One can’t help but notice something is a little bit different in the halls. Nothing about the halls themselves- the walls, lockers, mess that the night crew hasn’t cleaned up- but the new faces, some of which are actually not new at all.

The cause of this sudden influx of transfer students seems unclear, especially considering the diversity of schools the students are coming from.

Jamais Vu

Sophomore Luis Corona-Perez was one of the students completely new to Harding. He transferred from Cristo Rey. 

“I came here because I felt like it would be better for my education because of the greater amount of opportunities here for both classes and clubs. I’m really excited about Sci-Fi and Gardening Club,” said Corona-Perez. “I just felt a little bit constricted at Christo Rey and I didn’t want to live the rest of my high school career feeling that way so I transferred”

“I was a little nervous about the transition but the community Harding has has made it really easy to settle in. I think the hardest thing about coming here is the fact that [at Harding] you don’t carry a backpack around, but at Cristo Rey we didn’t even use lockers,” Corona-Perez continued. 

Deja Vu

Junior Rio Brown moved to Lubbock, Texas, last semester.

“I wanted to move in with my dad and stay there to see if I liked it,” Brown said. “I liked that the school was bigger but I ended up just not really connecting with it, and I missed all my friends at Harding a lot.”

Sophomore Ali Jalilian, who immigrated to the US from Iran before his freshman year at Harding, has come back after one semester at Destiny Christian.

“I came back because all my friends are here and I really missed them and there are more things for me to do for [photography] here,” Jalilian said. 

Jalilian currently owns a photography studio and now back at Harding, and has joined the yearbook staff. 

“I have so much fun in [yearbook]. I have time to take photos in class and I didn’t get to do that at [Destiny Christian]. I’m happy to be back at Harding,” Jalilian said.  

While not every Eagle returns its nest, those who do come back with valuable new outlooks but, in the end, have decided to make Harding their home.