traditional students, these students had diffe rent concerns while in school. Yet, in many ways, they were jusi regula r students. According to the registrar, non-traditional students are those who are 25 o r o lder and there are 489 on record. The ir reasons for waiting to attend college are va ried. Some worked for a few years before coming to Hard ing, some started a family, and others just took a break from school. "I started off at a community college and then decided to take a year off to work, " sophomore Chris Olson sa id. "I wasn 't sure why I was in school , and I fe lt burnt out , so I decided to take a year off. When I d id, I met people who didn 't have degrees and who had no d irection in the ir lives. I was able to see first-hand the importance of an education. Focusing on that really he lps me in school. " Dwight and Barby Smi th, Harding's campus ministe rs, had contact with a variety of students, including many nontraditional students seeking he lp with problems related to starting o r returning to school later in life. Barby Smith said, "Sometimes non-traditional students have trouble connecting with campus life and getting all they ca n out of Hard ing on both a spiritual and emotional basis." She said there were benefits to being a non-traditional student. "Many of the nontraditional students know where they a re going with their lives, and many don 't have the same money concerns that other students do," she said. Jimmie Douglass, a non-traditional student who attends Harding with his wife Carol, said, "Gene ra lly speaking, there is a job involved, so the re is less time fo r studying. It's not much different rea ll y" Many older students don 't see themselves as being different from traditional students. "I've never thought of myself as a non-traditional student," Kim Edwards said , "I graduated 20 years ago and I continued to learn. You wa nt to learn about the world around you. I feel that coming back to Harding is a continuation of my learning." Mixing both adva ntages and disadva ntages, Harding's non-traditional students found thei r p lace in the body of students just as othe r groups did. While some of their worries and concerns differed from those of a student fresh out of high school , their desire to learn in a Christian environment united them with traditional students. !1& 32 Student Life - Scott Loftis justin Snyder talks with Elizabeth Sewell before beading to class. Living offcampus, non-traditional students are fo rced to be productive between classes. Photo by Kristi Burns.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==