Harding alumna Hayley Waldron visited campus the week before spring break to share her story about how one accident caused her to switch from pursuing a career in counseling to being a full-time nurse at the hospital and at home.
Waldron’s husband, Harrison Waldron, was in an ATV accident Aug. 14, 2015, and while his body has not allowed him to move or speak since, his brain has been as sharp as ever. Waldron visited campus March 1 to share the changes she has had to face and the path of growth she has taken since the accident.
“We had this idea of what we wanted our lives to look like, and they don’t look like that,” Waldron said. “It probably took three or four years to find my new normal.”
Assistant professor of English Dr. Heath Carpenter invited Waldron to the Harding Honors House to talk about her experiences and how Harding prepared her for her calling in nursing. Waldron’s good friend Chloe Hoffmann, who has known her since their first day at Harding, was on campus with her the day she visited. Hoffmann spoke of how much Waldron has grown since the accident.
“She has really transformed into the most compassionate person I have ever known,” Hoffmann said. “If I have a critique or a comment on anything, she helps me reframe it in the lens of compassion, empathy and understanding.”
Hoffmann said Waldron’s response to her husband’s accident changed her whole perspective on love.
“It really gave me this realization of how much you have to lose once you are committed to another person,” Hoffmann said. “She changed my mind in so many ways and helped me be less fearful of what I have to lose and more grateful for what I have to gain.”
Carpenter said he and Dean of University College Kevin Kehl wrote and received a grant in the spirit of having conversations of meaning, purpose and calling on a college campus. He said he invited Waldron to speak to ask her questions like “What is the good life?” and “How does a Harding education contribute to it?”
“I want students to quit thinking about ‘calling’ as this one job that they will get when they graduate, and instead start to say, ‘Here are my unique superpowers, and I want to discern the characteristics of my calling so that I can pick it up and house it into a lot of different professional contexts in which I feel like I’m flourishing and benefiting everyone around me,’” Carpenter said. “I thought [Waldron] was a perfect fit for that.”
Waldron said her experiences with her new career, as well as taking care of her husband, have shown her how important God is to having a fulfilling life.
“I believe that the Holy Spirit, my helper, helped me in ways I didn’t even realize and probably don’t realize today,” Waldron said. “I feel like I have a better understanding of who he is: My creator.”
Waldron said her husband’s outlook throughout their whole marriage has given her a fresh perspective of what faith should look like.
“He said God was the only one that could hear him, so he prayed,” Waldron said. “He uses every opportunity he can to be encouraging, even though he has every reason to be mad.”
