Hannah Eichhorn
When Hannah Eichhorn arrived at a college open house in St. Petersburg, FL, she never guessed that she would be the only female in attendance. Although she was slightly intimidated by the presence of all male athletes, Hannah still experienced a warm welcome and thorough answers from Geneva College Admissions Counselors.
The visit was enough to encourage her to complete an application. After receiving an acceptance letter and financial aid package, Hannah knew that she wanted to attend Geneva. Now a senior, Hannah still enjoys the personal attention she receives from faculty and staff.
“I came to college undeclared. I liked a lot of things, and I was good at a lot of subjects, and could make myself enjoy most subjects, so I took mostly core courses my first year and a half,” says Hannah.
Several professors helped Hannah create an independent major to encompass her areas of interest. After circling all of her desired classes in the college catalogue, Hannah detected patterns and crafted a Language and Culture Studies major with a minor in Political Science.
Hannah’s linguistics classes with Dr. Paul Kilpatrick have made a lasting impression on her. She loved working on projects for his classes, through which she learned to immediately apply what she heard in the classroom.
Her American government class with Dr. Jay Neikirk was also influential. Her interactions with him led to the rare opportunity of performing institutional research and tutoring for his political science classes.
Although Hannah is from Tampa, FL, her second home could easily be McCartney Library, where she is happy to be surrounded by books of all kinds. This is her fourth year working at the circulation desk, interlibrary library loan desk and media center.
Hannah’s college experience extends beyond books and work, however. During her freshman year, Hannah enjoyed the living and learning community of the First-Year Honors Program.
“It’s what I needed freshman year, being so far from home: being with a bunch of people who loved being fun and silly but still cared about school. We all went to dinner together, we sat in the hallway to do homework—my freshman roommate is still one of my closest friends here.”
Every week, Hannah and her friends attend Redemption Songs, a Sunday night praise group, which meets in downtown Beaver Falls with City House.
She always looks forward to volunteering in the nursery at Fairview Reformed Presbyterian church (PCA), where she regularly attends during the school year. After visiting almost every church booth at Cokes & Connections and trying many of them during her freshman year, Hannah settled on Fairview for its family atmosphere.
Playing intramural Ultimate Frisbee at Geneva has integrated two of Hannah’s favorite activities: enjoying the outdoors and spending time with friends. Of all of the events Geneva sponsors, Hannah’s favorite is Film Fest, an Oscars-like evening featuring student-produced videos.
Hannah also loves attending the Jubilee Conference in Pittsburgh, sponsored by the Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO), with other students from Geneva. “You hear a lot of speakers, very committed to being Christians in their field, which I think is a healthy perspective for college students.”
Hannah hopes to incorporate these ideas into her future career. “I want to work for a nonprofit because I want to believe in what I work for,” she said. After integrating her faith and studies with influential professors and friends at Geneva, Hannah will be ready to make a positive difference wherever she goes.
-Holly Vizino ‘15