Hannah Simard, '15

Hannah Simard grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, where she was exposed to a variety of cultures and languages.  It was during middle school that Hannah first discovered her love of languages, and by the time she graduated high school was fluent in Portuguese.  Hannah is also a fluent speaker of Spanish.  Once at Wright State, Hannah sought out a new linguistic challenge and began studying Arabic—and she quickly fell in love with the language and culture of the Middle East.  Hannah has studied four years of Modern Standard Arabic at Wright State, and through travel and self-study she has become familiar with the Egyptian and Moroccan dialects. 

In 2013, Hannah received a Gilman Scholarship to study Arabic in Meknes, Morocco for a semester, and since that experience she has been a great advocate for promoting study abroad on campus.  Hannah is an avid traveller, and in addition to traveling through North Africa, she has spent time in England, Scotland, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Italy.  Hannah currently works in the University Center for International Education (UCIE) at Wright State as a study abroad peer mentor and event coordinator.  Hannah will be completing her Bachelor of Arts in International Studies in the Spring of 2015, with a double minor in Spanish and Arabic.  After graduation, Hannah hopes to continue her study of Arabic while pursing an M.B.A.