Class of 1996 Profile: Hannah Loring Davis

As part of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the YTI Class of 1996, YTI alumni are interviewing each other, discovering and recording what is happening in the lives of our YTI family today. If you are a member of the class of 1996, and would like to participate in this project, contact Sara Toering at sjtoering@gmail.com

Hannah is interviewed here by Sara Toering:

After graduating from Guilford College in 2001 where, as a student activist and newspaper editor, she focused on African studies and peace and conflict resolution, Hannah worked in editing and organizing for the Other Side Magazine (Philadelphia). Inspired, in part, by the Harriet Tubman Foot Care and Medical Clinic, where she served the homeless community in Atlanta, Georgia, Hannah went on to obtain her nursing degree. In 2008, Hannah moved to Baltimore, Maryland where she lives with her partner Jason Buc and their coonhound, Bubba. She works in an intensive care unit and is pursuing her masters in nursing with a specialty in palliative care at Johns Hopkins University. She also serves as a deacon at Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church (PCUSA).

When I asked her to sum up in a few words how YTI shaped her life, Hannah shared that YTI created a venue for making a wonderful group of friends. Hannah began to feel a sense of connectedness in her life that she had never felt before - she learned new lessons about building a community to spiritually sustain her life. Through the years, the friendships Hannah made at YTI taught her a lot about building and maintaining deep and meaningful friendships. For Hannah, the most crucial part of her spirituality is the people with whom she experiences and practices that spirituality. To this day, the first people on her list are friends from YTI.

In her various academic pursuits and church and vocational commitments, Hannah seeks to find opportunities to blend her spirituality with her nursing practice. She is committed to learning to care for those with chronic and terminal illness in a manner that is culturally and personally sensitive to each individual’s needs within the greater context of family and the wider community. Hannah’s current nursing practice, paired with her study of palliative care, offers her an arena for the daily practice of her spiritual commitment.