ASU Online history grad finds new career passions through study abroad opportunity
Jessica Barker. Courtesy photo.
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable fall 2024 graduates.
After roughly 10 years of teaching history, Jessica Barker felt an “insatiable” desire to learn more. She devoured books and podcasts, even attending classes from The Great Courses before deciding to return to school to earn her master's degree in history from ASU.
Barker originally enrolled in this degree to strengthen her teaching skills, but found a new career path through her study abroad experience.
She received the Laura Harris Hales Graduate Student Research Scholarship, using the funding toward a new program for summer 2024 — a two-week trip to Edinburgh for ASU Online graduate students in the history MA program.
“The archival trip to Scotland completely changed my perspective and priorities,” she said. “The trip made me realize that I wanted to shift career paths and focus more on being a historian: doing research, working in higher ed or a museum, etc.”
Now, as she looks toward graduation, the Price, Utah, native is applying to an internship with the Library of Congress. She is also searching for positions with museums, community colleges and universities that support her new career aspirations.
The School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies spoke with Barker about her time at ASU.
Question: Why did you choose ASU?
Answer: I chose ASU because it worked best around my work schedule and had the highest ratings and reviews for its online program.
Q: Which professor taught you one of the most important lessons you've learned at ASU? What was the lesson?
A: Katy Kole de Peralta and James Dupey taught me not to be so married to one idea or plan that you fail to see the bigger picture around you. Don't be afraid to pivot if you need to.
Q: What's the best piece of advice you'd give to other students?
A: You might feel overwhelmed, or that your courses are really difficult right now. But feeling lasts forever and you'll be reaping the rewards soon enough, so don't get bogged down or sidetracked by a temporary setback or challenge.
Q: If someone gave you $40 million to solve one problem on our planet, what would you tackle?
A: Humanities education and literacy from early childhood to high school. Early childhood is the foundation on which everything else depends. If we could raise early childhood literacy it would set students up for success from there forward. Reading deficits are much more difficult to overcome after fourth grade, so increasing our rates among the young population would solve many problems within the public education system. There are substantial gaps in humanities education. I would argue that the humanities are just as important, in some cases more important, than math or science as the humanities encompasses all aspects of the human experience.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your time as a student at ASU?
A: This has been one of the most important and formative parts of my life. I've learned that I'm much more capable than I thought I was, and that I should take more chances and expand my horizons more. The risks I've taken while at ASU have been incredibly rewarding and paid off exponentially.
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