"I met a lot of really awesome people and created the base of a lot of really good friendships." -Lindsey HolY;;;rxxi, freshman Freshman Derek Bullington enjoys a cool mist of water during Student Impact's Silly Olympics. Most students who participated in the Silly Olympics were caked with mud from the tug of war and needed to be hosed off. NEW STUDENTS SAY "HERE WE ARE" I Student Impact, HU's orientation program, allows freshmen and transfers to become acclimated to university life The majority of Harding's student body spent the summer working or anticipating the big move as freshmen. However, seniors Rachael Harless and Jeremy Picker, the 2001 Student Impact Co-Directors, spent their summers dreaming up crazy ideas to make incoming freshmen comfortable at Harding. Both leaders were the heart and soul of Student Impact, an experience that incoming freshmen found important and unifying. "I knew when I signed up at Summer Experience that I was getting involved in something that would help me meet a lot of people," freshman Lindsey Hobgood said. "I guess that's what I enjoyed the most about Student Impact. I met a lot of really awesome people and created the base of a lot of really good friendships." Student Impact activities included early morning devotionals, 10 student life Sophomore Amy White explains the "moving in" procedures and dorm policies to an incoming freshman. White is a Residence Life Assistant in Sears Hall. The RA's came back to campus early to familiarize themselves with these procedures. daily energy group meetings, activities like the Silly Olympics, and nightly entertainment like Bean and Bailey and a hypnotist, Chuck Milligan. "I really enjoyed all the activities," freshman Jael Beamon said. "My brother was a freshman here a few years ago, so he told me all about the activities that go on at Student Impact. But the one thing that I wasn't expecting was how many people were there. I don't think that we would have created the unity that we did if that many people weren't there." To Picker and Harless, the record 923 Impacters wasn't an obstacle to overcome, but it was a blessing. "Although we did set a goal to have more students than ever before at Impact-and we were really excited to meet that goal-our most important objective was to make { sure that all the freshmen and trans- · fers were met with the most welcoming environment possible," Harless said. "We wanted to exemplify Harding's Christian purpose ~ and devotion, while having a lot of fun at the same time." Entertaining that many freshmen for an entire five-day span was demanding, but Student Impact . was a success that left the freshman class realizing one thing: "Here I Am." -Kayla Firquain
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