With an infectious laugh and ever-present smile, senior Hannah Anderson’s effervescence spreads everywhere she goes. Luckily for FHC, Hannah thoroughly immerses herself in the world of FHC sports and music, through lacrosse, cross country, and band (concert and marching).

Hannah’s longest commitment has been with lacrosse, which she began when she was only in second grade after watching her brother play.

“My brother played all the time,” Hannah said. “I thought it was a really cool thing, and I hadn’t really heard about it before.”

Her adolescent curiosity manifested into a ten-year investment, and Hannah is now approaching her fourth year on the FHC lacrosse team.

Hannah’s position as a midfielder involves quite a bit of running. As a result, Hannah joined the cross country team, in hopes of improving her skills for lacrosse. This year is her third year on the team, as she took a gap year for her junior year.

Hannah’s dedicated involvement in these two sports has certainly played a significant role in her high school career. Hannah’s contagious personality is perhaps partly because of her participation in athletics.

“I definitely think [sports] helped me to branch out more,” Hannah said. “Especially as a freshman coming in and joining cross country, right off the bat I already knew people– so it was really easy to talk to more upperclassmen. So I think [sports] definitely helped me to be more social, to be more dedicated, and have a little more confidence in myself to get things done.”

Hannah’s inherently bubbly persona could also have been developed as a result of being the youngest of five siblings.

“I think [being the youngest of five] has definitely affected the way I view other people,” Hannah said. “I wasn’t that scared of people who were older than I am … because I knew my brothers’ friends and my sisters’ friends. So I wasn’t really intimidated by teenagers when I was younger.”

While Hannah has fond memories of her siblings and growing up in a such a lively household, she does recognize some drawbacks.

“I definitely wish I had some kind of younger sibling,” Hannah said, “so I would know better how to have a leadership role at a younger age and look after somebody and know what it means to actually have to take care of somebody else, rather than always being the youngest and always having everything done before you.”

While Hannah’s growth as a leader was perhaps stunted because of her birth order, one would never notice it now. As mentioned, Hannah is also involved in FHC Band as a percussionist for the FHC Marching Band. This year, not only did previous band director Robert Ash put her in wind ensemble, but she was also chosen to be bassline section leader. She has certainly taken the leadership position in stride.

“I try to get everything organized before we come into each practice and know what we need to work on and everything like that,” Hannah said. “But a lot of is also a morale kind of thing. So, I’ll bring in candy or something or little stickers to give people because two-hour practices kind of drone on sometimes, and you just need a little extra cheer.”

Though the leadership role on top of athletic commitments and academics may appear to be a lot to handle, Hannah naturally sees it as a positive.

“I definitely think [being busy] helped me to get things done in a more efficient manner because there are some nights where you’re like, “okay, I’m going to be up until two doing this because I didn’t do it before,a�� ” Hannah said. “So you kind of learn how to manage your time a little better.”