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Profile on Lana Hazel
2.7.2009

"Carpe diem" might be the best way to describe 19-year-old Lana Hazel. She actively searches for a challenge- three majors, two bible studies, several hobbies and studying in foreign countries are just a few ways that she gets the most out of her day.


While many college students battle one major, one job, and spend extra time watching TV or hitting the bars, Hazel’s agenda is far from the ordinary. In fact, she doesn’t even own a TV, which one might understand after learning that her three majors are Spanish, Math, and Journalism. Hazel simply couldn’t decide among these three areas, so she surveyed the amount of time it would take and decided it was a worthwhile feat. Before graduating high school, Hazel made the most of her time by earning many hours of college credit through Advanced Placement credit, leading to this window of time for her. There were few major influences in her decision to take on these three disciplines. In high school, the teacher that was the most inspiration for Hazel was a history teacher, even though she did not enjoy history. “He was well organized and humorous, so he made the class interesting,” she said. Hazel's mother is a high school math teacher, which sparked her early interest in math. Although she has taken so much onto her educational plate, Hazel expects to graduate in May of 2011, as the rest of her class would. In the future, she hopes to integrate the majors while working for National Geographic as a journalist and photographer.


Her extremely dynamic behavior has become a lifestyle and seems to stem from habit. When asked what her main motivation for so much activity and involvement could be, Hazel replied, “Why get involved? Well, I can’t think of reason not to…why not?” In high school, a constant drive for involvement paid off for her. She was in the marching band’s flag line, concert and jazz bands as a saxophonist, had taken eleven years of piano lessons, volunteered at a Christian camp, worked in a law office and volunteered over three hundred hours of community service, just to name a few. Hazel graduated as the Valedictorian of her class, but claims her most noteworthy accomplishment was becoming the Arkansas Presidential Scholar. Despite her constant activity, she learned a strong sense of balance. She remained well-connected with the girls of her bible study, formed a strong friendship with her mother and grew close to her little brother. A particularly strong friendship from high school led to a major comfort for Hazel during her first years at the U of A. Her best friend, Laura Peery, became her roommate for two years and counting.


Although many people in Hazel's situation might neglect certain responsibilities, such as relationships with roommates, this is not the case for her. Peery came to know Hazel by keeping up with her in middle school and continuing in high school. The two girls were involved in many of the same activities, such as flag line, band, bible study, clubs and even classes. This gave them many chances to learn and grow together. "She's always been very goal-oriented and focused on what she wants from school, but definitely has always had time to hang out and have a down time," Peery said. As a best friend and roommate, Peery doesn't view her friend's habits as filler activity or a means to end boredom. Rather, she sees them as her personal interests, things she does for enjoyment and does not feel pressured to do.


Perhaps the most extreme example of Hazel’s curiosity-turned-ability is her entire experience with Spanish courses. In high school, she completed four years of this class, with the last being an independent study. A classmate of hers, Josh Rutherford, said she made it look easy, “Even though I was good at speaking Spanish, Lana was good at Spanish grammar. When our grades came through, she had an A and I had a D. I thought to myself…how’d she do that?” Rutherford said it was just in Hazel’s nature to go after as many experiences as she could. “I always wondered how she did everything,” he said.


After merely one year of college, Hazel studied abroad in Spain. Although many study abroad students will travel with their own group of friends, Hazel braved the trek alone. “My best friend from high school, Andrew, was going to come with me, but he called and canceled on the morning of (the trip’s beginning),” Hazel said. During this experience, she stayed with one other student and their host, a single mom. This did not take anything away from the experience, even though she would have preferred living with an entire family. She enjoyed being able to grow closer to the host mom. “When it was just the two of us, we were able to talk about more deep issues and topics,” Hazel said. “It was neat to be able to connect in a different language.” Among her favorite benefits of the trip to Spain, she said she enjoyed how real everything seemed. An avid reader, Hazel explained that living in a country brought the place to life, away from mere words on a page. Now she has come away with experiences, faces with names, bright colors and concrete details. “It’s like that song, ‘It’s a Small World’. Things aren’t other worldly anymore,” she said.


Hazel has learned a way of life that suits her, a unique way of experiencing all the world has to offer in her very own, seemingly fast pace. As of now, Hazel sees no signs of slowing down in the near future. She has already arranged for a second study abroad trip to Costa Rica this summer.