A RUSSIAN F A M LY LEGACY \ \'!tile Harding was home to many international students, some or them 11·ere at Harding following a family legacy. Freshman Alexandra Regida was the first Russian student to attenrl Harding since her uncle and uncle's friend attended 2 l years prior. Regida was from Omsk, Siberia, By Parker Morrow and Alex Wingrove Carr said he knew Regida's uncle fairly well when he was at Harding. He and Carr were good friends, and Carr spoke at his funeral. ''Alex Aziamm· was best friends with [Regida's] uncle and [was] also the one ,\·ho started [fondraising] for Alexandra," Carr said. "Initially, the scholarship 11·hich was also where her uncle. fran Regida, 11·as from. Her uncle passed away in .July 1995 in Illinois due to an accident after graduating from Harding. Regida said a big reason she wanted to attend Harding ,l"as to continue her uncle·s story. "I would have never heard o.f Jlarding or even dreamed to come to America had it not was suppo eel to be for several Russian students, but once he found out his friend's niece was wanting to come, he mm·ed it all around so it could just be used for her.'' Vaughn said it was Regida's first time to ever be in America and that she traveled by train and then by plane. She came to H arding on Aug. 17, for Stampede and Impact. According to Vaughn, international students had a completely different application process with an extra fee, making it very difficult for those students to come "l 11·ould ha,-c ne,er heard of Harding or even dreamed to cornr to America had it not been for my uncle," Regida said. '·I really ,,·ant to li\'e in :\few York, and I dream to experience that place.'· been .for my uncle.)) - .freshman Alexandra Regida Regida stayed with friends of her family in Illinois before coming to Harding. She really liked the campus and said it ,vas ,·ery different from where she grew up. She did not know any other students before coming to Harrung, but she knew of Senior \'ice President Dr.Jim Carr and bad spoken to Stacy Vaughn, assistant director of admissions. and attend Harding. "Alexandra was very excited and emailed me last fall 2015, and we were only able to communicate through email," Vaughn said. "She is the first true Russian [studentl to attend Harding in the past 21 year ." Freshman Alexandra Regida is the first Russian student lo attend Harding since her un cle and his friend were students in 1995. After her uncle passed away, Regida wanted lo attend Harding to co11ti11ue the story her uncle started. I Photo by Macy Pate FHL",11 \Ir\ ~ IP:i
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