Many students considered an eighthour drive a long way from home, but for some students, a long way from home was a 20-hour plane ride halfway across the globe. With students from 49 countries around the world, Harding's international student population was not small, to say the least. Tina Liu, a sophomore from Beijing, China, had a very positive experience in coming to the United States. When Liu decided as a senior in high school to come to the U.S. as a foreign exchange student, she was placed with a family in Atlanta, Ga., who happened to be members of the church. After only being in the U.S. for one year, and with the encouragement of her host family, Liu began looking at Harding as a potential college option. "My high school took a field trip to Harding for Bison Daze, so I got a chance to see what Harding looked like and to meet the people there," Liu said. "After that, I decided to come to Harding because I loved the people, and the small classes gave me more of a chance to ask questions and talk to the professors." Even with her newfound friendships with professors and students, Liu felt the effects of culture shock upon her arrival at school. "I would have to say that the language is the first thing that destroyed 'my dream,'" Liu said. "Before I came to the U.S., I went to an international school in Beijing, which offers a lot of English classes, such as reading, writing, listening and speaking. I was a straight A student, which made me feel proud. But Iforgot one thing: here in the U.S., everyone speaks better English than I do." After coming to that realization, Liu decided to start from scratch and re-learn English. Slowly but surely, and with the help of her friends, Liu improved. Her ultimate goal was to use her opportunities to become even more multicultural than she already was. By the time of her arrival at Harding, she had already visited Singapore and Thailand, but an important factor in Liu's coming to the U.S. was her choice of occupation. "I want to become an actuary, and America has the best schools to study in actuarial science," Liu said. During her freshman year, Liu formed unique bonds with her professors, including mass communication professor Steven Shaner. "I metTina during her first semester at Harding," Shaner said. "I teach a speech class called ComO 101/ESL, meaning 'English as a Second Language,' for Chinese students. I spoke very little Chinese and I needed some help, so I recruited Tina as my assistant. Later Ifound out that Iwould have the opportunity to teach in China over the summer of 2010. Tina was going home fort he summer, and she jumped right on that." During Shaner's summer trip to China, Liu spent four days with Shaner and his wife, serving as hostess, tour guide and translator. She accompanied them to legendary places such as the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall of China. "It was amazing to have somebody like Tina with native skills, home for the summer and willing to give us four days," Shaner said. "Tina and my wife are shopping buddies now." Liu expressed how much she had changed and grown since coming to Harding. "I have become more independent and confident because I can compete with people who are coming from different countries," Liu said. "I can do much better than Ithought, like overcoming difficulties and doing better on my tests." "The best thing about Tina is her fun, friendly personality,'' Shaner said. "A lot of foreign students are shy here, afraid of saying the wrong thing, looking un-American, but that has never stopped Tina. She is one of the most open, outgoing people you will ever meet." Liu's roommate sophomore Jesslyn Willis agreed. "Tina is such a people person no matter what nationality you are,'' Willis said. "She is constantly with people and friends and would do anything for them if they needed her. She is truly an extraordinary person." Caitlin Caldwell/Sarah Eason 30 student life
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