Susan Hardy is not one to shy away from a social opportunity.
What makes her a people person?
History — a study of lives, stories and legacies throughout time.
“I feel like a big unification of humanity is our shared pasts,” Hardy said.
As a history major, it is her mission to build informed citizens and share her knowledge with others.
Identifying the source of her interests
Growing up in Nixa, Missouri, Hardy embraced an appreciation for history.
“My family would always go to history museums and things like that. Like, we would go to Colonial Williamsburg instead of Disneyland for vacations,” she said.
While Hardy initially came to Missouri State to study public relations, she soon redirected her interests toward historic preservation and public education.
“If I can work to help other people love [history] to the same degree that I do and if people love it that much, then I think it makes people better humans in a way, because it encourages them to think critically and encourages empathy.”
Hardy’s instructors found fun and meaningful ways to help her connect with the course material.
“I feel like the faculty really care about helping the students succeed. I feel like that’s kind of across the board of the entire university,” she said. “That’s what I think makes Missouri State so special is the relationships that you form with people, even though we’re a pretty large school.”
One professor who played an instrumental role in Hardy’s education was Dr. Julia Troche, an associate professor in history.
Taking steps to prepare for her future, Hardy is grateful for Troche’s mentorship through the process.
“She is brilliant. She’s so knowledgeable, and a lot of my interests align with ancient history and things like that. And she’s really encouraged that and exploring that, and then also just being a big advocate for me,” Hardy said.
Encapsulating history in public conversations
As an active student, Hardy has a long list of valuable experiences, from setting up a museum exhibit at the Springfield Art Museum to networking with museum educators in Philadelphia.
In 2023, she traveled to Washington D.C. to be a public educator at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
“History and culture are intertwined, and this was a lot about the Ozarks, like the folk life of the Ozarks. I’m from here, and so I care a lot about that. And so, I got to see the kinds of things that people really connect with. The kinds of things that they find interesting, the kind of things they don’t find interesting, the kind of questions that they ask,” she said.
She also interned at the Springfield Greene County Archives, where she cleaned and preserved documents.
“That was a ton of fun,” Hardy said. “I knew that I wanted to do something with public history and that’s kind of related to anything that the public is accessing and interacting with.”
Her internship provided good opportunities for her to uncover her hidden talents and practice skills she could use in her future.
Examining diverse perspectives as a leader
Aside from her community involvement, Hardy is also a natural leader on campus.
She is currently in her second year as the president of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society.
For this club, she attends professional development conferences and schedules history programs, like special lectures taught by historians and MSU professors.
“I really want to make sure that people are finding things interesting, but also learning the facts about stuff, carrying empathy with them, actually learning it and not holding onto stereotypes.”
Hardy has also used her programming skills to help plan events with the Student Activities Council.
Through this organization, she’s learned how to organize events, how to connect people to the events and what kind of things people find interesting.
As a university ambassador, Hardy gives tours of the MSU campus, which has helped her develop her public communication skills.
Most notably, Hardy is known for her role as student representative on Missouri State University’s Board of Governors.
Her interest in history has been influential in this position as well.
“I think some of the skills you pick up as a ‘historian’ or a historian in training [have] a lot to do with acknowledging different perspectives and things like that,” Hardy said. “So, [it’s] just hearing different sides of events or issues or things and taking those in and then figuring out how to convey that, and that’s definitely something that you have to use whenever you’re the one student representing the entire student body.”
And the rest is her story…
Having made her mark at Missouri State, Hardy plans to graduate in May 2025.
Her next step: a master’s degree.
So far, she has applied to 11 graduate programs, two of which are in the United Kingdom.
She is focusing her master’s in either museum studies or public history.
“I’ve connected a lot with history, because of my experience with museums and historic sites,” she said. “But other people don’t feel that way, and so how do we make sure that we’re showcasing the importance of history and history is fun to the broadest range of people as possible?”
In her future career, she hopes to continue working in the public-facing realm of history, such as programming, education and exhibit curation.