Countdown to Commencement: Hannah Batten

Peer advisor. Residence assistant. Mentor. Writing tutor. Orientation leader and coordinator. Managing editor of the literary magazine, Angles. Honors Program participant. Study abroad alumna. Research fellow. Skier and soccer player. You could say that in four short years, Hannah Batten, this week’s featured senior in the Countdown to Commencement series, has taken full advantage of her time at St. John Fisher College.

Batten was nominated by Dr. James Bowman, associate professor of English, who worked with Batten on a project that explored the appeals of populist rhetoric in different political contexts. Batten, an English and media and communication major, also presented her scholarship on restorative justice at the Seneca Falls Women’s Convention. All while maintaining Dean’s List honors.

“Academically, she raises the bar for learning and does so in a way that lifts people up and supports them with enthusiasm, love, dignity,” said Bowman. “In the Writing Center, I know that she is a talented and thoughtful tutor who helps her peers daily to develop their writing. Professor West tells me that her leadership and editing ability have been very successful in her duties on Angles. Her work in the HEOP and Orientation programs has also touched many students; she brings warmth, empathy, and leadership to every environment I have observed her in.”

During her time at Fisher, she also dove into campus life. She was a member of Fisher Players (you may remember her as a Pink Lady in the group’s production of Grease), and sings with Fisher’s a cappella group, Drastic Measures.

“I have had a really wonderful time doing things that are really good for me and things I didn't know that I cared about, and I’ve seen those things come together in very real, important, and positive ways, and that’s been special to me,” she said. “It’s bittersweet to say goodbye, because I’m proud of everything I’ve been able to accomplish.”