Hannah Harburg has always felt the importance of being a good Christian and serving community before self.
The former Immanuel Lutheran student has not only been impressive on the volleyball court and in the classroom, but in the community as well. She is an offseason captain for the Durant volleyball team heading into her senior season and has a GPA close to 6.0. She is an editor for her school’s yearbook, a member of the National Honor Society and National English Honor Society and she runs the Durant volleyball social media page as well.
Ever since she was a little girl, Harburg always felt the need to make her community and the world a better place. When she was younger, she would watch brain-pop videos and read almanacs and keep up on current events to come up with strategies to change the future for the better. She has the goal of one day winning a Nobel Peace Prize.
As of right now, she is starting her service at the community level as a part of the Rotary Interact Club at her school and the Rotary Club of FishHawk and Riverview as a Paul Harris Fellow with her family. This past year, she worked at the Crawfish Festival in the Winthrop Town Center for charity. She has also previously been a part of park cleanups and school cleanups and the setting up for various fundraisers.
“I really want to find a way to make a big impact on this world,” said Harburg. “It’s been something that I’ve been striving for since I was a little kid.”
Harburg was raised in a Christian household and continues to uphold her Christian values in everyday life.
“It really affects my core being and it helps for me to portray the kind of character that I’ve always wanted to portray,” said Harburg. “Essentially Christianity has helped to give me some guidelines as to how I choose to live my life and how I choose the decisions I make for myself.”
Harburg has a lot of self-motivation, and she says that she gets some of that motivation from her teachers and friends who push her to continue the path that she is on.
She has been on the honor roll every semester, if not the principal’s honor roll. She was also named Tampa Bay Times all-Hillsborough County volleyball honorable mention this past season. She is going to be taking 10 classes, two online and eight on campus, at the beginning of the next school year to reach above a 6.0 GPA.
Five of those classes will be college level courses. She would also like to earn the Diamond Award for the highest GPA on her volleyball team.
“I want to be the best leader and the best example that I possibly can for the girls that are younger than me and for the girls that are playing beside me,” said Harburg.
That includes her youngest sister, Hallie, who will attend Durant next year and try out for the team.
Harburg continues to have lofty expectations for herself. Her biggest goal is to further her education and attend college, and possibly play college volleyball as well. She has always been interested in the study of the mind and wants to pursue a major in clinical psychology.
After that, she wants to continue furthering her studies and be able to conduct her own research for the world to make it a better place.
“I feel confident that I’ll be able to go into the world after high school ready for any challenge that’s going to face me, especially when I have my faith behind me,” said Harburg.
