Spring at Hillsdale College brings a flurry of honors and awards to members of the senior class, as they receive recognition for their achievements in academics, athletics and other activities. For two seniors each year, the honor of being named Outstanding Senior Man and Outstanding Senior Woman is especially gratifying, as the accolade comes from both their peers and the faculty. In a senior class brimming with talent and accomplishment, Aaron Hummel and Jessica Degnan stood out as this year’s outstanding seniors.

While still in high school, Aaron Hummel of DeWitt received an invitation from fellow Hillsdale classmate Sam Russell to attend the College’s Freedom 101 summer economics camp. While he thoroughly enjoyed the experience and subsequently applied to Hillsdale, Hummel ultimately chose Lake Superior State University for financial reasons. During his freshman year, however, he realized that LSSU was not the college experience for which he had hoped.

“I was not challenged in my classes,” he recalled. “I realized that college is a bigger investment than just the cost of it, so I transferred to Hillsdale for my sophomore year.”

At Hillsdale, Hummel found a vibrant academic environment that challenged and enriched him. A biology major and chemistry minor, he also participates in the Dow Journalism Program and writes weekly for the Collegian. In addition to his science courses, he counts Freshman Rhetoric and Great Books with Dr. Stephen Smith, American Heritage with Dr. John Willson and Dr. Tom Conner, and the U.S. Constitution with Dr. Nathan Schlueter as some of his favorite classes. “It was interesting to see how the principles on which our country was founded apply to the issues of today,” he said of the Constitution course.

One of today’s major issues had a significant impact on Hummel’s life. In January 2005, Hummel enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves. “I supported the war in Iraq verbally, but I wanted to support it in action as well,” he said. He completed boot camp that summer, and in October of his junior year, he found out that he would be deployed the following spring.

So Lance Corporal Hummel spent what would have been his senior year in pre-deployment training in California followed by seven months in Iraq. His unit was responsible for security in the city of Fallujah. “We were very successful,” he said. “When we arrived, there were daily attacks in the city. By the time we left, the attacks had gone down to about once a month. We also oversaw the transition of the Iraqi army taking control of the city’s security.”

Hummel returned to Michigan just in time for last year’s Commencement, where the audience greeted him with a standing ovation and thunderous applause. The Class of 2007 presented him with its class gift—a scholarship of $6,782.

With three years left on his military commitment, another deployment remains a possibility for Hummel. In the meantime, however, he is preparing for graduate studies in biotechnology at the Keck Graduate Institute in California. He looks forward to keeping in touch with his Hillsdale friends as they disperse across the country, and knows he will apply what he’s learned at Hillsdale in his future endeavors.

“The history and literature I’ve learned at Hillsdale have given me a context to view the world,” Hummel said. “I have a better understanding of our government, and in some ways I felt better prepared for the Marines because of studying the history of Judeo-Christian culture. The education at Hillsdale has provided me with a framework from which to approach life.”

Outstanding Senior Woman Jessie Degnan of Pacific, Missouri, shares Hummel’s appreciation of history and culture that she’s studied at Hillsdale. A biology major and chemistry minor, she considers herself a “history guru” and took full advantage of the many opportunities for historical study at Hillsdale. She heard about Hillsdale from her high school history teacher. “I was excited about the biology programs offered at Hillsdale, but also interested in the history classes as well,” she said.

Within her major, Degnan especially enjoyed her genetics and molecular biology classes, and cites Dr. Frank Steiner, Dr. Dan York and Professor Angie Pytel as influential figures. “They all really encouraged me,” she said. She participated in the Conservation Club, and was thrilled to enjoy the new conservation lab in the Moss Wing of Strosacker Science Center for her last semester. “I love the new conservation lab and the biology study lounge,” she said. “There’s so much more room, and the lab is better organized.”

Her classes and activities outside of her major and minor had a significant impact on her college experience as well. “I did not take as many biology classes as I could have, because I wanted to take full advantage of all the different courses and professors that Hillsdale offers,” Degnan said. Her favorites include a Civil War class with Dr. Brad Birzer and “Law and Order” with Dr. Bob Blackstock. Outside of the classroom, she participated in Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, Hillsdale Christian Fellowship, a number of honoraries, Buddy Reading, intramural sports and CATS (Concerned About Teen Sexuality).

Degnan furthered her knowledge of biology and history through several off-campus programs. She traveled to South Africa one summer to participate in the South African Internship, where she analyzed cheetah DNA. Last summer, she traveled with the Honors Program and Professor Don Westblade to Turkey, where they saw many biblical sites. “It was fascinating to see so much history and understand the heritage of the culture,” she said.

Degnan has applied to four graduate schools and intends to study either medicine or conservation. She will miss the simple delights of Hillsdale—studying with friends in the library, going to athletic events and having conversations with professors, joined together in a pursuit of the higher things—but will take all she’s experienced here to her graduate studies. “I have a much better understanding of who I am, and I have grown in my love of learning,” she said. “I know the friendship and support of my friends and professors will continue long after I leave here.”