DO YOU PLAN ON BEING MORE INVOLVED WITH THE JAMAICAN NATIONAL TEAM AFTER LEHIGH?
Yes, I plan on it. I've always had the dream to represent Jamaica in the Olympics. So that's still on my mind. I'm not sure if that'll happen but that has always been on my mind.
YOU’RE INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY SERVICE. WHAT ORGANIZATIONS HAVE YOU VOLUNTEERED WITH?
I've been a part of Habitat for Humanity since high school. It's always so rewarding to go to houses and help fix them up or build houses for families that need homes. At Lehigh, I'm a part of C.O.A.C.H [Community Outreach by Athletes who Care about Helping], which is community outreach. That's an athletic organization that helps the surrounding Bethlehem area in any way. The biggest event that we do is Adopt A Family. We have a family assigned to each athletic team and during Christmastime we buy a bunch of gifts for the kids, and then we get to—not during COVID times—give the gifts to the kids and watch their reactions. It's so amazing to see them. It's a great event and everyone loves it.
YOU ARE ALSO INVOLVED WITH THE FIRST TEE. WHAT IS THAT AND WHAT DID YOU DO?
I've been helping out First Tee, even in high school, but then I actually helped out the Lehigh Valley First Tee chapter near Lehigh. It’s a national organization that helps teach kids golf, but also uses golf to instill certain values and teach kids to use those values. It's very helpful for kids who might not have these certain values being taught to them at home. They use a game to instill it into them, which I think is just really neat and they'll always remember it forever, even if they don't play golf in college or after college.
WHAT VALUES?
The biggest one is integrity, and also perseverance. Those two are important in golf and also in life. I think using golf helps them understand how to apply it to their lives.
YOU’VE ALSO HELPED WITH THE AJGA ACE GRANT PROGRAM.
So that's an organization that is actually in terms, a tour. It's the American Junior Golf Association. But through the tours, they also have philanthropic work. I have been lucky enough to help out in certain aspects. In junior golf, you have to play certain tournaments in order to reach a status so that college coaches can watch you. They're pretty expensive tournaments so they have a program called the Ace Grant. And that helps less fortunate families be able to travel across the country and play these tournaments so that they can have college coaches watch them. So I helped out with that.
AND YOU’VE DONE GUEST SPEAKING FOR THEM?
Yes. And I also did a speech with the First Tee for the Lehigh Valley last year as well. For the ACE grant, I actually was an ACE grant recipient. So, I talked about that in that speech for AJGA, and how I grew up with parents who weren't as fortunate as others. I talked about how growing up I always have been taught to really strive for, really work hard at what you do and just persevere through anything.
WHO HAS BEEN YOUR BEST MENTOR?
Golf wise, there was a girl who graduated from Lehigh before me. Her name is Reagan Jahn and we actually played on the same high school team. We went to the same high school down in Florida, and I joined the varsity team in 7th grade when she was a junior. I've always looked up to her. She's always had the greatest etiquette, and she just never got upset with anything no matter what was going on. I got to watch her recruitment process to Lehigh. It left a big impression. Then she went to Lehigh, and I kind of followed in her footsteps. She's actually kind of what made me really like Lehigh, and she's also been a mentor to me.
WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT MOST PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT YOU?
I'm such an open book, so I don't know. [laughs] In high school, I started a pie company business called Hannah's HapPies. There were “every occasion” pies meaning instead of writing a card for sympathy, thank you or congrats, people could give a pie. My best seller was a S'mores Pie.
WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT THE LEHIGH WOMEN’S GOLF PROGRAM?
Honestly, the camaraderie of the team. We are all so close, I honestly feel like it's my own little family. Our coach [Mary Kate Lynch] does such a great job recruiting the same kind of like-minded individuals. I think they're all great, and they're lifelong best friends.
WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT LEHIGH AS A UNIVERSITY?
The pride. During LeLaf it's so neat to see how everyone just has so much pride in the university, and they're all wearing brown and white. I really like this sense of, it's a big community. But it also feels like we're all one, huge, big family. It's really hard to create that kind of culture, and Lehigh does a great job with that.
