By Chamberlain Zulauf
The seasoned advice of a quintessential Roanoke Senior: “freshmen should take advantage of activities on campus! We pay an activities fee so we might as well make use of it. campus isn’t the only place with things to do of course, the Roanoke area has tons to offer, especially in the outdoors”.
The list of achievements for this issue’s Folk at ‘Noke is too long to include here in their entirety. Thankfully this article has to be around 500 words, so I’ll try. For starters, Hannah Koepfinger (‘22’) semi-officially holds the title of “Team Mom” on the XC/Track team. She is renowned for her helping hand, sunny personality, and knowledgeability. Another thing Hannah is known for is winning, not only on the track but also academically- a true model scholar athlete.
Hailing from King George, VA, Hannah has the road paved for a teaching career, “Although, I might go to grad school and use my left-over eligibility from junior year”. The only thing that comes close to reaching the same level of love Hannah has for children is her love of animals.
Being the only pentathlete on the team last outdoor season, Hannah scored 24 points at the ODAC Championships. To do so, Hannah scored in every event she participated in from hurdles to shot put. Within those 24 points were one gold and one bronze medal as well as an All-ODAC honor.
While I’m at it, I could mention that Hannah is an active member of Alpha Phi Omega, Psi Chi and is even an outreach chair member for the Outdoor Track & Field National Honors Society. On top of that she’s a first-year peer mentor/orientation leader, and expert-level baker.
As if you weren’t impressed enough, soon it will be “Alumni Hannah” this December as she will graduate early with a major in Education and a concentration in Psychology. Don’t worry though, Hannah will still be around the same as ever in case you ever need a snack from her backpack. In the spring, Hannah will spend her days finishing her teaching licensure and helping out at the West End Center.
Accolades, accolades, accolades. It is easy to feel inferior to Hannah’s long list of achievements but really the best thing about Hannah… is Hannah!
Sipping on Mill Mountain hot chocolate Hannah recalls her favorite memory at Roanoke, “When we had Hurricane Florence come through my freshman year, four or five of us went out to play frisbee on the turf field in the middle of the storm. It was 2 in the morning and the rain was pouring through a thick mist. It was a long time ago but for some reason that memory will always stick with me”
The last question I had for Hannah was what Roanoke has given her over her time here. To that she replied with a trademark Koepfinger quip- “Made me more patient”
