Congratulations to Hanna: UBC Grad!

Hanna on Convocation Day - May 22/14

Hanna and Michael tossing their grad caps

Congratulations to NPIDA's 2014 university grads, Kali M (Kwantlen), Michael Y (UBC) and Hanna S (UBC)! These are three of NPIDA's most senior dancers, with Kali and Michael retiring in recent years and Hanna still actively dancing. Please see the two posts directly below for posts about Kali (June 2) and Michael (June 3). Today we congratulate Hanna.

HANNA
Hanna is the last remaining original NPIDA dancer, having started with Nora at age six in 1998. She advanced quickly to Prelim Championships and after several years of determined effort moved to Open Championships at age 15. Hanna was one of the original members of Eire Born and served as a team captain for many years. She was also an Assistant Teacher at NPIDA Richmond for four years. She was thrilled to compete at the 2013 World Championships in Boston with NPIDA's age 19+ 8-Hand team. Last month Hanna retired from 16 years of competition, placing 4th at her final feis.

At age 10 Hanna was the youngest of five NPIDA dancers selected to travel to Switzerland for two weeks to perform at EXPO 2002 along with Kali, Natalie, Kelly and Coco. She also performed and taught in New York in 2007 and 2009 with a small group of NPIDA dancers at charity events organized by Coco. Like Kali, Hanna has many fond memories of performing with fiddler Natalie MacMaster on numerous occasions throughout BC, Alberta, Washington and Oregon; most recently in April 2013.

Hanna graduated from UBC on May 22 with a Bachelor of Arts, with a double-major in History and Classical Archaeology.

School Involvement, Volunteer Service and Internships
Hanna volunteered weekly for four years at UBC’s Crane Library Production Unit, recording narrations of textbooks for visually impaired students. She was also employed for four years by UBC as a notetaker for students with disabilities, and worked at the circulation desk of Koerner Library in 2012-2014.

Last year Hanna became involved in UBC’s Arts Internship program. She interned with the Richmond Museum in Spring 2013, and then returned as a volunteer during this school year, contributing 400+ hours of service to the museum. She also served as a UBC Arts Internship Ambassador in 2013-2014, promoting the program and interviewing students for subsequent intakes. In April 2012 Hanna was one of ten Vimy Prize alumni (a national history scholarship she received in 2008) sponsored to volunteer for a week in France with Veterans Affairs Canada, assisting with events for the 95th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge.

This year Hanna began a volunteer research internship with a UBC History professor, which also resulted in concurrent employment as a research assistant by a second History professor. Her paper ‘Mourning, Memory, and Material Culture: Colonial Commemoration of the Missing on the Great War’s Western Front’ was recently selected for publication in Atlas, UBC’s Undergraduate History Journal. She presented this paper at two UBC undergraduate conferences in Spring 2014, and recently was thrilled to be accepted to present her paper at an international WWI conference in Lake Louise in September 2014.

Study Abroad Experience
In 2011 Hanna studied in Britain at the Bader International Study Centre, Herstmonceux Castle (the UK campus of Queens University). In Summer 2012 she returned to Herstmonceux for an Archaeology Field School. This led to an offer of a summer internship position in 2013, acting as Archaeology Field School Assistant, Archival Intern, Assistant Organizer of the Canada Abroad conference, and Academic Travel Intern, during which she co-led students on trips to visit international organizations in Geneva and The Hague.

Awards and Scholarships
* Master's Scholarship for International Students, University of Leicester (2014)
* First Prize Winner, Pat McAndless Award for Excellence (2014 and 2013)
* UBC Golden Key International Honour Society New Inductee Scholarship (2011)
* UBC Trek Excellence Scholarship for Returning Students (2010)
* IDTANA (Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America) Scholarship (2010)
* UBC Major Entrance Scholarship (2009)
* UBC President’s Entrance Scholarship (2009)

Future Plans
Hanna received four admission offers for Masters programs in England, including from the University of Oxford. She has accepted the offer from the University of Leicester to pursue her Masters in Museum Studies beginning in September 2014. This summer she is working full-time as a Collections Technician at the Richmond Museum, and part-time as a research assistant for two UBC History professors.

Congratulations Hanna!

Left: Hanna and Nora (age 7-1999)
Middle: Writing dock show plans with Kali (2007)
Right: At the Steveston docks (2004)

Hanna - with Nora in 2011 (left) and Kali in 2003 (top right)

Hanna and Kali with Natalie MacMaster in Oregon (2003)