Destiny Haley’s bridge experience editing a research journal
The word “research” often generates a specific image: A lab, scientists, test tubes, and chemicals.
Some might not envision a liberal arts student engaging in traditional research.
Destiny Haley, along with other researchers in the Department of English at Virginia Tech, is working hard to break that stereotype and demonstrate the powerful academic contributions of the liberal arts through the student journal Philologia.
Haley is a fourth-year English literature major with a minor in professional and technical writing. In the fall of 2023, she embarked on a new adventure in her academic journey by joining Philologia, the student research journal for the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Philologia showcases all types of research and creative work that involve liberal arts and human sciences topics, such as literature, linguistics, international relations, political policy, sociology, music, and modern culture.
“There were a lot of different pieces submitted and a lot of these were very interesting,” she said. “Many stood out because of their differences and variety.”
Haley became involved with Philologia through Katherine L. Hall, instructor and Bridge Experience Program coordinator for the Department of English.
“Destiny is super motivated to develop a variety of skills while she's an undergraduate student,” Hall said.
Haley was pointed toward the department's bridge program because it offers students an enriching glimpse of the professional world and hands-on experience.
“The Department of English is one of the first on campus to have an official bridge experience requirement and it demonstrates the importance of having experiential learning experiences such as internships and study abroad as a part of the undergraduate experience at Virginia Tech,” Hall said.
Although the bridge experience was optional for Haley, she saw the professional benefit of getting involved in editing and publishing. For her experience with Philologia, she gained class and internship credit. She said the journal would serve as an excellent jumping-off point for her career.
“I am planning on going into publishing,” she said. “It was helpful to get a feel for what that environment looks like. It is definitely a good eye opener to see what the publication process is like, and you get hands-on experience working with authors and the team and helping design the website.”
Despite not having read the Philologia publication before joining, Haley went straight to work. She said that each of the 10 students involved with the journal was given manuscripts to edit, and some were assigned other responsibilities such as social media and advertising.
Students in Philologia also gain important skills in managing a publication with minimal staff intervention. Andrew Wadoski, associate professor and director of the literature program in the Department of English, is the faculty advisor for the publication.
“Dr. Wadoski liked to keep the meetings student-led with his advisory,” Haley said.
Wadoski said the significance of the publication is that it is student-led and applauded Haley’s hard work with the journal.
“It is a largely student-directed experience, in which students take the lead on vetting submissions, working with individual authors on accepted pieces, and creating the actual issue,” he said. “As part of this project, Destiny helped to sort and rank submissions and diligently worked with her author on a range of editorial tasks, from structural and content revision to copy-editing and proof-reading.”
Haley is continuing her journey toward graduation. The journal not only bolstered her professional skills, but her academic proficiencies as well.
“As far as editing is concerned, which is something I do outside of Philologia, whether editing someone else's work or my own work, I think it really helped,” she said, “Especially with editing someone else's work because you have to think about the ethics of not changing their work entirely and just improving it.”
For those interested in working on Philologia, it is being offered during the spring semester. As part of Virginia Tech’s commitment to experiential learning, many academic majors, including English, require students to complete a bridge experience before graduation. These are immersive, career-building opportunities to connect classroom learning to real-world professional environments through internships, undergraduate research, study abroad, or community-based learning. By spring 2027, an estimated 4,000 students will complete a bridge experience each year.
Written by Ellie Colonna, an English literature major with a minor in women’s and gender studies
