In junior high, Hanna became interested in soccer. She didn’t have a lot of opportunities to play herself, so she watched it on television and became enthralled. In 1994, the World Cup took place in the United States, on the opposite side of the world and in a different time zone. Her parents had forbidden Hanna to watch these late-night games for fear that she would not be rested for school. Against her parents’ wishes, Hanna snuck out of her room whenever she could to watch the games. When her parents found out, they confronted her, but Hanna knew that she could keep her grades up and promised to prove it to her parents.

Hanna demonstrated that she could balance her love for sport and school, and she soaked in all that she could while watching the World Cup. Following every moment, she began to notice the people working on-site, watching them closely, wondering if there was a career for her inside that stadium. Having recently discovered that she had a knack for writing, Hanna decided then that she would pursue a career in sports journalism.