Meet this week’s campus celebrity, Hannah White! She is an ambitious and driven young woman who is ready to take the world by storm. Her strong passion for women’s rights and feminism has allowed her to declare a double major in psychology and women’s studies. However, what makes her a campus celebrity is that she is an accomplished member of The Harmonettes a capella team, and she is a cherished member of the MCSP learning community. She also has a passion for the University of Michigan. Hannah comes from a long line of strong women who graduated from Umich, and she couldn’t be anymore excited to be part of the Michigan community.
Her Campus: Why did you choose the University of Michigan?
Hannah White: I’m from Evanston, IL. Ann Arbor reminds me a lot of Evanston, which is probably why I love it! At first I actually never wanted to go to The University of Michigan because my sister, my mom, my dad, my grandma, and my great grandma went here and I wanted to “strike my own path.” After going to several admitted student days at different schools, I realized it really is great to be a Michigan Wolverine. Now I’ve realized it was definitely the best choice, and it’s pretty cool to have a 1923 Michigan yearbook.
HC: What is your favorite part about the University of Michigan?
HW: My favorite part about the University of Michigan is football. I’ve grown up on Michigan football. From the days where I used to watch it while in a headstand on the couch with my dad, to the being thrown up in the air in the student section, it never gets old.
Not only does Hannah love her maize and blue overalls that she sports on football Saturdays, but she also loves being very involved on the UMich campus. If you don’t recognize Hannah’s picture above, then you probably recognize her singing voice. Hannah is a member of the a capella group, The Harmonettes. She recently had a featured solo in the their latest competition. Hannah loves being involved in such a close-knit group of girls, and feels that she found the perfect fit for her on campus.
HC: Describe your experience with The Harmonettes.
HW: I sang a little bit in high school and always thought a cappella groups were so awesome. They are pretty competitive here so I didn’t really have high expectations of making it into one. After auditioning for The Harmonettes I knew it was a perfect fit. They have given me so many opportunities to sing and I have learned so much musically from all of them. However, my favorite part is definitely the girls. They are my best friends and we are such a tight group. Even though we all have majors that have nothing to do with music or voice and have other things we are involved in, we all come together over a cappella and it has been one of my favorite parts of being here.
Hannah’s campus involvement doesn’t stop there. One of Hannah’s favorite parts about UMich is being part of Michigan Community Scholars Program (MCSP). MCSP is a social justice and community service based learning community on campus. This is Hannah’s second year in the program, where she has taken on the job of being a peer mentor for the freshman in the learning community. Hannah is known as “Mom” to many of these freshmen, thanks to her loving nature and her helpful advice.
HC: If you could give one piece of advice to incoming freshman for next year, what would it be?
HW: Be open-minded to new activities, new people, new classes, everything. You will learn so much more from things or people that are different or make you a little uncomfortable at first. You can only learn so much from people who are the same as you. But always be respectful and understand that everyone comes from somewhere different.
HC: What is your dream job?
HW: I hope to be a therapist one day. Some people think I’m crazy for wanting to hear about people’s problems all day long, but that’s not really how I look at it. People fascinate me. I love the feeling after a great conversation and I love helping or caring for people in any way I can.
From feminism to psychology, from singing to social justice, Hannah is an amazing role model, student, and friend. Everything she does she does with passion, and that is one reason why Hannah has had so much success thus far in her UMich career. However, if all else fails, Hannah’s prime ukulele skills and her recent cover of “XO” by Beyonce may help lead her to another dream job of singing and performing, which she would be just as happy to have.