Name: Allans Coello

Age: 20

Originally from: Tegucigalpa, Honduras

It was kind of hard to get Allan’s testimony because he does not enjoy being the center of a conversation. However, he agreed to talk to me about his life before Harding and how coming to study on a different country has changed his life perspective. This is what I recorded from his testimony:

“I was studying at the Universidad Nacional de Honduras before I knew about the scholarship. I was majoring in Industrial Engineering. At that moment of my life, I never thought about coming to the States with a college scholarship. Actually, I was very disappointed by the word scholarship. One of those was promised to me my whole high school life and in 2006 I realized I was not going to get it. So, I decided to go to college in Honduras and choose the most interesting major for me at that time.”

“Then, one day my mom showed me a newspaper ad about a scholarship. I was one of those ads that make you laugh because it sounds so marvelous that you know it would be impossible for you to get it. I was like if the ad said ‘we will pay you for studying.’”

“ I applied just because my mom insisted, but I was not excited at all. I did my best to get it, though. Actually, I got more excited about it towards the final part of the process because I could not believe that I was getting closer to win the scholarship.”

“When they called me to tell me that I had won it, I was so shocked that I could not believe it myself. I thanked God though at that moment for such a blessing, and I thank Him every day for all of the blessing that I have gotten while being in here.”

“I am majoring in management and international business now. Although I was studying industrial engineering in Honduras, I do not see this as if I had changed my mind. My goal in life is to be a business man but I also want to learn about the productive part of business. I see this part of my life as the chance to learn everything I can about business, especially about management, and then I plan to finish the major in industrial engineering when I get back to Honduras.”

“I want to have a big company and donate part of the profits to the causes I decide to help. I do not think that I have found my purpose in life, but I feel closer to find it. I really want to help my family, that is my big objective right now.”

“Sometimes the phrase ‘dreams come true’ sounds very cliché. But I have found that if you work hard enough, dreams do come true. The ugly part is not to do anything and let those chances to pass you by.”

Talent show raises money for Honduran youth

Also from TheLink, Harding University's online newspaper. The photo slide show is my contribution to the story.

http://thelink.harding.edu/index.php/news/1-harding/441-talent-show-raises-money-for-honduran-youth

Laura Ingraham's Speech at Harding

Also from TheLink, Harding University's online newspaper. The last video on this article is my broadcast report on the event.

http://thelink.harding.edu/index.php/news/1-harding/418-ingraham-tells-harding-audience-to-stand-up-against-obama

Harding students share their experiences in Ukraine

Also from TheLink, Harding University's online newspaper

http://thelink.harding.edu/index.php/news/1-harding/581-harding-students-share-their-experiences-in-ukraine

Video: The Burksy award winners

Also from TheLink, Harding University's online newspaper

http://thelink.harding.edu/index.php/news/1-harding/481-the-burksys-in-short

Business and faith to support churches in Honduras

This story came out at TheLink, Harding University's online newspaper. I was the writer.

http://thelink.harding.edu/index.php/news/1-harding/400-business-and-faith-to-support-churches-in-honduras

Name: Francis Morales

Age: 20

Originally from: Managua, Nicaragua

Yesterday, I went to look for some international students who I could interview at the Harding University's library. I found Francis on the second floor. She was studying really hard for a test, but agreed to give me a few minutes of candid conversation.

I had the chance to find out very interesting things about Francis that I did not know. Although she is a Walton Scholar, she does not see her opportunity of being a Harding student as a surprise that came out of a sudden, but as a goal she had pursued with an objective in mind.

This is what she told me about herself, when we started to talk about her personal mission statement:

“I have two reasons for being at Harding. First, I had always had the dream to do my college studies in a foreign country. Second, I had always wanted to help my mom. She has raised me and my sister by herself, and I wanted to lift a little bit of weight from her shoulders.”

“I found out about the Walton Scholarship when I was 16 years old. I really wanted to get this scholarship. I applied for the program while I was still at high school and I was called for the interview in November of 2006. After that, I had a second interview. Finally, I got news from the Walton organization until January of the next year.”

“Now, I am double-majoring in management and international business. But my plan before coming to Harding was to study medicine, because I wanted to be a pediatrician. However, I have family members who are doctors and I realized that they do not spend much time with their families. The time-consuming consequence of studying medicine made me change my mind. I decided to study business because I am good at it.”

“The truth is that when you are successful, you have a better chance to help others. Even if you have no specific objective, you will react to other person’s need. But I do want to help children. I know that if I push myself enough, I think I might get a nice job, with better chances of helping them.”

“My mission statement would be: to help others to understand God better and to help people in material need as well. If I pictured myself in five years, I want to be working and beginning a family. Also, I want to travel, to know other cultures and places.”

Name: Kirvyn Kenneth Vargas Quiel
Age: 22
Originally from: City of David, located in Chiriqui, Panama. He was raised in a community called Volcan.

Kirvyn shared his story with me with his usual politeness. With a charmin panama accent, Kirvyn told me that although he chose to double major in management and international business, what he really wants to be is a lawyer. Actually, he was studying law while in college back home, before the Walton Program chose him for a full scholarship.
“I don’t like injustice, and I feel that I have to defend people when they cannot do it by themselves,” said Kirvyn.
"I feel the responsibility of helping other people, and I like to do it.”
When Kirvyn came to Harding he realized he was not allowed to study law. The Walton Program requires the students who enjoy the scholarship to get a bachelors degree in no more than four years.
However, Kirvyn knows that a double major in Management and International Business is going to be very appreciated in the Panama job market, because it is a very multicultural country.

Kirvyn says that, after graduating from Harding, he wants to start working at a big company. Then, after a while, to go back to school in order to continue his major in law. He says that he wants a job on a big company so that he learns what the business world is.

“I love law-related stuff. I have dreamed to be in a court defending someone since I was a kid . I want to fight for people's rights."

"I like to talk a lot, to express myself in words. I think God gave me a good gift, in order to use it as a lawyer and also as a Christian.”

“There is a quote by Venus Williams which I think defines me: You have to believe in yourself when no one else does. That’s what makes you a winner. That’s my motto.”