Student Spotlight: Hayley Cook
Hayley Cook is a junior History major with Secondary Social Studies certification. The following is her responses to interview questions written by the History Department’s work studies. Her responses are part of a series of responses gathered from Messiah University history students about classes, interests, and their experience as a student during a pandemic.
Interview Question: What history courses are you taking this semester?
Hayley’s Answer: Europe in the Reformation with Norm and America in the revolution with Dr. Fea.
Q: In your personal research, or in your classes, what is something you have learned about that was interesting?
A: I’ve read some extremely interesting books in Reformation Europe, including Thomas More’s Utopia and The Measure of Reality, which makes the case for a switch from qualitative to quantitative thinking in Europe.
America in the Revolution has completely changed my perspective on the revolution. Specifically, it has challenged the way modern day America pushes the revolution onto pre-revolutionary America.
Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your life as a student?
A: It makes school a lot harder. We have more condensed semesters here without any substantial breaks and are hardly able to see anyone with regulations on campus. Fighting burnout has definitely been a lot harder this year.
Q: Are you involved in any research, project, or internship right now?
A: I don’t have an internship at the moment but I am doing research for two of my classes at the moment.
Q: If there was one thing you could tell upcoming history students, what would it be?
A: I would tell them to take advantage of an opportunity to dive into a field of study [that allows students to experience] a way of thinking that is far from black and white. The way we study has caused me to rethink everything and [this] has been a really positive thing.
We would like to thank Hayley for her responses and her wonderful advice to upcoming students!
History on the Bridge 