There’s more than what meets the surface, and that couldn’t be more true for Hannah Hudgins, a senior double majoring in Corporate Communications and Public Relations at Olivet Nazarene University.
Hudgins has struggled a lot through the years, and she’s not shy to admit it. She believes God has put her through all her circumstances for a specific and inherent reason.
Her Struggle with Her Faith
Her family consists of a long line of Olivetians, and it was predetermined that Olivet is where Hudgins would spend her college career. This was not ideal for her; she wanted to attend a state school and get away from the church where she had spent her whole childhood.
As she went about her years at Olivet, however, she found herself coming to terms with her situation and with her faith. She said that if she went to a state school, she would have been “a shell of a person.” She said she would have enjoyed life and the liberties and freedom, but she also would have met people and done things that would have hurt her in the long run.
She has since found a good role model for understanding Christ. She says how she has always believed in God and Jesus but has never walked that faith by herself until now.
Changing Majors
When arriving at Olivet, she originally started as a pre-med major. She faced a lot of struggles her freshman year, leading her to fail most of her classes in the first semester. She then switched to theatre, one of her favorite things to do. But she found herself “sheltered”—she did not hang out with friends or do anything around campus. Due to being a theatre major, she ended up taking an Intro to Communication class and it stuck out to her. It was exactly what she wanted and needed, and she said that she had “a knack for it.”
Now, she’s a senior majoring in Public Relations and Corporate Communication
at Olivet Nazarene University.
Her Sense of Self
She initially struggled with her mentality—growing up, she was raised thinking that her thoughts were not worth anything. Now, she understands that everyone’s ideas are good and worthy.
“I found a love for creation,” she says. Through assignments and interviews, she found out that she is good at doing things like making logos and talking with clients. She said that watching a client get excited over her work is better than any recognition or title.
Through all this, Hudgins battled with her self-identity. She had struggled with an eating disorder for four years but has since learned to appreciate life and herself. When asked what she was most proud of, she said, “It’s hard, ‘cause we’re told not to be prideful.” Ultimately, she is proud of how far she has come since her first semester at Olivet.
“We all probably go through the worst of the worst every day, every year, every moment,” she said. Even now, she says it is not perfect, but recognizing that the things she has today are the things she has prayed for for two years makes a difference.
“I want what I want today, because me in the future has it.”
Hannah hudgins
She believes that God is not going to give her a want or aspiration that He is not going to fill.
Hudgins hopes to find herself happily married and financially stable within the next five years. She is taking steps towards her future, but ultimately believes that God has control over her life and thus she wants to be open to where He wants her to go.
