What's your favorite day at Harding?

by Teresa Castleman, director of Abundant Living 

We knew Nov. 21, 2024, was going to be a long day. It was cold and windy at 6:15 a.m. when students, faculty and staff members met at the Searcy airport to fly to Virginia for the final Harding Tour event of the year. A series of recruiting, fundraising and alumni engagement events hosted across the country each fall, the Harding Tour is a collaboration of the admissions, advancement and alumni teams. By this final trip, the 20th in three months, we were all a bit road weary but excited to wrap up the tour.

There were nine of us, and the advancement and admissions representatives had appointments all day, but the rest of us had no responsibilities until the evening. Dr. Andrea Morris and I were acquainted, but I had never met Joe Faith, a professor in the College of Business Administration, or Max Thweatt, a sophomore communications studies major from Nashville. The four of us loaded up in a rental car with the whole day before us.

I hadn’t been to Washington, D.C. since I was in high school, so I suggested that Andrea — who lived and worked in our nation’s capital for several years — show us around. In addition to the usual sights — the White House, George Washington University, national monuments and Capitol Hill — she entertained us with behind-the-scenes anecdotes and stories of her former colleagues. We ended our tour at Arlington National Cemetery, and the four of us walked to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, serendipitously arriving during the changing of the guard. We watched in silence, sharing the somber experience with a small crowd of strangers but also feeling strangely alone with our own thoughts. Walking back to the car, we shared personal experiences with loss and contemplated the profound sacrifices represented by the thousands of simple, white stones that stretched around us in all directions.

Later that evening, we reflected on what a great day we had enjoyed and how the four of us — virtual strangers except for our connection to Harding — had savored the time together and had such meaningful conversations. Max said, “This has been my favorite day at Harding so far!” We all laughed, as we were nearly one thousand miles from Searcy, but I truly understood what he meant.

Between five years as a student and 11 as an employee, I’ve had a lot of great days at Harding. They always center on the people I have shared them with and are flavored with a sense of community so unique to this place. I love the Benson seats as well as anyone, but my most meaningful times there are not connected to the brown upholstery (or the ’90s orange) but rather the people sitting near me or speaking from the stage. The trees on the front lawn are beautiful, but they aren’t what I think of when I remember my best time spent there.

Some of my other favorite days at Harding have happened far from Searcy, in places like Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Bar Harbor, Maine; and Reykjavik, Iceland; as I have traveled with Harding friends on alumni tours. Bringing the Harding community to experiences both near and far is the best part of my job on the alumni and parent relations team. Our Harding experience does not end at graduation. Embers of the bonds we make as students are carried throughout our lives and fanned back to life when we gather together. 

Even for many who didn’t attend as students, Harding is special. A few summers ago, my family was driving through a remote area of Montana on the way home from a mission trip with students in western Canada. We stopped for lunch at a tiny diner — the only restaurant for miles. As we finished our lunch, strangers approached the table. They had noticed us pull up in a Harding van and shared with us what a profound impact the University had on their daughter as a student. There were tears in their eyes as they spoke, and our immediate connection was tangible.

The unique Harding experience spans the globe, extending anywhere Harding people go. It’s more than just a college experience. It’s a family.

What’s your favorite day at Harding? We’d love to hear all about it here. 

Are you ready to make some new memories with the Harding family? Now you can travel the globe with alumni, Abundant Living and friends. Choose from three trips in 2026-2027 and enjoy the comfort, safety and fun of group travel with friends!