When Hannah Rake arrived at PennWest Clarion, she never expected to become a statewide leader in education. Today, as a junior, she serves as president of Clarion’s student PSEA chapter and was recently elected state president-elect of the organization. Driven by a passion for empowering future educators through leadership and service, she has embraced these roles to advocate for her peers and make a hands-on impact in local schools. At PennWest, she is channeling that passion into purposeful action.

“I've never once felt like a number or a statistic,” she shares. “In every single one of my classes I feel seen, which is wild in a big university. All of my professors know my name… and even professors from other campuses know my name.”

Hannah’s journey to teaching wasn’t straightforward.; it took a detour through technology. Before enrolling at PennWest, she attended a career technical school for computer network engineering. “I was dead set on being like a network technician,” she says. But despite a love for technology, she realized that career wasn’t for her. Taking two gap years to reflect, she thought back to her time in elementary school. “I thought about every single year, if you asked whatever grade I was in, I would say, ‘I want to be a second grade teacher. I want to be a third grade teacher.’”

That rediscovered passion led her to a program that is now a cornerstone of the new School of Education. Any uncertainty she felt quickly vanished once she was in the classroom. “Having the hands-on field experiences that I've gotten to have makes me reassured every single day,” she says.

That sense of belonging extends far beyond Clarion. At a summer conference in Portland, she connected with PennWest students from the California and Edinboro campuses. “We really became kind of a close, tight-knit little group because we had that in common,” she says.

Looking ahead, Hannah plans to get her master’s from PennWest after graduating. While she’s interested in teaching third or fourth grade, her unique background has her eyeing an emerging opportunity: a specialized STEM role. “I see a lot of school districts in this area creating like STEM specials to mix in with their art and their music,” she observes. “I think that would be a great position for me as well.” It’s a perfect way to combine her love for technology with her passion for teaching, showing how PennWest prepares graduates to meet the evolving needs of education. Her story reflects the opportunities available through the School of Education and the supportive environment that prepares graduates to make an impact from day one.