2018-2019 Avatar: Hannah Congleton

Hello, people reading this! My name is Hannah Congleton, from a tiny town called Bedford, inside of a small county called Trimble County. To get you an accurate picture of how little Bedford is our town went from two stoplights down to one stoplight. Because of the size, everyone is very close in my town, especially at my school. Because my community is so close-knit, I tried to be a part of it as much as possible. One of my favorite clubs was GRIT team, which was a leadership club that focused on improving the morale of the high school. I also was a part of our school’s Drama club where I was an actor in the annual plays. I never will forget playing Officer Patsy, a clumsy detective which allowed me to learn to fake-hit people with a metal detector. Other than Drama, I was also in Cross Country where I ran my heart out. Outside of school, I took piano and art classes that gave me a creative edge. Trimble County will always be in my heart.

Now that I am at Gatton and I still try to be a part of the close-knit community here. I am a part of Student Y club, where I was Bill Author and got my groups bill passed. I am also a part of Envirothon, which is a version of academic team that is about the environment. We were able to go to State and even placed. Envirothon helped me learn to appreciate nature and know the inner workings of it. I also did research this past year with Genome Research Initiative where I discovered and annotated a bacteriophage. I learned how to do research in a laboratory, but also how to use bioinformatics software. When I’m not in school at Gatton, I have gone to study abroad trips in Costa Rica and England. I went to Costa Rica this past winter break where our group went all over Costa Rica learning more about field research and the unique ecosystem of Costa Rica. I even got to hold baby leatherback sea turtles! This past summer I went to England which was spent in London and at Harlaxton Manor and was the best and most life-changing English literature class I’ve ever taken. Being an Avatar allows me to reach out to the future students of this amazing community at Gatton Academy. I plan on going to Environmental Engineering school and helping to make the world a better place!

 

Hannah