Name: Hannah Belk

Social Media Handle/Username: instagram: b.elk twitter: HannahBelk

Introduce Yourself/Tell About Yourself: My name is Hannah Belk. First and foremost, I’m a follower of Christ that guides everything I do, and I hope you’ll see that in how I explain myself (even if I don’t outright explain how it’s connected). I’m currently a senior in college, and I’m set to graduate in May of 2022 (so very soon!). I’m a Secondary English Education major, which means I want to teach high school English. I also have a minor in Psychology. If I were to explain myself in one phrase, I would have to call myself a student as well as an educator, and this will never change, even after I graduated. Another thing about me that has become a bit integral to who I am and how I interact with the world around me: I have a year-old headache. For a year now, I have had unremitting pain in the back of my head, and it expands to my neck and rest of my head on my “bad pain days.” I can explain this later in the interview, so stay tuned.

What Inspires You Every day? : Every day I strive to make the world a better place. I know that sound idealistic, so I put it in a realistic mindset. I cannot change the entire world. However, every person has their own personal world, and those can be changed for the better. I can change the world–even if it is just for one person. I became a teacher for this exact reason. I want to make my students’ worlds safer, more accepting, and a place they can thrive. This goal is always in sight, and it is what keeps me going every day.

What is some words of wisdom you live by?:Respect your limits; you do not have to sacrifice yourself in order to help others. In my experiences as a student, residential psych tech and educator, and one who experiences chronic pain, I’ve practically been forced to learn this lesson. It is okay to respect your own time and your need to rest. It is okay to say “no” and not be available every minute of every day to address people’s needs. If you make yourself constantly available, you’ll burn out and become bitter. This burnout will affect your mental and physical health, which will affect how you interact with the people you are ultimately trying to help. Forcing yourself to work until you are past your limit will only hurt yourself and others.

What is your ultimate goal in life? : Ultimately, I want to be a high school teacher in alternative schools. Alternative schools are establishments for students that were not succeeding in typical public education, typically because of behavioral or disciplinary situations. These students are sent to the alternative schools feeling defeated and like they are being punished, rather than being sent someplace that can accommodate their needs. Sadly, the teachers act like that is the case, and the students’ feelings are affirmed. I want to go there to help those students feel safer and like someone believes they can succeed. Circumstances has left them shortchanged and let down, and I want them to escape that cycle. 

How have you been during the pandemic and how has it affected you? : There are two main lessons I learned through this pandemic: learn who your real friends are and learn to enjoy your own company. At the beginning of quarantine in 2020, I had to end a relationship. I was suddenly without the person I messaged and talked to every day, and I felt that loneliness deeply. However, I quickly learned I wasn’t alone. I had my family, friends, and God. Every day I got to watch movies “with” a very good friend of mine, and old friend that had fallen to the wayside in the midst of my previous relationship. He reminded me that love is not strictly romantic, and that I do not have to rely solely on myself to get through a hard time. I need to create enjoyable moments with people I love. My brother and a father figure of mine continually checked on me and let me talk through my feelings, and they always gave me spiritual advice that gave me hope. However, even with my crowd of support, I was still alone a lot. That’s what quarantine is for, on a health standard: isolation. I learned how to entertain myself, but also how to deal with the negative voices that try to take up the quiet moments of my life. Growing in my spirituality helped me in my confidence as an individual. Knowing where and how I belonged in this world helped me feel more confident in my purpose and goal in life, and I know that other people do not determine that for me.

What is a message you would like to give others? : We understand each other far better than we think. One thing I have learned is that we will not go through this world unscathed. We will all experience something that will change how we interact with this world forever (we tend to call this “trauma”). Sometimes we think that we have to experience the same thing in order to understand each other (like if you haven’t gone through a divorce, you wouldn’t be able to understand the pain of someone who has). In a way, sure, that is true. In another way, however, we will all experience abandonment and sudden change in some type of way, and that is the baseline of the pain in that experience. I say all the time, “There’s a reason that there’s only one word for pain.” Pain is pain. If you have experienced it, you can figure out how to put yourself in other people’s shoes and feel their pain with them. Use this connection. It’s the baseline of empathy.

What else would you like to tell others about you or your life?: Being a Christian and taking ownership of my faith is what made me who I am today. I do everything to the best of my ability. I respect my own limits because if I am not at my best, I cannot help others how I am supposed to. I educate to make the world a better place because God is love, and love changes the world. If I show my students love, I show them God.