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Defined by Her Faith and DriveHannah Kovach ’13 was raised in a traditionalCatholic family, where she started readingthe Bible at age eight. She found herself drawn toSaint Mary’s because of her strong Catholic faithand the school’s rigorous academic standards.She even turned down Stanford University for theopportunity to attend Saint Mary’s, where shewas given a Presidential Scholarship.But Kovach’s story is not typical. She wasdiagnosed with hyperlexia at the age of five. Theneurological disorder is associated with social difficultiesand auditory learning problems, as wellas strong analytical and reading skills. But thatdiagnosis hasn’t slowed her down.Kovach is a senior at Saint Mary’s, doublemajoring in math and music, and is on track tograduate Summa Cum Laude this spring. Despiteher daily challenges, Kovach doesn’t want to bedefined by her disability.“I want to be the awesome person who justhappens to have hyperlexia,” she said.In addition to her academic achievements,Kovach sings at Mass every week, and is activein her dorm and in the College community. She isalso the president of the pro-life student group,the Respect Life Club.She said that her hyperlexia can make itdifficult to empathize with other people, but herenduring religious beliefs have helped her betterunderstand other people’s points of view.“My faith gives me a high set of standards,”she said.While Saint Mary’s curriculum presentsrewarding challenges for her every day, she alsofeels a sense of comfort and belonging as shewalks across the campus.“I feel very much at home here,” she said.“I don’t think that I would have felt that way at aschool without a Catholic tradition.”Kovach plans to pursue a career as an operasinger or a mathematician, and wants to developboth her interests.“I want to show that people with disabilitiescan achieve great things.”8YEAR OF THE GAEL