Andrew Hanson

About Andrew

• I applied to my first choice college too late into my senior year, got waitlisted, and ultimately ended up in a guaranteed transfer program where I attended a community college for two years.
• I worked 40+ hours every week for my first two years of college. I struggled to balance school and work. I failed a class my sophomore year, which put my transfer in jeopardy.
• I took 18 credits the second semester of sophomore year while working full-time to ensure my transfer went through. My life sucked that semester, but I survived, and my transfer went through.
• My financial aid didn't come through my junior year, and I had to take out a loan from my stepfather, which I paid back by maxing out a credit card. I had to work a lot and budget to pay it off.
• In my senior year of college, I applied for and was accepted by Teach For America, which changed my life by giving me access to a network of brilliant, driven professionals in the education industry.
• Spent two years as a teacher in the Saint Louis Public Schools, I struggled in a high-stress environment that did not match my introverted personality, but persisted through my two-year commitment.
• I transitioned from the teaching profession to a career as a higher education researcher by making a cross-country move and casting a wide net with many opportunities on the table.
• I got lucky, working under the tutelage of brilliant economists at Georgetown University, picked up technical skills (statistics, programming, policy analysis, data viz), and developed as a writer.