Portfolio

The New Class

Nine new freshmen share their stories of their arrival and experiences so far at FHU and how they want to make a difference

They come from 26 different states and six countries. Some prefer to sing while others prefer to wreak havoc upon one another playing on FHU’s new student-organized rugby team. Some are business majors, some are pre-med majors and some have no idea what they want to do with their lives. They have earrings and holes in their jeans and know that it doesn’t matter because that doesn’t define who they are. Some speak Shona, some are learning Spanish and some know sign language. Some knew they wanted to be at FHU this year when they were five years old, and some only decided a week before classes began. They’re in every social club or no social club at all. They’re as different as the number of miles they have traveled to be here, yet they are all completely normal college freshmen. Or are they?

It seems as if the world is in a state of flux. The U.S. president was elected under the mantra of “change.” Gas prices are $4 one day and $1.50 the next. The economy seesaws on the verge of depression while messages of hope continue to stream in from Washington. The world is definitely changing, and Freed-Hardeman University is no different. Change can be seen in every corner of the university. Last year, FHU welcomed a new president. His first initiative put a computer and iPhone or iPod in the hands of every new student. But what else is changing? If you spend time on campus, in chapel, in the new student center, you will notice a change in the landscape, but more importantly, in the faces of our students, specifically the 405 students that make up the 2008 freshman class.

The Seasons staff recruited nine freshmen from this “New Class” to teach us a little bit more about who they really are, to share with us their goals, personalities, interests and dreams. As part of the continuation of this story, we hope to follow these students through their time at Freed-Hardeman—to examine their accomplishments, to see who they become as they get ready to leave four years from now.

“It’s cool to know that there are so many people that are choosing vocations and careers that are wanting to be nurses, teachers, preachers, social workers and are wanting to make an impact on the world for Christ,” said Broderick Greer, a freshman social work major. “Whether it’s two or three people helping someone in the emergency room one night or leading a congregation of 300 people, it’s really cool to think that that is forming right here and now. It’s exciting to be a part of that.”

The New Class comes from all over the United States and beyond, each one with a different story as to how he or she landed at FHU. Simbarashe Zvaita, who just finished his first season on FHU’s soccer team, comes to Freed-Hardeman from Harare, Zimbabwe. As he neared the end of his high school career, Zvaita expressed an interest in playing collegiate soccer in the United States. His high school coach, committed to helping his team members reach their educational and athletic goals, then spoke to Coach Jason Elliott at FHU, and after a few conversations, Zvaita was eagerly on his way to America, ready to achieve his dreams.

“I wasn’t aware that Freed-Hardeman was a Christian university, but when I found that out, that’s when I really made the choice. I knew I needed something serious, something spiritual, so when [Coach Elliott] told me this was a Christian college, I knew I really wanted to be here,” Zvaita said.

Transitioning to the American lifestyle hasn’t been the easiest for Zvaita. “Back home,” he says, “I was raised by a Christian family, but I didn’t know anything about the Church of Christ. It was totally new for me. But I like the exposure. I really like the way the Church of Christ does things. It’s totally different from my background, but I’m really enjoying being around the Church of Christ.”

While adjusting to his new life in America has brought its own set of challenges, Zvaita is recognized and admired all over campus by his peers for his friendliness and genuineness. And the mesmerizing African accent doesn’t hurt. He also excelled on the soccer field in this first collegiate season, leading the Lions in goals scored while only playing in 15 of 18 games.

Deondra Bender hasn’t travelled thousands of miles to be at Freed-Hardeman, but she hasn’t exactly come to FHU by the typical means, either. When it came to choosing a college, Deondra knew she wanted to attend a private, Christian university but didn’t feel like she had found the one for her yet. From her hometown of Nashville, she researched several schools and eventually found FHU. Intrigued by her research, she decided to attend Jumpstart and knew from that day on that Freed-Hardeman is where she wanted to be.

“When I came to Jumpstart, I fell in love,” said Bender. “It was already like my own little family.”

Deondra already shared FHU’s family feeling that so many recall as their fondest memories of FHU. Also not familiar with the Church of Christ before arriving in Henderson, Deondra was a little intimidated at first with all the changes presenting themselves to her all at once. Moving away from her home, her family, her church and her support system in Nashville could make anyone homesick, but Deondra adjusted well to the changes and made FHU her second home, her second family and a strong support system.

“I’m only the second person in my family to graduate from high school,” she said. “My parents didn’t. Nobody in my family and no one I even know is Church of Christ, but coming here, I have learned so much. It was hard at first because I thought everybody was judging me, but I have learned so much about the Church of Christ. And,” she added with a grin and a nod, “I’m accepting it pretty well.”

Deondra was baptized just days later.

Not everyone was so convinced that Freed-Hardeman was the place for them, though. Sydney Rice has attended MidSouth Youth Camp since she was eight years old but had signed to play volleyball at another university. Late in the summer after she graduated high school, she went on a mission trip to Nicaragua, and several FHU alumni were also on that trip. Determined that Sydney should attend Freed-Hardeman, they began pitching the sale to her.

“They kept bugging me about why I wasn’t going to Freed-Hardeman,” Rice said. “I guess that got me thinking about it, then I went to MidSouth at the end of the summer, and that really got the ball rolling in changing my mind.”

And change her mind it did. Just three weeks before classes began, Rice enrolled at FHU and signed to play volleyball. During her freshman season, FHU’s volleyball team went undefeated in the conference, winning the regular-season conference title for the second consecutive year. She was also named to the TranSouth first-team all-conference as a freshman.

Steven Anchondo didn’t decide to come to FHU until it was almost too late. Intending to go to a state school near his hometown of Woodland, Cal., Anchondo changed his mind at the last minute, and after contemplating his options, concluded that FHU was the right decision.

“Some stuff came up in my life and I realized that I really needed to come to Freed and be around all these great people,” Anchondo said. “I realized that I needed to get away from certain influences and be in a Christian environment and focus more on my spiritual life.”

A week before classes began, Anchondo got on the phone with admissions counselors and arrived at Freed-Hardeman right after Interface, ready to embrace the FHU experience and the FHU family.

There are several stories of students like Simba, Deondra, Sydney and Steven, but others of this class had planned to be here from the beginning and never doubted that decision. For some students, attending Freed-Hardeman was as simple as deciding which way to go out of their driveway.

“I’ve wanted to be at Freed-Hardeman since I knew what college was,” said Brooke Wiley from Thompson, Ga. “Most of my family attended FHU, and after I visited a few times, I fell in love with it.”

Brennen Williams agreed. He first started thinking about FHU when his sister attended in 2001. “When I visited campus with her, I really enjoyed it. I knew then that this is where I wanted to be.”

Whether they decided to come to FHU years ago or weeks before classes began, they are here for a reason, and they want to make a difference by impacting their own lives, influencing campus and touching the lives of their peers.

The first few weeks after this class arrived on campus, there was a buzz about how this class was different, but no one could quite put his finger on what made them so unique. While that answer is yet to be discovered, these students realize their differences—and potential. They also recognize they do not fit the mold of what some might describe as “typical” FHU students.

“When I think of the ‘typical FHU student’, I always see a guy who’s clean-cut and kind of sticks to the norm. In people’s styles, while I think you have to still be modest, I feel like there are different styles now that aren’t the norm, and those are being accepted here,” said Luke Harless, a graphic design student from Decorah, Iowa.

Harless received encouragement from his uncles, both of whom attended FHU, to come to Henderson. Harless took some time off following his high school graduation two years ago, taking time to decide what he wanted to do next. During that time, he worked as a supervisor in a coffee shop, initiating his coffee addiction that is typical of most college students. He then began working at a tattoo parlor and got his tattoo license in Iowa, which inspired him to become an art major at Freed-Hardeman.

“Once I decided I wanted to take my Christian life seriously,” Harless said, “and not just take it seriously, but to genuinely put my Christian life above everything else, then you look at Freed, and you wonder how you could go anywhere else.” While it may have taken Harless some extra time to decide what path would be best for him, he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else, and he’s not alone in that decision.

Broderick Greer never did want to go anywhere else, either. “My parents didn’t go to college, so they always had this determination that my brother and I are going to graduate from college no matter what it takes,” he said. “I was blessed enough to attend a congregation that encouraged me to be here and introduced me to Freed-Hardeman.”

Greer believes that his upbringing also sets him apart on Freed-Hardeman’s campus. “I didn’t grow up in the church, and for so many students here, their dad is a deacon or an elder or a preacher or their uncle speaks at lectureships, and all that is wonderful, but that’s not my identity. And that’s fine because Freed is a place where differences are OK and your pedigree and upbringing are not extremely important.”

Greer is the oldest of two sons in his family and a native of Fort Worth, Texas, and he is proud to say that “life is good” for him at his home in Henderson and his home in Texas. “My mom obeyed the Gospel in 2006 and my dad in 2007, so we’re a fairly new Christian family, adjusting to living for God now. Life is good.”

These nine freshmen have successfully survived their first semester on their own as college students and are finishing up their freshman year and a spring semester that has undoubtedly presented them with new opportunities, challenges and experiences. They’ve attended their first lectureship, sipped coffee at the new KC’s Coffeeshop, and some have dressed up in costumes and make-up as they dedicated countless hours to their first Makin’ Music. Some officially declared their major this semester, while others will still be undecided.

Regardless of where they are in three years when we speak with them again, one thing is certain: They will have grown, because that’s what Freed-Hardeman does to its students, and these freshmen have set no boundaries for themselves.

“I like Freed’s business program a lot,” said Williams. “I did a lot of research on it before I came here, and I really feel like this was the best place for me to be. It’s a great program and a great atmosphere.”

“But my favorite thing about Freed-Hardeman,” continued Bender, “is the people. It’s not every man for himself. Everybody reaches out to each other. Everyone has flaws, and here, people want to improve themselves, but they also want to make everyone around them better, too.”

“There are just a lot of different types of people here,” added Alex Craig, from Fairfax, Va. “You walk around campus and you see people that are the same as you and you see a lot of people that are different than you, but we’re all here under one common goal: to get an education and come to a Christian university.”

“I definitely think things are going to be different,” Craig decided. “We have a lot of new people here that are ready to make a difference. I think FHU, like any university, has room for improvement, and I believe that can begin with our class. I think sometimes that kind of change is good. I think this class can portray a new generation, and things are going to be good.”

As our nine freshmen stood on the hill by the soccer field for their photo shoot, facing the new Highway 100 bypass, it was easy to see that, in more ways than one, they weren’t at Freed-Hardeman College or even the Freed-Hardeman of 10 years ago. It seemed as if they were standing there, gazing out at the blinding sun, that they were staring into the future, and it was easy to see in their eyes that these students have goals—a purpose—and they’re going somewhere.

Yes, Alex, things are going to be good.