Everyone wants to have an amazing college experien ce . it does not matter who you are, and Yelyzaveta (Lisa) Paviova was no exception to this . Pavlova came from farthe r away than many of h e r fel low students to attend Harding and she had a very interesting story that got her there. Paviova was from Dontesk, Ukraine when she decided to come to Harding to obtain her Master's of Business Administration. She was first introduced to Harding through Professor of Business Dr. Budd Hebert. Dr. Hebert met her when he went to Ukraine to speak at a seminar they put on dealing with business ethics and character. Through years of going to put on the seminar Dr. H ebert became more acquainted with Pavlova , and so two years ago she was extended the offe r to come to Harding and obtain her MBA. By the time this offer came around , Pavlova had already graduated and was working on her Ph. D in Ukraine an d was six months away frOlTl obtaini ng it. " It was kind of a hard choice," Pavlova said . " I talked to lTly parents and friends [abo ut) what they [thought] I should try, and one of my teachers from the university actually said, 'The experi ence that you will get there , you will get nowhere else .' [The] American system of education is so d ifferent an d especially in business . If you get an MBA, it's more practical than ours. So she said , 'Go for it girl!'" Pavlova graduated from h e r undergraduate program with a degree in international business in 2005 . Upon g rad uating she ente r ed the work force and worked for private cOlTlpanies as an accountant and manager. Then she entered her post graduate studies whi le also teaching business ethics , business correspondence and strategic lTlanagement. In th e fall of2008 Pavlova arrived at H arding to begin h e r studies and plann ed to graduate in May of 2010. She held many jobs while here at Harding ranging from Graduate Assistant for Dr . Hebert and Harding Characte r Initiative to her work during the summer 0[2009 to help with the Harding-wide transition from Blackboard to Moodie. Over and over again, Pavlova impre ssed those around her and proved what an invaluable tool she was to have both in work and in the classroom. " Lisa impressed us with h er strong work ethic. ambitious attitude , aptitude of learning n ew technolOgies and her warm personality," Angela Sivia , Pavlova's supervisor on her work with Moodie , said. "On her first day on the job, Lisa requested to take the 266 page Moodie manual home with her in order to bette r learn the system. She quickly became very knowledgeable in MoodIe and was an asset to our E-Learning team. " Dr. Hebert also found his experience with Pavlova to b e positive, praising h e r hard work in adapting to a new culture and learning environment. "I find her extremely effective in the classroom, interacting with other students , which in education in Eastern Europe yo u don't do," Dr. Hebert said. "She has adapted to it [a different way of learning than she grew up with) very well." It was not just all studying and work for Pavlova. After seeing the fall 2008 musical, Oklahoma , Pavlova was impressed by the performance. Seeing that musical and learning that it was performed by students lead Pavlova to audition for a role in the en semble for the 2009 musical Scrooge. In addition to th e musical, since her arrival to campus in the fall of 2008 . Pavl ova has been a m ember o f the Concert Choir. "At once I saw in he r th e ideal choir membe r - lovely voice, lovely p e r son. kind, responsible, cheerful, friendly and most importantly, full o f faith," former director of the Concert Choir, Arthur Shearin. said. "She became a quiet lead er in the group . " Coming to the U.S. proved to be full of many differences from the culture t hat Pavlova grew up wi th in Ukraine. She has been leaming English since the fifth grade and even graduated from a two - year English program ; however. once a rriving in America , sh e still fac ed some language and culture difficulties. " I know English , but not AlTlerican ," Pavlova said. "You use so much slang. I understand most of it , but some phrases or slang word s are kind of confUSing. Eve ryone is smiling, so welcoming; that is amazing, so awesome. \Ve are not gloomy back home, b u t you wi ll not find so many smiling people back home . " Upon completing her MBA at H ard ing, Pavlova planned towork i n the U.S. for a year to get some American experience. She wanted to work for an inter national company so she could use he r international and language skills. Eventually she planned to complete her Ph. D program from her university back home . It was clear to see that Pavlova had done a lot of things , not wanting to miss any aspect of the H arding life . Academically, sh e prepared herself in order to be a powerful player in the busin ess world. Steven Chandler Paying close attention, graduate student Caleb Foshee, assisted by Dr. Kwame Yeboah (left) and Dr. Dan Atchley (above), learns how to make suppositories on Nov. 18. Foshee was completing his gradua te work in Harding's pharmacy program. Noah Darnell b wore en} but lt tSW u c to do i.n "(\lY "(\lucb study urne, d tng wbat \ want 01 requl1' es sa are actua1\y stu Y tbll"lgs " "G1'ad scbo d1 because we bands- on hha n undergr~e ate able to do rn~o" ~ future career, - JtH Med\ey nt G-raduatC stdu e ~~==== ~ - gra dua te programs 187
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