A sophomore majoring in information technology systems, Rysper Syrma grew up with a Christia n background and decided to come to Harding after hearing about it from friends. Syrma was part of the cross-country team. She would like to return to Kenya after graduation to be with her family and to open a children's home. Noah Darnell Jose Manue l Hernandez was a senior from San Salvador, EI Salvador. He studied international business and finance. Hernandez came to Harding as a Walton Scholar and would like to return to his hometown to open a business to create more job opportunities for his people. Noah Darnell Junior James Brunton was a political science major from Leire, UK. "I have always been ready to move on to the next stage in life ahead o f time. I'm not sure why but it may just be a restless side to me, or a need to progress. I also felt like I needed to come to the environment of Harding. I actually saw it as something exciting rather than [being] nervous [about it]." Noah Darnell Around The World Many students right o ut of high school seemed to have o n e thing o n th eir mind, gett ing out of the pa rent's . house. St rict rules, invasion of p rivacy and cleaning . ' th e ho use got old, getting gl'ounded for grades became usele~ and being in th e same .place for 18 years straight be– came unbearp.ble. But for juniorJ ames Brunton , from Leire , UK , coming all the way to Seal'cy, AR to attend H.arding Unive l'sity was much more than that. "I decid ed to come to H arding to be around C hristians because I felt like I needed to boost my spiritual growth and life ," Brunto n said. " I also felt like the atmosphe re of Ha rding mad e it somewhere I really wanted to be - the relationships people build here just seem more spec ial than elsewh ere." - ~ Brunton a lso felt that the teacher- student I'elat ionships we re u nique in that professors really gOt to know th e students in class " It seems like .most o f th e professors are much more willing to engage students o n a more person al level , really get to know them and care about their learning, spi ritual and pe rsonal growth. " Brunton said . Brunton came to Harding six months ear liel' than a typical high school graduate stud en t educated in America. "The two education and grad ing sys tems [i n England] are a lot differen t ," Brunton said. " But H arding said that they had teach ers reports on me and had my SAT scores so come whenever 1 wa nt ed really. By the time 1 found out it was just too late to try and get my visa and evel,thing else sorted to come fo r the fall so I prayed and thought hard and was able to come in Janua ry. " Brunton star ted his Hardi ng career in the spring 2007 semes – ter. Starting late r and at a younger age than the ot her freshmen did not seem to be a hinging factor in making friends o r fitting in. "Most of th e time age wasn't the wo r st part - esp ecially with guys - because the l'e wasn't that much difference (on ly a year - tops of 18 month s 01' so), it was gett i ng used to not having close fri ends," Brunton said. "Because of my accent it was relatively easy to make what 1 would call acquaintances- p eople who would say h ey and smil t;.- which made [me] fee l welcome. It was a lot to adjust [to] having to get used to the fact that people would stop and j ust listen to me talk, o r try to get me to say cer tain phrases, but tha t most of the time they weren ' t listening to what 1 was saying so much as how I was saying it." T hough t making friends pl'oved not to be a difficult task. ad– justing to a new CU I'I'iculum was a bit difficul t. "It was hard to adjust to [general educat ion) requirements," Brunton said. " In England we nar row down th e su\;:!:iects we take earli er , so before I came I wa s o nly studying En gJi1t Literature, History, Politics and Sociology." Brunto n's main focu s fOI' comi ng to Harding was to grow spi ri– tually, and that seemed to be exactly what he did. "Sp iritually before I got h ere, 1 was su rviving but not really growing," Brunton said. "Spiritually now I fee l like 1 am doing much bette r . I am involved at Highway, 1 go to a H ear t Croup and I've been lucky enough to be al'ound some very spiritual people and have some great Bible classes and professors h ere that have taught me how to have a better walk with Jesus . " Through aU the amazing p eople and opportunities at Harding, Brunto n knew that th ings were not perfect. Though th ere were ups and downs , struggles and t r ials, Brunton seemed to always keep in mind wh at was most important. "The h ardes t thing to adjust to is letting people in, trust ing people [enough] to tell them your prayer requests, fears. hopes and dreams and t hat they won't abuse that trust, or hurt you for it ," Brunton said. "While you can get hurt do in g some of those things even he re, I have greater trust in those here . This enables me to talk about my faith more eaSi ly and makes me a bette r C hristian - it allows me to b e more than just an exampl e to those around me but [h elps me] teU-t hem what they need to h ear." ~ Hannah Beall interna tional students 27
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