If Hastings College senior Amani Monroe could go back in time and change one thing in history, she would stop book burnings.
Monroe, a history major and volleyball player from Colorado Springs, Colorado, said that book burning goes back further than Germany in World War II.
“So much knowledge was lost from that, at least in my mind,” said Monroe. “It set us back in many educational ways.”
Because of her passion for history, Monroe has goals of graduating from Hastings College and continuing her education at a graduate school in Europe.
“I believe it is important to know history because history is used to understand everything. It can tell us what to do, how to do it, and most importantly, prevent us from making the same mistakes,” she said.
As a transfer student, Monroe started college as a math major. However, her advisor at her previous school told her she had too many history classes and not enough math classes, so she switched majors — and schools.
At Hastings College, she’s had strong support from her current advisor Dr. Rob Babcock as she applies to graduate school, and from volleyball coach Alex Allard as she seeks to continue playing volleyball internationally. And through it all, she said she strives to be the best student-athlete she can be to continue to make her parents proud.
“My parents are my biggest inspiration because they’ve given me so many opportunities and they never give up on me,” she said, adding that her parents’ hard-work in life has inspired her to work toward the goals she wants to achieve.
Being a student-athlete comes with many responsibilities and obstacles to face. It’s hard to balance out school, practices and meetings all while trying to get a decent sleep schedule in.
Monroe’s advice to students is, “Utilize office hours because your professors will be there to help you and sometimes they end up being cool people, too.”
