Here is the second installment of my People I Know project. My friend Hannah Marcotte (aka my Cork wife) is a natural fit for this series.
HOW WE MET
I had two classes with Hannah (we’re both English majors) but we didn’t become friends until we went to Ireland this summer with UNO’s study abroad program. I think we officially met when we both went to the higher ed protest at the state capitol last semester, but we didn’t start conversing outside of social media until we both boarded planes for Ireland this past June. She was also the first UNO person that I ran into when I landed in Cork.
WHAT SHE DOES
Hannah is graduating in December from UNO and is applying to grad schools. She works in student housing and just got engaged to Steve, a UNO film major. I was thrilled when Hannah entrusted me to take their engagement photos last week.
WHO SHE IS TO ME
I heart Hannah.
I’ll admit, I was surprised when we became fast friends. She’s more than 10 years my junior, initially comes across as a bit of a goodie goodie, and she’s in a sorority. But our friendship is a classic example of that old adage to never judge a book by its cover. We have more in common than I ever thought and we were kind of inseparable in Cork. Hannah is hilarious, smart, and just a great friend when you need her. We frequented Monday night karaoke together, went grocery shopping together at “the big Tesco,” and once you’ve taken a creative nonfiction writing workshop with someone it’s hard not to feel a bond with that person. I started to call her my “Cork wife” fairly early into the program, and when I flirted with the idea of breaking into an old asylum Hannah jokingly asked me, “So when you get arrested are you going to call me or Thomas first?” I ended up not going, but I probably would have called her first.
Photos: Hannah at Jackie Lennox Chip Shop, the first official meal we had in Cork. | Engagement photoshoot with Steve.