{"id":10941,"date":"2018-04-19T22:08:48","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T04:08:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/?p=10941"},"modified":"2018-04-19T22:10:55","modified_gmt":"2018-04-20T04:10:55","slug":"around-the-world-and-back-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/2018\/04\/19\/around-the-world-and-back-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Around the world and back again"},"content":{"rendered":"

With graduation right around the corner, many anxious seniors are wondering what will happen after May 5. Where to live, if they will have a job, and how to leave Harding behind. For many students, graduation means going home. For some, home is on the other side of the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2015 alumnus Tingyu Liu said that, while he was excited to graduate, it was difficult to move home to China and leave Harding.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was having a hard time leaving,\u201d Liu said. \u201cI walked around campus and took pictures. I went to the student center, the caf and every restaurant I liked in Searcy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life after college can be difficult, but also provide opportunities for growth, according to Liu.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an old Chinese saying, \u2018It is when you are using what you learned from books that you wish you had read more books than you have,\u2019\u201d Liu said. \u201cI would suggest thinking over what your goal is and then make plans to go after it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mariana Lopez, a 2013 graphic design graduate from Mexico City, said making the transition from Harding to home can be scary, but to remember that God is always present.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was hard to realize that my Harding experience was over. It was hard to figure out what was coming next,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cI felt I was stuck in the past, and I was so anxious about the future that I couldn\u2019t focus on the today. But after a couple of months I embraced the present, I prayed every day for motivation and remembered that God answers at the right time and at the right moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Keeping up with friends after college is not easy, especially from far away, but Lopez said social media helps keep everyone connected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been hard to keep up with my friends because social media helps a lot to connect with them at anytime and anywhere,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cI\u2019ve even visited some friends in their home country. It\u2019s great to catch up in person (rather) than just through the screen of your phone. I feel friendships at Harding are truly special because of the bonds and memories you create while being a student.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lopez also offered a bit of advice to those getting ready to graduate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne \u2014 enjoy every day. Everyone who graduated will tell you that, but it\u2019s true,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cAnd two \u00ad\u00ad\u2014 plan your goodbyes. Graduation day is (going to) be a crazy day. Make a list of the people who you\u2019d like to thank.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With graduation right around the corner, many anxious seniors are wondering what will happen after May 5. Where to live, if they will have a job, and how to leave…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15105,"featured_media":10945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10941"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10942,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10941\/revisions\/10942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}