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Sam Hayduk Transcript
A: This is Anna Swartwout here with
S: Samantha Hayduk
A: For the Queens of Slippery Rock oral history project. So before we begin can you give us a
little biography of what you did at school, majors, minors, clubs, your hometown?
S: Sure, so I’m from Cane, Pennsylvania, which is about 2 hours from here, and when I
attended Slippery Rock for my undergrad I got it in Elementary Education and Special
Education - dual major - and actually came back to do my master’s online, so I got my master’s
through Slippery Rock too, I’m currently a teacher but when I was here at school I was involved
in the Up til 2 for St. Jude (I did the executive board for that for three years), I was in PSEA,
council for exceptional children, a lot of things that were related to my major, but I was also in
Active Minds, and Active Minds is actually the group that nominated me to be on Homecoming
Court my Junior year.
A: Awesome. What did Homecoming Queen mean to you then, and what does it mean to you
now?
S: I think at the time, it meant being a representative of the University, and kind of being
somebody who encompasses everything that the university is and all of the best things about
Slippery Rock and I think I still believe that. It’s awesome to be a part of the history of Slippery
Rock, and to be part of that legacy that lives on, because Slippery Rock is one of my favorite
places and I think it always will be so I feel very honored
A: What made you decide to run?
S: I actually ran twice. I ran my sophomore year of college and my junior year, and I think I was
driven because I loved this place so much and I was so involved. I was that person who really
wanted to meet everybody, I wanted to become friends with every person on campus, I wanted
this place to be my home and I was super involved in organizations so it seemed like something
that was very fitting for me. But when I did it my sophomore year and I didn’t make it onto court,
I just decided to do it again my Junior year and I made it and I ended up winning so I just feel
like it was something I didn’t give up on and I ended up succeeding.
A: Awesome. Can you tell me a little bit about your campaign, like what you did, did you run with
somebody?
S: I did, I ran with my partner actually. His name is Brennan Cooper, and we knew each other
actually from our hometowns, He’s from Warren, Pennsylvania and I’m from Cane, so we knew
each other from high school, we cheered against each other. So it’s funny when we were paired
together on court. We decided we had to - we used to be these, not really enemies, but we

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competed a lot against each other in high school so now we partnered up in college and he was
an awesome support system. We did all of our campaigning together. We went around to all the
dining halls and we met people and we introduced ourselves and we were just- he was a great
teammate, we did a lot of chalking together and it was awesome to have him I do attribute a lot
of the winning to him because I don’t think I would have been able to get out there without his
support.
A: How did social media come into play, did you guys take advantage of it or...?
S: We did! I remember we made a Facebook group and we utilized that (Facebook was really
the only source of social media - or at least the main one at that time) so we utilized that to get a
lot of people on board, and I was a Community Assistant so I was able to get a lot of people
from Watson Hall on board with me, so I guess I would say just Facebook really.
A: What was the hardest part about running?
S: I would say the hardest part was probably… just the anxiety of not knowing how I was doing
against other people. Because it’s really fun, the whole week leading up to homecoming was so
fun, you was to be involved in all these activities, and campaigning was really fun, but I think
every day was anxiety driven. It was always wondering “oh my gosh does somebody else want
more people,” “does the student body want somebody else to win,” “am I just embarrassing
myself or am I really, by putting myself out there, am I helping,” so it was just nerves I guess.
A: Before you were crowned, did you think you win? Like, what did you think your chances of
winning were?
S: No, I had no idea. And actually, they told us afterward that it was one of the closest
campaigns ever. And when they counted the votes it was very very very close. I mean amongst
the queens and the king candidates. I never went to go see what the actual end result was, but
I’m glad I didn’t. Because I don’t know maybe I only won by a couple votes, I have no clue, but I
know that it was really tight.
A: Did you know the other people that were running?
S: Yeah I did. I mean all the people that were on Court were people who were very involved in
campus, so they’re people who you would see out and about all the time. And they were all very
positive members of the Slippery Rock community and of the campus. So I knew just about
everybody.
A: Did you encounter any stigma around the title of Homecoming Queen or the ceremony or
anything?
S: No, not at all. Actually I think it was very well respected and still even today, coming here on
campus and seeing other alumni and current students… everyone is just kinda congratulatory,

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congratulating me and wishing me good luck and I think it’s being the Homecoming Queen or
homecoming king here is very well respected.
A: It is, I’d have to agree with that. Why do you think you ended up winning?
S: I think that I won because of my partner. Honestly because without him I wouldn’t have gone
out there to meet as many people, I wouldn’t have put myself out there but he kinda pushed me,
so doing it together was fun it made it really exciting. I really attribute that to Brennan, he was
fun, he was very outgoing, and even though he didn’t actually win with me I feel like we were in
it together so I have to give him a lot of the credit.
A: What did your family think when you won?
S: My mom was really proud, she was here to watch me. She says, ”oh I knew you were gonna
win.” She and my grandma were like “Oh I knew it was you all along” but they have to say that
because they’re your family so (laughs), but yeah they were definitely very supportive.
A: Do you think your life in any small or big way has changed since you became homecoming
queen?
S: I wouldn’t say that my life necessarily changed but I definitely think that my experience
helped to kind of get me out of my comfort zone a little bit more. I always thought that I was a
really outgoing person and very personable, but that week just kind of challenged you even
more to get out there and meet people and I did things that I never thought I would do so I
definitely think it helped me to be more - I don’t know what the word would be - just more
outgoing I guess, more outgoing than I could be. It definitely helped boost my confidence.
A: How did your college experience change after you were elected (if it did, it might not have!)?
S: I don’t think it changed a lot but I do remember feeling the pressure to just be a constant role
model all the time after that. I was always thinking “oh I’m the homecoming queen, I can’t, I
gotta watch what I do, I gotta watch what I say, other people will see me, and they’ll expect me
to be perfect all the time” so it was a little extra pressure that year (it was my junior year) so it
was a little extra pressure that year, just kinda being on top of it, and not really messing up, and
not doing anything embarrassing because I was representing the school so I wanted to leave a
good impression.
A: What was it like crowning the next year’s queen?
S: It was really exciting but also sad because then I knew that my turn was over (laughs) I know
it’s kinda selfish, but it was exciting because I knew Holly so when it’s somebody that you know
it’s a little more special you’re passing on the torch to the next person, but it was a little bit sad,
because it’s so exciting to have that whole year and then to kinda pass it on, that was a little bit
sad (laughs).

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A: Do you think that it’s affected you after college?
S: I don’t think so, because it’s really something that I like... It doesn’t really come up in
conversation very often, you know like “Oh I was the homecoming queen in college” - you can’t
really slip that into conversation very easily without seeming arrogant (laughs). So I don’t really
think it has a lot, no. But I mean I’m happy to be back here and I’m happy that this is a place
that I have a reason to come back, you know. Having this title gives me a reason to come back
and stay connected and kinda have some roots here.
A: Yeah definitely. Have you come back for other homecomings or…?
S: This is my second time coming back for homecoming. I came back once a few years ago with
some friends and that was really exciting, of course. But this is only my second alumni
homecoming.
A: Would there be more of an incentive to come back if they had something that would honor
the queens every year?
S: Yeah, I think it would. I mean,
A: (Maybe not every year)
S: Yeah, probably not every year, but I think if there was like something special done, I would
definitely make an effort to be here, because I do take it very seriously and I’m honored, like I
said, it is a huge honor to have this title even if you’re somebody from a 100 years ago, I think
that you’re still a part of history here and I just think that it’s really awesome that you invited us
all back today to recognize us.
A: We’re trying to get your history out there.
S: I appreciate it.