As the year comes to a close, some seniors are preparing to relax after graduation, some have jobs lined up, some are hoping they can stay on campus and no one will know and some are like this week’s campus celebrity Hanna Wagner, and are planning to embark on some serious adventures. A Neuroscience and Italian double major, Hanna is wildly ambitious to begin with, and her summer plans are too! I caught up with her to learn more about her involvement with Bike and Build.
What activities have you been you involved with while at Conn?
 I’ve participates on several sports teams, both varsity and club: varsity field hockey and track & field, and club lacrosse and hockey.
What was your favorite part of your college experience?
 As grateful as I am for the awesome education that I received here at Conn, I think that my favorite aspect of my college experience was the people I have met (as cliché as that sounds). The things I have learned in my classes and labs I definitely value, and I am proud to show off on my resumé, however, in five years from now when someone asks me about my experience at Connecticut College, the first thing I will think of will be the memories of the crazy times I’ve had with my friends and the ways they have influenced me.
Tell me about your excursion this summer! How did you find out about Bike and Build?
 Ok! So this summer I’m biking from Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Vancouver, British Columbia with an organization called Bike and Build in efforts to raise awareness about affordable housing in America! It will take about two months to complete and by the end I will have bike 3,757 miles! Along the way across the United States we will be work with affordable housing organizations, like Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Together, Common Ground and COVER Home Repair, by lending ourselves to construction projects. In addition to these build days, everyone on the trip is assigned to a different topic about affordable housing to research and will give a presentation about the topic to communities we meet along the way. The topic I have been assigned it investigating the relationship between affordable housing and heath.
 One of my sisters friend’s did Bike and Build last summer, so I first heard about it from her, but since then I have been in contact with several Conn alumni who have participated in the program. Even though Bike and Build is relatively small, I feel like every time I mention that I’m doing it, someone seems to have a friend that did and still hasn’t stopped talking about it.
Who are you doing it with?
 There are 32 other people in my group, including my sister, riding across the Northern U.S. In addition to Northern U.S., Bike and Build has eight other coast-to-coast routes and each of these routes consist of about 30 people. Bike and Build focuses on young adults involvement, so you can only go on one of these trips across the country until the age of 25, and for the two or three group leaders until the age of 30.
 The people in my group are from all over the country, and all have very different experience with both cycling and affordable housing. Some are avid cyclists but know very little about affordable housing, whereas others have just completed writing theses on affordable housing but novice cyclists.
Any plans for afterwards?
I intend to really start cracking down the job search in the time between graduation and before I take off across the country, because looking for a job after I leave in late June is going to be just about impossible and probably one of the last things I’ll be wanting to do. I have a feeling though that Bike and Build will be very influential on what I deiced to do with my life next year. So I think I might just wait and see where this journey takes me, because who knows, maybe after this trip will completely change what I want to do and the career I want to pursue.
You can find more information about Bike and Build at www.bikeandbuild.org
Support Hanna in her efforts to fundraise!
 In order to partake in this epic journey, every cyclist has to fundraise a ton of money. In order to reach the fundraising requirement Hanna is selling these stellar t-shirts designed by a current conn student! If you’re interested in buying a shirt for $15 email hwagner@conncoll !