Madalyn Haff, a first-year student at Missouri S&T from Cabool, Missouri, says she knew when considering different universities that she wanted to study economics and engineering at the same time. That played a major role in why she chose Missouri S&T, which offers degree programs in both fields.

“Even though they sound like opposite sides of a spectrum, environmental engineering and economics go together hand-in-hand if you look deep enough,” she says. “You can’t build something without considering the impact on the world around you, what resources you have for construction and if it will be sustainable.”

See more photos of the Haff family at focus.mst.edu.

Economics and engineering tied together

Haff says her life experiences being homeschooled and growing up in rural Missouri have influenced what she wants to study and what she wants to pursue in the future.

As a child, she says she participated in several outreach activities with the Missouri Department of Conservation. She also gained a passion for helping animals, being outdoors and helping others.

“Those experiences pushed me to environmental engineering, and during high school, I took an economics class and developed an interest in that as well,” Haff says. “Economics is just such a different way of thinking, having to consider how large corporations and businesses fit in with everyday activities of people.”

She says her two majors can both help tackle current debates, like potential AI data center locations in the state, by consulting environmental engineers they will affect the local area and economists to make sure they have a positive influence in their communities.

Getting hands-on experience

Haff’s family raises Black Angus cattle, along with some chickens and goats. She says that being around large animals like cows has helped form her plans, as she aspires to eventually attend veterinary school and work with cattle.

“I realized I wanted to be a veterinarian when one of our livestock guardian dogs, Ruby, she fell ill, and it was too late to help her,” she says. “I was inspired to try and take care of all our all animals on the farm.”

Haff also has experience working at a sale barn, where she tagged animals, checked for pregnancies and vaccinated cattle.

“I’ve also worked at a veterinary clinic in the past and had the chance to shadow a veterinarian,” she says. “Currently, I am interested in working on large farm operations as a veterinarian specializing in large animal hoof care.”

Haff says she has already learned something new in the classroom that she hopes to apply  to her family’s farm.

“Something I can apply to the farm came from my first geological engineering class,” says Haff. “We have trouble finding water sources for ponds and they are constantly leaking and losing water, but in my class we learned where the best places for large bodies of water are by examining the soil and surrounding rock formations. That means we can build a better place for our cattle.”

Outside of the classroom

To go along with her academic and agricultural activities, Haff is also a Kummer Vanguard Scholar, which she says has helped her develop leadership skills and network with Missouri S&T alumni.

She says she also understands the importance of having outlets to help her let go of daily pressures and flex her creativity.

“One of my hobbies is video editing clips with pop culture things I watched growing up, like Star Wars and Megamind,” Haff says. “My mom is a photographer and originally taught me how to work with some of the programs on the computer. Nowadays, I just do it for my own enjoyment.”

Haff says her favorite part of her S&T experience has been the community.

“I’ve met so many different people and gone to a lot of fun club activities,” says Haff. “It is amazing that there is a group of people dedicated to each distinct interest that I have too.”

S&T runs in the family

But Haff doesn’t need to look far for a close friend. Her older sister, Elisha Haff, is also an S&T student – a sophomore studying both aerospace and mechanical engineering. She chose S&T because she wanted to study aerospace engineering and stay closer to home. She then decided to double major after learning that she would need a reduced amount of credit hours to complete both degrees.

“From a young age, I’ve always loved space – my first dream job was to be an astrophysicist, but wanting a more flexible career, I chose engineering,” says Elisha. “But I still get to build rovers! I always wanted to build one and now S&T has given me the opportunity by having it as part of a capstone competition project to design a lunar rover.”

She says she would love to be an astronaut one day or at least work at NASA, being inspired by S&T’s three alumni astronauts. But if that doesn’t work out, Elisha says she would like to work at Walt Disney Imagineering – putting in to practice her current club activity as part of the S&T Rides group, which designs and builds rollercoasters.

Though their journeys are just beginning, these two sisters already have their sights set on the futures they hope to build.