Hannah Faust: Dream a Little Dream

Alumna Hannah Faust took a leap of faith by transferring to LMU in her junior year and now is a personal assistant to a major television star.

The Columbus, Ohio native had dreams of working in the entertainment or fashion industries, but alas, was enrolled in an Ohio college thousands of miles away. By the end of her sophomore year, Hannah decided it was time to take her life by the reins and make the move to Los Angeles.

"I am a career girl," Hannah said, "and I knew I didn't have a fighting chance of getting a job in L.A. with an Ohio address."

Hannah, who was searching for L.A.-based schools to transfer to, was ultimately charmed by LMU's strong academic reputation. She also liked what students and alumni – known as Lions – had to say about their experiences at the university.

"After a little research, I realized that LMU welcomed a broad range of diversity," Hannah said.

Once at LMU, Hannah traded her graphic design major for communication studies, wanting a concentration that would allow her to explore multiple areas and provide career flexibility. One such area she quickly fell in love with was rhetoric.

As a self-described "rhetoric junkie," Hannah said, "in those classes we were required to write rhetorical criticisms sometimes upwards of 30 pages, papers that were supposed to be of publishable quality."

She was struck too by the small class sizes and amount of encouragement she received from her professors. LMU has an 11:1 student ratio.

"I cannot even imagine where I would be without those professors and their classes," Hannah said. "I certainly would not be as socially conscious or a fighter for equal rights as I am now. I would most definitely recommend the program to anyone considering it."

The program, she explained, was great for thinking critically and applying that to what is going on in the outside world.

It was during a summer internship with the American Foundation for Equal Rights, where she was working on Proposition 8, that Hannah made the inspired connection that led her to score the high-profile personal assistant position. She cannot divulge for whom she works due to contractual obligations, but assures that he is a mega-watt primetime television star.

Hannah said she loves her current position, that it is allowing her to learn a lot of the ins and outs of the film and television industry. And although she can see herself exploring other communications-related opportunities down the road, she does believe the experience will help her grow in all the right places, just as LMU did.

"I think LMU is a really interesting and unique place," Hannah said, "it is a completely different experience, one in which you really feel like people are paying attention to you, that you are making a difference."