Hannah Little

Painted Post / Corning, New York

What classes have you taken at COA?  
Business and Non-Profit Basics 
Calculus I 
Practical Skills in Community Development 
Architectural Design 
Studio Art Since 1900 
Calculus II 
Community Planning and Decision Making 
Physics and Mathematics of Sustainable Energy 
Independent Study: On Studying Independently 
Landscape Design Studio 
Music Fundamentals 
Changing Schools, Changing Society 
City/Country: Literary Landscapes 1860-1920 
Independent Study: Introduction to Human Factors and Ergonomics 
Public Speaking Workshop 
Land Use Planning I 
Popular Psychology 
Independent Study: Revit Architecture, Representing The Turrets

What has been your favorite class at COA? Why?
I prefer not to pick favorites, but I will highlight a few: Changing Schools, Changing Society with Bonnie Tai developed many ways of learning for me. Landscape Design Studio with Isabel Mancinelli changed the way that I experienced my surroundings. My independent studies have renewed my approach to learning.

What was your favorite project at COA? Why?
My Landscape Design Studio class had the opportunity to create a landscape plan for a property that a faculty member had recently acquired. We worked with the professor to map out her ideas for the property, together with our own recommendations, and I feel like the project went beyond an exercise. In the Architectural Design Studio also with Isabel, we did a similar project, only it was with a proposed expansion of a COA campus building.

What is your dream occupation?
I do not know the occupations precisely. I know that I would like to work for someone, but also be above minimum wage jobs. I would like to work with ideas and invested, positive individuals. I expect it to have something to do with design and public libraries.

Do you work on or off campus?
On campus, in the Office of Academic Services. It provides a valuable perspective on the campus to which I would not have otherwise.

What do you see yourself doing after COA?
Immediately after graduating from COA I see myself taking advantage of a unique and exciting opportunity that may propel me into a longer-term position.

What is happiness to you?
Happiness can be found, for me, in noticing something that changes my thought. Happiness is in finding a pattern that works. Happiness is caring about something that I feel is descriptive of who I am in relationship to this world.

Have you had an internship? 
This summer I  shadowed an architect in my hometown who designed the renovation of the library where I used to work regularly. I didn’t expect the opportunity to arise, but it worked out delightfully well.

What are your ideas for your senior project? 
I have agreed to “design a café” for the public library in which I have worked four or five years. By designing a café, in this case, I mean that I will be collecting visions of a café from library staff, patrons, and board members to assemble into a system of interests and values that the architect of the café may use when the time comes.

Where are you from?
Painted Post Corning, NY

What is one of your favorite childhood memories?
I remember playing with toy cars in our dirt driveway. My sister and I created roadways, diverted puddles as rivers, and transported “worm poo” in flatbed toy trucks, distributing compost.

What is your favorite food to eat? What is your favorite thing to cook?
Green smoothies, dark leafy greens blended with fruit, are my favorite food to eat because they have me feeling confident with my health. I like to cook crispy oily foods, though, because of the nearly instant gratification.

What do you like to do when you’re not doing school work?
Walk around campus visiting friends, playing music, participating in Campus Planning and Building Committee

What are your favorite colors?
Muted blue. ...And the combinations of natural tones.

What are your favorite flowers?
I like lily of the valley which spreads prolifically where I am from but it has a sweet smell and it is pure white with multiple bell-shaped blossoms on a small stem that wins me over.

What are your favorite animals?
First it was the wolf, then it was the dolphin, and now I don’t think about it so much. Every creature has its value to me.

What is the motto you like to live by?
I live by a series of words that are significant to me for a time, as in: confidence, determination, planning, and joy. It’s something to pull out of the pockets of my mind when I notice that I’m not having as much fun.

Why did you choose to come to COA?
It’s home. My sister came here before me, and her subtle nudges were successful. Visiting her showed me how intuitively obvious COA can be. It showed me how to work with it to create the education that I desire. I chose it because it invited me, and offered me what I needed in order to grow.

What do you like to study?
I like to study the relationship between physical space and human thought.

Where do you like to study?
Where I’m most comfortable. It changes. I often study in my room, but also the common areas of the campus. The Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor has provided me with extra variety.

Who are your favorite writers and poets?
I’m really enjoying some of Terry Pratchett’s books. I also appreciate Don Norman’s work quite a bit.

Who are your favorite artists and musicians?
David Wilcox, Natalie Merchant, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, James Taylor oh so many musicians that I favor.

Who is your favorite fictional hero?
Flutterby (a children’s book character)

What do you value most in your friends?
Reliability, patience, joy, and curiosity

What do people say is your most marked characteristic?
I hear that the word that best describes me is: pleasant.

Do you have anything cool or unique you would like to share?
Pay attention to people, positive attention; they gobble it up.