Where are you from and where did you go to college?

My name is Emily Hahn, legally, but socially it’s Emily Hildebrandt Hahn so if you see me on social media you’ll see that. I’m from Ohio originally but moved to Indiana to attend Huntington University, and then moved to Goshen just under a year ago for my husband’s job, and here I am!

What did you enjoy most about college at Huntington?

I was a very big reslife fan. I lived in the same residence hall for all four years, and my residence hall was freshman through senior, so my first year some of my closest friends were juniors and seniors. It really set the stage for me as a freshman for me to have these upperclassmen saying you could be an RA or you could be a leader. Just in general though, I loved reslife because I think it’s an interesting and powerful way to, one, get to know yourself, but also expand your worldview. For me I was living with 40 other women from different parts of the country, different parts of the world, different socioeconomic backgrounds, different religious beliefs, so for someone who came from a very small town in Ohio it was a really powerful tool for me to branch out of my own perspective. I think reslife is a really cool opportunity to facilitate that and to do that in a healthy way, so living in the residence halls and serving as an RA for three years was by far my favorite part of college.

What did you study?

I double majored in psychology and sociology.

Did you and your husband meet at college?

Yes, we did. He kind of took a roundabout path of college, but when he came back to Huntington, we met in a class called Interpersonal Relationships, actually, which was pretty funny. He’s several years older so he was kinda known as the older guy in classes and it was very unexpected but that’s where we met!

What did you do after graduating from Huntington before coming to GC?

Right after graduation I kind of had the “I don’t really know what I want to do but I like working with people,” that kind of thing, so I actually started as a full-time admissions counselor for Huntington for just over a year. Then when my husband got the job in Goshen, that’s a bit of a commute which we did for a while, but then I got a job in Warsaw working for a nontraditional holistic health school and I was the associate director of enrollment there. When my husband got the job in Goshen, I saw how he was really able to be part of the overall Goshen community I wanted that too, and when this job became available it was kind of the dream-a reslife job in the town I was already living in.

What are some things you like about Goshen College so far?

Goshen College is a very intentional community. I’ve been very inspired by how inclusive it is, and it’s not just a PR move to be inclusive, it’s a genuine desire for diversity and inclusion. That’s very inspiring to me because that’s something I haven’t always seen displayed. No one does it perfectly every single time, but that’s one of the coolest things I’ve seen and it’s a really strong suit of Goshen College’s, and something not all colleges or universities have in the same way.

What do you like most about the community of Goshen? 

I actually really love Goshen, it’s a little bigger than Huntington but not too much bigger, and I like that there are more stores than just Wal-Mart. We love the restaurants and the coffee-shops, and the home town feel even though I know everyone says that, but I love the community. GC seems like an intentional space, but I feel like the city also reflects that and I really appreciate that about the town and the people.

What is your favorite kind of food?

I have to say Mexican, so that was kind of a dream, moving to Goshen and seeing all the options. That was one of the saddest things about moving from Huntington, leaving a Mexican food place that my husband and I absolutely loved, but it worked out very well.

Favorite book or current read?

One of my all-time favorite books is, well it might be tied, are Kite Runner and 1000 Splendid Suns by the same author. They’re both very sad but very powerful.

Favorite music?

My husband and I are really into Dawes right now. I really, really like them. Before they got a little bit bigger, they would always play in Minnesota where my husband’s from, and we just kept following along with them. We saw them in March and it was a really fun show.

Favorite TV show?

That’s a hard one. I’d have to say overall enjoyment, Parenthood, but other than that Parks and Rec is like my go-to free time show.

What are your hobbies or what do you do in your free time?

I absolutely love reading and watching movies, that’s kind of my decompress time. We also love hiking and camping and being outside when possible.

Favorite vacation spot?

I haven’t had any crazy vacations, but Gatlinburg, Tennessee and that whole area. There’s a ton of great camping and hiking there so that’s one of my favorites, and it’s close enough that it feels realistic to go there.

What are you most excited about for this year in this new job?

There’s a bit of a learning curve, in that it’s a new campus and a new culture and a different way of doing reslife so it’s a process of getting to know that. I’m really looking forward to getting to the point of understanding what the campus culture is like, and getting to know students. There’s a lot of different parts to reslife but building relationships with students is my absolute favorite part. I’m really excited to settle in and see how I can fit in at GC and get to know the students.