It has been almost twenty-five years since my Harlaxton Experience, yet the memories are so vivid that it seems like only yesterday. As a 19 year old who had never been on a plane, train or for that matter traveled more than a day’s car ride outside of Indiana, Harlaxton profoundly changed the way I looked at the world and has influenced the career and personal choices I have made since.
Like many students, my first memory of Harlaxton was when I saw the Manor from the back of the taxi as we drove up the drive. I had spent my summer poring over the brochure and reading and re-reading all of the literature that was sent to me, but nothing that I read prepared me for the truly awesome sight of first seeing the Manor. I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to live in this fairytale castle for the next four months. And to this day, pictures of Harlaxton bring back a flood of fond memories of the Manor, the people and the experiences. When I have a particularly tough day at the office, all I need to do is glance at the picture next to my computer and I am transported, if only for a second, to this wondrous time in my life when Harlaxton was my home and Europe was my playground.
Though the experiences were memorable, it was the people with whom these experiences were shared that truly make them extraordinary. The bond forged by the shared experience of living abroad, the adventures of travel and the exuberance of youth can never be duplicated, and thus is truly special. Sometimes I think of my friends and wonder where life’s journey has taken them. And though I have lost touch with some, and don’t communicate nearly as much as I would like with others, I will always cherish their friendships and know that if I saw them today, it would be as if one of us just returned from a long weekend of travel, and we would sit over a pint and talk about our adventures.
Don Morris
Fall 1985
