Hannah Johnson
Graduation year: 2012
Majors: Communication studies and English
Minor: Women¡¯s and gender studies
Activities: Alpha Psi Omega, Electric Theatre Unplugged (ETU), Jenny Lind Choir, Å·ÖÞ±ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø Observer
Post-grad plans: Pursue the Ph.D. in communication studies at the University of Iowa
Why did you choose Å·ÖÞ±ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø?
I chose Å·ÖÞ±ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø because I saw an excellent presentation by Dr. Snowball on gender and advertising during the January Scholarship competition. I was really impressed and intrigued with where communication studies could take me, not just career-wise. I fell in love with the campus when I visited, even though it was the coldest day of the year. Everyone was friendly, and I saw my future here.
Are you where you thought you¡¯d be four years ago?
I never even dreamed I would be where I am now. I¡¯m going to graduate school to get my Ph.D., and in the fall I¡¯ll be a teaching assistant for freshman rhetoric classes. I came to Augie thinking that I¡¯d leave with a good job, but now I get to be a nerd for the rest of my life and do what I love. I¡¯m a much better writer, speaker and human because of my experiences here.
Who helped you get to where you are now?
I would be lost without the communication faculty. They¡¯ve given me a huge amount of opportunities, like nominating me for the Hasselmo Prize last year, and have guided me towards where I need to be, and I¡¯ve learned so much from their classes. Dr. Klien has been an awesome advisor, and his classes (rhetorical criticism and rhetorical theory) gave the necessary push I needed towards studying rhetoric for a career. I¡¯ve been taking classes from these great people for the last four years, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be anywhere close, academically, if I hadn¡¯t been a communication major.
A peak experience?
My peak experience was traveling to New Orleans for the National Communication Association¡¯s annual conference, where Dr. Klien and I presented our work from my Summer Research Fellowship. I not only gained valuable conference experience but also got to meet people who are doing awesome work in my field, which gave me connections when I was applying for graduate school. To be able to recognize scholars I¡¯ve cited in papers and actually have conversations with them is the coolest thing in the world ¡ª I was definitely a little star-struck at times.
What will you miss the most about Å·ÖÞ±ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø?
I¡¯ll miss walking down the slough path, waving to every other person and napping on the quad. I¡¯ll definitely miss my professors here and taking classes with my best friends. I really won't get the chance to sing in a great choir like Jenny Lind again or write/direct/act in plays like I¡¯ve done in ETU. I¡¯ll miss the extracurricular aspects of Augie the most.
¡°I was pleased to nominate Hannah as the first recipient of the Hasselmo Prize for Academic Pursuit. Her work with me on a student-faculty research fellowship led to presentations at two national conferences. The University of Iowa¡¯s Ph.D. program in communication studies, arguably the nation¡¯s top program, saw the potential in Hannah¡¯s insightful research on the rhetorical performance of LGBTQ identity when they admitted her to begin study this fall."