210 home is where the • IS Dr. Heath Carpenter, assistant professor of English, attended HUF as a student, then as a professor. The Harding University in Florence (HUF) program began hosting students in the 1980s. Many called the 16th century villa home, but few did so as both a student and professor. Dr. Heath Carpenter, assi tant professor of English, attended HUF as a student in summer 2000 and returned as the spring 2019 faculty member. Carpenter brought his family of six with him. "I wouldn't say one experience trumps the other; I would just say they were different experiences -- equally good," Carpenter said. Carpenter said his first time attending HUF in 2000 expanded his awareness of the world. This awareness gave him the insight to know what to expect when he returned as a professor. Carpenter said the most rewarding aspect of going back with his family was seeing his children's minds grow from the HUF program. "You get really close with your HUF group because you all live together," Carpenter said. "I wanted my kids to be able to mix it up with the students. I wanted them to have space to roam around the villa grounds." Junior Brooklyn Kelly attended HUF in spring 2019. "When you're there, you feel like the only person who has lived there, but so many other people have lived in the villa and consider it home," Kelly said. Kelly said the Carpenters felt like her family away from home. Kelly, who also came from a family of six, said eeing that similarity while being in a foreign place made her gravitate toward the Carpenters. Senior Sarah Pearce, who attended HUF in spring 2019, said the Carpenter family did a good job of building friendships with the students on the trip. "I think that our group was lucky in a sen e," Pearce said. "We built good relationships as a whole, and the Carpenters had a big role in that. Since they had a lot of kids and were a family, it made the whole group feel like a family." Carpenter said the trip changed his family dynamic in immeasurable ways. He said he tried to encourage the intangible growth by directing conversations toward a cultural and analytical approach. Pearce said Carpenter's tendency to dig into the details and the cultures and connect everything -- something he called "digging into the weeds' -- stuck with her the most. "He didn't back off from deeper questions, and I appreciated that," Pearce said. Carpenter spoke highly of Harding's international programs and said he was thankful for the unique experience they offered. "It is the crown jewel to what we offer here," Carpenter said. "I just wish we were in a position where every single student could have a foreign learning experience before he or she leaves Harding because it is so transformative." story by Kylie Jones
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