Senior Reflections: Hannah Barnstone ’19 finds new passions
In a series of senior interviews, we asked Hannah Barnstone (computer science/studio art) to reflect on life as a Carl and the road to graduation.
Hannah Barnstone ’19 (Newton, Mass.) had never played ultimate frisbee before coming to Carleton. However, fall term her first year she made the women’s Division I team, Syzygy, which came to define the rest of her Carleton experience. Barnstone found her closest friends on Syzygy and has dedicated numerous hours to the team.
Barnstone also discovered her love of art at Carleton, leading her to become a computer science and studio art double-major. She is very appreciative of the opportunity to explore more unique types of art such as metalsmithing, which was never offered at her high school.
In a series of senior interviews, we asked Barnstone (computer science/studio art) to reflect on life as a Carl and the road to graduation.
How I got to Carleton
I actually applied ED II. I visited the day before classes began winter term, so there was snow everywhere. My sister went to a semester school with a guy who goes here, so he showed us around. I liked it, and then I applied a day after that.
I’m from New England and I’d gone to a really bougie private school, so I was really trying to avoid the New England prepster vibe. I think something that makes Carleton unique is that it’s a liberal arts school but it’s probably the least preppy of liberal arts schools that I visited. That was something that I was really attracted to. People just seemed to try to be nice here, and it was something people cared about.
My Turning Point
My sophomore year I took my first art class, and I really liked it and thought it was a good balance with computer science because it was tangible. In high school, I really didn’t do much art at all. I think I took one photography class. I feel like in high school you kind of think, “Oh, I’m into drawing and painting; I’m into art.” But I’m not really into 2D, so it was fun to get to do so much 3D stuff here.
Now that I’m about to leave
I’m going to miss being around my friends—being able to walk to so many friends all the time and just bump into them and go to the dining hall and have a nice meal with them all the time. I’m also going to miss being able to play frisbee so much year round.