Hannah Strong, a 2015 Mississippi State University graduate, received three awards at the 2021 Ohio Valley Emmy Awards. 
Strong won an Emmy for best meteorologist and was a part of teams who won best newscast and team coverage. 
Her station, WDRB, located in Louisville, Kentucky, won 16 awards in total.
Strong, who grew up in Dallas, Texas, and lived in Birmingham, Alabama, said she was ready to leave the South after graduating. After her college career, she found a job in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and remained there until she started at WDRB. 
Strong mentioned the weather differences she has experienced in her career so far.
“I’ve tried to find different geographic regions. I think that the key to being a well-rounded meteorologist is working in a lot of different locales,” Strong said.
According to Strong, Fort Wayne gets more snow and rain, but Kentucky has weather similar to Mississippi. 
“We do have more severe weather than Fort Wayne, more of these big tornado days, and we still get snow and ice storms,” Strong said.
Strong began her undergraduate studies as an engineering major but soon found her passion in meteorology. 
“I did not go to Mississippi State thinking I would be a meteorologist. I went to school with an engineering major, and I tried that for a semester,” Strong said.
Strong said she enjoyed her challenging math and science courses but became bored of the lack of communication in the field. She said she changed her major due to her interest in making a difference through interpersonal relationships.
“I wanted to talk to people. I wanted to help. I want to get plugged into a community and find a way to make a difference. That wasn’t happening very much,” Strong said.
After struggling to find a major that fit her, she met with an adviser at MSU’s Career Center who was able to point her in the right direction.
She took Meteorology 101 with Charles Wax, a former professor in the geosciences department, who she described as one of the top teachers in the program. That was his last class before retiring. 
“That first class, I knew right away I was going to love this program,” Strong said.
In class and out of class, she worked hard to master her career.
“I just knew that that’s what I was going to be doing for the rest of my life,” Strong said.
Mike Brown, a professor in the Department of Geosciences, taught and advised Strong. He gave Strong all the credit for her success in meteorology. 
“She was a tremendous student. She soaked it all in. She asked wonderful questions,” Brown said.
He said Strong would go the extra mile by asking for help about advancing in meteorology after college.
“She was kind of a forward thinker, and she just took advantage of everything we offered her,” Brown said.
Another professor Strong looked up to was Lindsey Poe, an instructor in broadcast meteorology. Poe agreed with Brown’s assessment of Strong. 
“She was one of those students who, not only did she want to do well, but she wanted everybody else to do well too and helped them along if they were struggling with something. She definitely was a stand-out student,” Poe said.
Poe recalled Strong excelled in weather forecasting and radar analysis.
“She was interested in the field. She studied the field. That made her better on camera and a better meteorologist because she was immersed in it,” Poe said.
Coming from a background of supportive instructors, Strong said she had a positive perspective to share with current and incoming students.
“Keep your options open. You can take that time to figure it out and learn what you enjoy, what you’re good at and then try to find something that fits in your life that way,” Strong said.
She encouraged students to take their time and keep their options open.
“Put in the effort, put in the time and the energy to practice. The more time and energy you spend practicing, the better off you will start,” Strong said.

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Madelyn Sykes | The Reflector

Hannah Strong graduated in 2015 after receiving her degree in meteorology.