We couldn’t be more proud of Hannah and we want to thank her immensely for sharing a bit of herself and the many ways she is making her mark on our world. #engageyourworld    

What D oes a Harbor light Graduate Loo k L ike ?

The Portrait of a Graduate Meet Hannah Dragonas

Hannah’s Re fle ctio ns o f her t im e at Harborl ight…  

The foundation for learning that Harborlight laid down is unmatchable. The two most valuable aspects of the Montessori Method that I continuously use are the ability to manage my own time and the use of materials. Throughout my time in school at Harborlight, we often had open periods of time when we could choose what to work on based on what we needed to accomplish for the end of the week. This helped me to understand how to best use the time I had as well as develop a love for learning. By being able to work independently, I was able to dive deeper into subjects that I enjoyed and could spend any extra time I had engaging more in areas like reading or researching on the computer. Moving through high school and college, time management has been essential as I try to balance academics, athletics, extra-curricular activities, and free time. I now, in the same way I did in 6th grade, sit down each Monday with my planner and list of assignments to see where I can fit activities and what time periods I need to designate for schoolwork. The other crucial aspect of learning through the Montessori Method is the use of materials. As I matriculate through school I am finding time and time again that this style of learning is crucial. It’s one thing to read something in a textbook, but actually creating, engaging, and participating through hands on experience gives an entirely new application to the information that was just learned. As I came to college and began my work with lab sciences, having a background in hands-on work was incredibly helpful to minimize the learning curve and allow me to excel. Finally, the skills I learned at Harborlight expand far beyond the world of academics and have continued to help me in the world as well. Specifically, this summer while I was out in Denver interning with Christ in the City, part of my responsibilities included keeping the program running after the year round missionaries left for their summer break. It was my responsibility to create street teams, plan our schedule, make personal appointments with our friends on the street, coordinate our weekly Lunch in the Park, organize a mission trip and contact applicants. Since I was working alongside three other interns, as well as working under a director, communication was highly important so we could all stay on the same page. To maintain this open communication, I used the time management skills I learned at Harborlight. Additionally, I was able to use tangible materials such as a centrally located white board and program booklets to maintain that tactile element of processing. After thought: I also LOVED the days we did in lower elementary for ancient Egypt, Greece, and China when we would change the entire classroom into the ancient civilization. First off, this taught us how to spend a while working towards one end goal helping us practice delay of gratification and prolonged effort. It also was important to learn how to work together on a project that had many moving parts and required teamwork and delegation. Finally, the idea of full immersion into an ancient civilization was amazing. Getting to make different foods, create models of houses and the Great Wall of China out of sugar cubes, and dressing up as they would have made the learning so much fun and far easier to retain. Since then I have always loved history and learning about culture. The skills I learned at Harborlight Montessori School, from my time in preschool until graduating from the eighth grade are skills I use daily in every aspect of life. Not only did they lay the groundwork for how I would continue to learn throughout high school and college, but Harborlight prepared me to be a better leader and teammate by teaching me how to work most efficiently while always remembering to aim high in everything I do.  

   

     

L ife afte r Harborl ight for Hannah, High Scho ol

Af te r h aving been at H arborl ight s in ce on ly a few month s old, H an nah g raduat ed 8t h grad e and went off t o Bish op Fenwick High School In high school I quickly became involved in sports and played eight different sports throughout my four years. Those sports included field hockey, alpine skiing, winter track, ice hockey, softball, lacrosse, spring track, and sailing. In addition, I was involved in peer mentoring and had the opportunity to lead admissions tours and mentor incoming freshmen. I also took the opportunity to pursue various volunteer opportunities.

Ac ademic s: I am in my senior year of school majoring in psychological sciences with a minor in nutrition and food sciences. I originally chose psychology because I enjoy learning about what makes people think and act the way that they do. As I have continued to study the subject, I have found that my main driver to learn about psychology is to work towards helping others understand themselves better and figure out who they are at their core. My favorite classes throughout college have been my clinical psychology class and my nutrition education and counseling class. Both classes focused on how to take what we were learning in the classroom and apply it to working with clients. In clinical psychology we would study a certain type of therapy method each week and then practice holding a session with a partner. Similarly, in nutrition education and counseling, we learned what kinds of questions to ask, responses to give, and ways to motivate our clients to look at their food consumption   in an effort to improve their relationship with food as well as motivating them to change any unhealthy habits.      

Club Spor ts: My first year of college I was on the sailing team. This was a club team but since sailing is not NCAA sponsored we competed against club and varsity teams alike. After my first year we were ranked 9th in the country! I also did club skiing freshman, sophomore, and junior year and this was at a D3 level.

Tri Delt a: I joined my sorority in the spring of my first year. Ultimately, I decided to explore Greek life because I wanted to get more involved and to find a group of core friends that I could experience college with in every area including philanthropy, service, and social aspects. As Tri Deltas, the four pillars of our purpose are unselfish leadership, stronger and womanly character, to broaden moral and intellectual life, and assist its members in every possible way. Being a part of Tri Delta has pushed me to become the best version of myself in each of these areas. Throughout my four years, I have held two positions. I have been Secretary and Risk Management Chair. As Risk Management Chair, it is my responsibility to manage the anticipated physical, mental, safety and health risk (including drug and alcohol related risk) of our members. Last semester I ran small groups to educate on eating disorders. I also hosted Friday Nights In to give women who didn’t want to go out an opportunity to still be social and come down to the house to watch a movie with friends. Since freshman year, I have completed forty-eight community service hours and 24 philanthropy hours with my sisters (this does not include the work I have done outside of my sorority!). I have participated in Relay for Life, Rally-thon Dance Marathon, Laura’s March for domestic violence, and continuously work to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, an organization I have loved since my first Math-a-thon in the first grade! Last year the UVM chapter of Tri Delta raised $15,000 for St. Jude.      

  This year I am interning in UVM’s Catamount Recovery Program. The program provides support, education, and events for students who are in recovery from alcohol and other drug addictions. Each week a graduate intern and I hold drop-in hours to give students a place to build fellowship, hangout, and discuss ups and downs of the week with people who understand their lives. In addition to drop-in hours, three of us have created a group where students can discuss the intersection of alcohol and other drug additions and eating disorders and what it’s like to be in college with an ED as or an addiction. The students have been extremely grateful to have a safe place and I am continuously amazed by them. This experience has made college so much more real.

 

And Then Cam e Co lle ge, Uni versit y o f Vermo nt

   

FO CUS: this is the Catholic group I am involved with on campus. It stands for Fellowship of Catholic University Students and is a national program located on about 115 campuses. It is run through our Newman Center on campus. Basically, FOCUS sends five missionaries each year to mentor college students. This takes the form of bible studies, one-on-one mentoring, and group events as well as just sharing life with students and walking with them through their college experience. I met a FOCUS missionary right at the end of my first year of college and although I wasn’t crazy about my faith life then. She challenged me to live for more than myself and to understand that my actions are for more than my own satisfaction or immediate fulfillment. I think the place this had the biggest impact was in my involvement with the Greek system here at UVM. The stigmas around Greek life can go without saying and although we work hard to go against these, we are social organizations and there is still a large opportunity for our purpose to get lost in these social events, especially when you have 90 women around each other all the time. Working with a FOCUS missionary helped me take a step back from the craziness of Tri Delta, look at our purpose and understand how I could be truly living this purpose and these values. Then, in addition to just living this purpose, as I began to grow in my faith life we looked at how I could live this purpose and these values as a Catholic and as a collegiate. Through FOCUS, I have been on two mission trips (Christ in the City and Mexico), two leadership conferences, and have had the opportunity to mentor students here at UVM.    I first met CIC on a mission trip right after my sophomore year. Then, the summer after junior year I spent 11 weeks in Denver interning with the program. Basically, CIC is a homeless outreach program founded on knowing, loving and serving the poor. Their other model is encountering Christ, serving the poor, transforming the culture. So what does this look like? Missionaries with CIC spend 15-20 hours each week on the streets building relationships with friends. Our goal is to restore the dignity of the human person and remind them they are so much more than homeless and they are worth having a place to live. In addition to time spent, missionaries meet one-on-one with friends, tour and research facilities, and serve lunch every Wednesday and the second Saturday each month. While I was out there, my job was what I liked to call a super missionary. I went out in May and spent a week learning everything there is to know about CIC. Later, our Summer of Service students came and 11 college students joined the community. I helped lead their group facilitating debriefing sessions, planning activities, and leading them on street walks. By the end of July, three other interns and I essentially ran the CIC program. I got to schedule street teams, what walks we were going on, and when we were having personal meetings. I also was in contact with donors and volunteers to plan our weekly Lunch in the Park. I also coordinated a mission trip. I was in contact with the students and their chaperones, organized group leaders, kitchen crew, and street teams. I also got to work with a few applicants to begin contact for the 2017-2018 year and finalize a few details for new missionaries for the 2016-2017 year. I am now organizing a mission group to bring from UVM out to CIC over spring break this year.  Mex ic o City : Last spring break I went on my second mission trip. This trip was to Mexico City. We spent one week living in the heart of the city, right down the street from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The average age of the homeless population was much younger than here in the US. Most homeless in Mexico have a life expectancy of around 30 years and most do not live above the age of 35 due to drug overdose. Each day we would go and hangout with street kids. We played soccer and/or ate lunch with them. We also got to serve lunch two days at a men’s shelter with the Missionaries of Charity Brothers, spend two evenings in an abandoned women’s home playing with kids age 3-14, and spend one day in a women’s home. This home was probably the hardest part. The residents are women who have just been dropped off by their family because they are considered to be too big of a burden or incapable of contributing to life due to old age, a disability, or lack of competency. On this day, I spent two hours in the hospice care sitting with a woman named Concepción. Not understanding much of her Spanish, I must have said ‘Sí’ about 200 times as I just sat and encouraged her to continue talking and letting her know I was listening because I cared. This trip taught me about being united as one human race and the importance of every encounter throughout each day. Although Concepción is in Mexico and I am back here in Vermont, the power of sitting with someone, anyone, and reminding him/her that someone cares has had an incredible impact. This idea is transferable for children, homeless of all ages, and those I come in contact with each day on campus whether it is a sorority sister, FOCUS mentees, or the cashier at the Starbucks where I get my coffee.  

How has Hannah already made a huge difference in this world?

#engageyourworld

 

                                                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                           

Professional Goals: Over the past three years I have really been able to develop my love for service. After my first year of college, I became sure that I needed to be a psychology major because it is a passion of mine to help others better understand themselves and know why they are the way they are. I am currently interning in our Collegiate Recovery Program allowing me to work closely with students in full time alcohol and other drug recovery. As a part of this internship, my short-term goal for the year is to work with my mentor to cross alcohol and other drug recovery with eating disorder recovery understanding how the two disorders can interact. After college I can see myself continuing to work in collegiate recovery communities. It has always been a passion of mine to work with college students making this an age group I can see myself working with for the greater portion of my life. In the longer-term I would like to move from the collegiate recovery community setting to a setting that allows more contact with clients such as a primary psychologist on a college campus or in an inpatient setting. My dream is to work women athletes recovering from eating disorders.

Ac ademic Goals: Ever since I was young I have loved to learn. I have dreamt of getting a PhD for as long as I can remember. My goals definitely include higher education. Short term, I plan on graduating this spring with a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychological Sciences and a minor in Nutrition and Food Sciences. After a few years of missionary work, I would like to gain work experience in the field of psychology and then return to graduate school to get a Master’s degree in clinical psychology eventually reaching the PhD level. As I move into the professional world I believe my line of work can be centered around helping others to better understand themselves and who they were created to be. This is why education is very important to me. The more we know the better we can interpret and understand each other as well as ourselves.

Continued service with Chr ist in the Cit y: I am applying to spend a Year of Service in Denver serving the homeless as a missionary encountering the poor of Denver! This would look like me living in a house of about 25 missionaries and spending 15-20 hours on the streets working one on open with the homeless for a year. Con tinued service FOCUS: I have applied to be a missionary with FOCUS for the next two years and would serve as a college mentor. With this program I could be sent anywhere in the country! I have no idea whether I’ll go to FOCUS or Christ in the City next year, but I am so excited to spend the next one or two years in service to those around me.

What’ s N ext Fo r Hannah… Big Things N o Do ubt !