In the Jungle; Haley Reynolds

Welcome to In The Jungle, where we meet the grill as a Pittsburgh State University. I'm your host, Howard Smith, and today we're joined by Haley Reynolds from Carl Junction, Missouri. Haley, thanks for being with us. Yeah. Thanks for having me. So, Haley, I understand you're a math major. Yes. What about mathematics brought you, made you decide to go in that field? Well, originally I wanted to be a math teacher, and that was because I understood the language of math. So, I wanted to be able to relay that to other individuals, or recently I've decided not to go into that field, but I still love math. I've always, it's always challenged me where other fields haven't as much, so I enjoyed being challenged daily, so that's definitely why I chose mathematics. Math is challenging for some folks, so about it, so obviously you must, you must do well out of thought to stay in the field, so you're understanding it, is that right? Yeah. Okay. So, it's interesting when you use word challenge. What might have been the toughest course then so far in math? All three calculus classes, I don't like calculus that much, so I would say calculus two is definitely challenging, because there was a bunch of new words, but I would definitely

say calculus two. Okay. Who's influenced you as far as mathematics? So, have you had any instructors or anybody in the past that's caused you to think, yeah, you know, I really still really love math. In high school, I had two amazing teachers, Mrs. Sharp and Mr. Nyria, and they just pushed me into math, and I just, because of them, is pretty much why I love math, so. But I also love my instructors here as well. They're just, they really get to know the math students, and so I enjoy just being around them, and they always like greet me when I see them, whether it's in class or in the hallway or just across campus, so I really enjoy my instructors, and they influence me to stay in the math field, so. Good deal. Hey, I know that I asked you about the toughest math classes, which ones have you enjoyed the most? Actually, I really enjoy the two math classes I'm in right now. I'm in math modeling, which is applying math to the real world, so we've done like cryptography, we've done building a highway, right now we're doing like apportionates, like how they

apportion house to the representatives, and like how many states get each number, and it's really cool to like learn about that type of stuff. And I'm also in history of math, which is, it's really cool to like learn about the different cultures and what they had to go through like, Egyptians didn't use like zero, and it's just really cool to learn like how math has improved and how things have developed. What else do you do here on campus? Well, the past two years I was in R.A., and then this year I'm a hall director in Bowen Hall, so that's a lot of fun. Being involved in the dorms, it seems like to me like that would be, that there'd be a lot of things going on. Oh yes, and with the new year there's always new obstacles and new freshmen come in and they always have new personalities, and it's a lot of fun. What are some of the best things about living in the dorms? Well, my first year in the dorms, I actually met my fiance, so that's probably one of my favorite, but.

It has to be at the top of the list, right? Yeah, probably, but besides that like the other areas I've worked with have become my best friends, so, and I just love getting to meet the freshmen because they're at the beginning of the year, they're just confused and so helping them get any stories about any freshman thing? I have plenty of stories. My first year in R.A., I had a resident crying in the hallway at two o'clock in the morning and I went outside and I was like, what's wrong? She had to accidentally open the door up on her foot and ripped her big toenail off, so we did help to get that together at two o'clock in the morning, my first year. Being a resident assistant and a hall director that you're kind of to a certain extent, you may not be a parent, but you're certainly someone to turn to, it sounds like. Yeah, a lot of my residents the past years have called me their mom, so, and they tell me that they told their other moms that I'm their campus mom, so it's fun. What about the difference between now?

I know you served two years in nation, and now you're in Bowen. Yes. Tell us what the differences are between, say, living in a large residence hall versus living in a smaller one. Yeah, so a large residence hall, a nation hall, there's over 300 residents there. So I had 50 personally on my floor, so I knew at least 50 of the residents there, but it was harder to get to know some of the other residents because there are total of 10 floors within that building, but it is a lot of fun because there is always something going on with the number of residents living in Bowen Hall, there's only 100 residents total in the building, so I know almost every resident, but it's really cool because the whole building is a community instead of each floor being its own little community, and there's always residents from every floor hanging out with each other in the lobby area just having a good time, and they all know each other and laugh, and it's a lot of fun. How do you hear about Pitt State? I know you're from Carl Junction, so it's not like it's a long ways away from home, but how do you hear about Pitt? A lot of my high school teachers actually support Pitt, like fully, like they have Pitt State

stuff everywhere in their rooms, Mr. Nieria was one that, my math teacher that helped me come here and then Mr. Higgins, my psychology teacher as well, because his daughter works in the admissions department here, pretty much my high school teachers influence students about Pitt State, so. Hey, what are some of the activities that go on on campus that you really enjoy participating in? I always love you, like hell, during homecoming week, that's, I don't ever dance, but I love watching it, because it's just so much fun, and seeing the support that comes out, not only from the students, but from our community, and just everyone comes to watch that, and it's super cool to see all the support that Pitt State has, but I really enjoy always watching that. What surprised you the most about coming to college or attending college? I really love the community feel here, like coming from high school, like I graduated 200 people, I knew almost 200 of those people coming to college, I knew my roommates,

and getting to like really just adapt with other people, I guess, and like making those relationships and making those connections I didn't know, like it was going to happen, but it did, and not only with like my peers, but also with my advisors and different organizations and stuff like that. I think just the community and finding my niche, like almost to a tee. That's really pretty neat, so really when you got here, the warmth and maybe the general welcoming feel that not only comes from the university, but the surrounding community. Yeah, I felt like I'd be belonged at Pitt State. You belonged, and that's a great statement right there. Hey, what advice would you give a prospective student that they were looking at Pitt State? What would you want to tell them? That Pitt State's awesome. Just to keep an open mind, that college is a new start, so you don't have to be the same person you were in high school if you didn't like who you were in high school, or maybe you want to like make new friends or whatnot, like college is a new start, so be open to

those new beginnings. Great, great. I'm going to steal your line. You know, listening to Haley, that's why you belong at Pitt State. I'm your host, Howard Smith. Thanks for listening today.