MEET hannah cook '22

Majors: English and Marketing
Career: Marketing and Communications Manager at the Milwaukee Ballet

Why did you choose WLC?

I grew up attending WELS schools, so when I was first looking for colleges, I thought I wanted to experience something totally different and enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After a few months, though, I realized that I loved the close-knit, Christ-centered community that a WELS education had always provided me, so I (kind of impulsively!) switched to WLC less than two months before freshman year began. I have no regrets!

Tell us about your favorite WLC experience.

The thing I loved most about WLC wasn't a specific experience, as much as everyday life as a student. Casually running into friends in the WU (Warrior Underground), enjoying sunny days in the Quad, chatting with my professors after class, and so much more filled each day with little happy moments that added up to the best college experience I could have asked for.

What have you accomplished on your bucket list since graduation?

My goal coming out of college was to find a marketing job in publishing or the performing arts, which are two industries that I'm fascinated by. I was so blessed to find a position with the Milwaukee Ballet a year out of college, and it's been a dream come true ever since.

What goal are you working toward right now?

I'd like to gain enough industry experience and knowledge to be qualified to teach a class at the college level. Academia has always been a career path that interests me, and I'd like to specifically share my love of writing within the marketing field with college students.

What is one thing most people don't know about you?

I love making soup – I have a killer pumpkin sausage soup recipe that everyone doubts until they try it!

What was your first job?

I babysat for several years, and my first official job was as an ice cream scooper at Cedar Crest Ice Cream Parlor in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

What is something valuable you learned during your career?

I always cognitively knew that our Christian calling could be lived out in any vocation, but it wasn't until I entered a secular workforce that I understood what that looked like. Every day is a practice living out the character values that Christians are called to embody, and every day is a humbling reminder that I can't do so perfectly.