The Sophomore: Lily Hansen spreads her wings
May 11, 2016 | General News, Women's Rowing, Andy Baggot
Ambitious rower finding herself on the water, in the classroom and as a volunteer
It didn't take long for Lily Hansen to realize that UW was somewhere she could spread her wings. In short order, she found herself in command of the women's rowing team's top boat, immersed in a double major and, not lacking for initiative, filling a need by creating an on-campus club. Two years in, Hansen is still finding ways to maximize her time in Madison. |  From Varsity Magazine
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
When prospective student-athletes and their families come to Wisconsin for their official campus visit, it's common practice for an upperclassman to escort them.
Lily Hansen is only a sophomore with the Wisconsin women's rowing team, but her maturity and message make her an ideal candidate to be a future recruiting guide.
Hansen, a highly regarded coxswain from San Anselmo, California, would bring a perspective born of tragic loss and emotional perseverance to the presentation.
Five years after her birth mother was murdered in a random act of violence, Hansen would talk about finding a place that speaks to her academic, athletic and lifestyle pursuits.
"You need to come here because we have the best community you're going to find," she would say. "We have the best team. There's literally no drama ever."
Hansen would extol the virtues of UW coach Bebe Bryans, her assistant Nancy LaRoque, the women's lightweight rowing staff headed by Dusty Mattison and the men's squad led by Chris Clark.
"Everyone is amazing," Hansen would tell the recruit. "There isn't one person that hangs off the end.
"You're not going to be a number here. You're going to be an individual who really succeeds. There's a place for you. You're going to really race."
Hansen would tell her audience about Porter Boathouse, the modern, picturesque Lake Mendota headquarters for all three teams.
If she wanted, Hansen could recount how she had mulled over 18 different college options and ultimately chose Wisconsin over Northeastern, Virginia and Washington.
"When I got here I was just shocked," Hansen said of her official visit. "I said, 'Mom, this might be it.'"
Her adopted mother, Mary Ellen, was wary, saying it was too big.
Hansen saw it differently.
"When I met with Bebe, I was sold," she said. "I thought, 'This coach has got it under control.'"
Hansen could tell her audience that given her experience at UW it's possible — and it doesn't take long — to carve out a sizable personal niche and not sacrifice your priorities in the process.
She could tell them how she started an American Sign Language club on campus — she teaches it every Wednesday — and how she's become part of the leadership team for Athletes in Action, which meets twice a week.
She could tell them about finding outlets for her Christian faith and encountering a general friendliness that she felt was absent back home.
"People are nicer here," Hansen said. "If you say hi to them they'll say hi back. If you say good morning, they'll say it back."
Hansen could tell them that there's peace once you cultivate a routine.
"Row, go to school, study, volunteer," she said.
"You're not going to be a number here. You're going to be an individual who really succeeds. There's a place for you."
Hansen said she was adequately prepared for the academic demands at UW.
"The transition was pretty good," she said. "I went to a pretty rigorous high school, so I felt the way they prepared me for college was good."
That's not to say the transition to college was seamless.
"I didn't enjoy the big class sizes, so I sit in the front row so I don't have to see everyone in front of me," Hansen said.
"Some things are challenging. I took a geography class, which was really difficult. Physics. There've been a few classes that have been difficult, but definitely manageable for sure."
Hansen, a double major in communicative sciences and disorders and in linguistics, has a day planner with everything written out in half-hour increments so she can visualize her schedule. Time management, she said, "is so huge."
Through the Office of Academic Services, UW student-athletes have access to 12 full-time staffers — seven advisors, four learning specialists and a tutor coordinator — who serve as guides to the degree process. They operate out of the Fetzer Center inside the Stephen M. Bennett Student-Athlete Performance Center.
"They're really wonderful because they understand our schedule and what we have to do," Hansen said.
Tutors are available, too, and Hansen utilized them as a freshman "because I felt much more comfortable."
How did the learning curve change for Hansen from her first year at UW to her second?
"I definitely didn't know a lot of things as a freshman," she said.
In addition to the layout of campus, she had to figure out a four-season wardrobe and the traffic rhythms, given her penchant for biking.
"Simple things like that," Hansen said. "A lot of trying to figure things out."
Now she knows where everything is.
Hansen's transition to the athletic side of things at UW was trickier. She came to Madison fresh off a stint with the U.S. junior national team that competed in Germany and quickly found herself assigned to the varsity eight.
That's the No. 1 boat and it's typically inhabited by upperclassmen. Hansen's role as coxswain — essentially the driver of the vessel — put her in charge of directing teammates who were older and more experienced.
"I definitely stood out on the team in an awkward way," she said.
"I didn't really know what it was like to be a freshman. I was put in a position where I was to act like a senior, so I didn't have a freshman year that way. I was asked to step up in a leadership role, which was fine."
Hansen noted that while some varsity eight rowers adjourned to apartments after practice and some were in the midst of applying for grad school, she resided in a dorm room.
Adding to the awkward nature of things, Hansen said her front-line assignment wasn't announced to the team beforehand.
"I didn't have a normal freshman year," she said. "I think I was already mature enough to be in college, but I had to be even more so when there's a problem and I have to call (teammates) out."
The Badgers went on to place fourth in the varsity eight race at the Big Ten Conference regatta and finish 13th in the NCAA meet.
The current season has seen the UW varsity eight boat outrace six ranked schools, including top-rated California in early April.
Hansen receives a partial athletic scholarship because she gets financial support from the Veterans Administration. That goes back to a horrible moment in her life.
On Sept. 6, 2011, a gunman burst into an International House of Pancakes restaurant in Carson City, Nevada, and opened fire, killing four and wounding seven others. The shooter, 32-year-old Eduardo Sencion, later took his own life.
Hansen's mother, 31-year-old National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Miranda McElhiney, was sitting at a table with two other members of the Nevada National Guard. Two died instantly. McElhiney later died at a local hospital.
Hansen wears her mother's dog tags and, every Veteran's Day since, distributes handmade yellow ribbons to friends, classmates, dorm residents and passersby.
Hansen also has reached out to UW-Madison Police with ideas on how to make the campus safer.
"A lot of hard situations have brought blessings and learning," she said.
Hansen was adopted by Mary Ellen and Rupert Hansen, a lawyer and former gymnast at Michigan.
All UW student-athletes on scholarship began to receive a cost-of-attendance stipend in 2015-16. It's prorated according to the size of the tender — full or partial.
"It's really helpful," Hansen said. "I bike all the time whether it's cold or what's going on and sometimes my bike needs a lot of repairs and it's nice to use that money for transportation."
COA upgrades — the average at UW is $4,499.33 annually for a full-ride recipient — top a list of amenities available to Wisconsin student-athletes.
"People are nicer here," Hansen said. "If you say hi to them they'll say hi back. If you say good morning, they'll say it back."
"I came in knowing there was a Fetzer Center and I came in knowing that we got tutoring and that we got physical and mental health (benefits) and dietician and all of that covered," Hansen said. "But I wasn't aware to the extent that they do everything for us."
She mentioned how the Office of Student-Athlete Development, also headquartered in the SAPC, provides free printing and guidance with essays, resumes and cover letters. In addition, Hansen is intimately involved in the Student-Athletes Equally Supporting Others and Beyond the Game programs that are organized by OSAD.
Hansen said she practically lives at the Fetzer Center because of its quiet computer lab.
Meanwhile, free daily meals are available to student-athletes at Camp Randall Stadium and the Kohl Center.
"When free breakfast started," Hansen said of a perk that began this school year, "our team was ecstatic."
Overall, Hansen said most UW student-athletes she's spoken with "are very thankful" for the benefits.
Hansen said her academic plate became fuller as a sophomore because she embraced a passion — American Sign Language — that dates back to high school.
"I had a friend who was learning the alphabet and some fun words," she recounted.
So Hansen found books and videos about the deaf culture and, with help, learned it in five months.
"It's a language that's kind of in my heart," she said. "I just love it."
Since UW's courses in ASL are offered only during the summer session, Hansen began advertising and conducting one of her own more regularly.
Hansen said one of the best perks of being a UW student-athlete is involvement with the Badgers Give Back program. Almost every day there are voluntary excursions to local schools, nursing homes and hospital wards.
"It's been so wonderful," she said. "To get off campus, that's really nice.
"I've learned a lot of just personable skills. I've learned about hospitals and protocols. I've learned about children's books I never read when I was a kid."
Encountering children with special needs or life-threatening illnesses has triggered a lot of "self-reflection" within Hansen.
"It's cool that we're able to impact kids all over Madison," she said.
Prospective student-athletes visiting UW might want to take some advice from Hansen.
"Don't be afraid to say no and do your own thing," she said. "You can be unique.
"It's important to be who you are. Don't let college change you in any way."
Players Mentioned
