My name is Hannah French, but my mother nearly named me Gwynne. She didn’t, though, to the relief of all substitute teachers everywhere. I’m a senior in high school, which I’d like to think makes me mature, but I’m still the baby of my family. My older sister, Grace, ensures that. Grace is a sophomore attending the University of Michigan. I live in a town in Michigan called Okemos, which is a census-designated town, so I guess that means it doesn’t officially exist. It’s named after Chief Okemos, of the Ojibwa nation. My neighborhood is named Hidden Valley, and nobody really knows where it is, because it’s right in the middle of another neighborhood. It’s a town built for disappearing into, which was perfect for me while I pursued my childhood ambition of becoming a spy. I spent a lot of time trying to find the nonexistent hidden passages inside my house. I still think they’re there somewhere. Though I no longer dream of becoming a spy, I still manage to find adventure wherever I go. I cannot see a tree without wanting to climb it, or an animal without wanting to chase it (I always had a menagerie of animals growing up, consisting of frogs, stray cats, hamsters, and everything in between). I’m hoping to be able to study in the area of conservation science in college. I also have strong interests in biopsychology and creative writing.
My life is a lot like a typical teenager’s, I guess. When I’m not reading, I enjoy a good balter (a form of dance that is really awkward and uncoordinated but performed with enjoyment) or a karaoke session. I have an unfortunate obsession with harmony and anything Broadway. The combination of these two makes for startling outpourings of opera-esque at sporadic intervals throughout the day. I also spend those rare moments of free time swinging, doodling, daydreaming, cracking bad science jokes, and baking.
There are two things I will probably remember about 2014: the year of the “harshest winter Michigan’s ever seen,” and the year I became a Joyce Ivy Scholar. What Joyce Ivy left with me was so much more than a blissful summer at Stanford. The whole experience has left me ecstatic for college, for self-direction and whatever comes after. I don’t know yet what exactly I want to do, but I know I’ll find some niche I can happily disappear into. I suppose it’s gone down to this: I no longer feel like I’m chasing some elusive white rabbit into the future, down some dark spiraling and endless hole. I feel like I’m already in Wonderland, and all paths lead to enchanted futures.
I’m so, intensely excited to become a Fellow, and I’ll tell you why: there is literally nothing better than a bunch of people collectively celebrating and embracing nerdiness. That’s what I found at Stanford, with Joyce Ivy. I’m excited to be a Fellow because I want to help other kids do the same.
Comments
Post a Comment