“I grew up in my father’s library and I’ve been building my own ever since.”

Hannah Nowak is no stranger to stories. Nowak graduated during the lockdowns of 2020 as part of Cohort 3 and has since crafted an incredible career as a writer and strategist. She describes herself as a “Swiss Army knife, multi-hyphenate creator” whose stories, designs, and illustrations combine research, data, and historical context. Nowak cares deeply about narrative and storytelling across mediums and industries, whether it is a brand’s, a product’s, or a reader’s. 

After graduation, Nowak worked in Development at Nickelodeon Animation “reading kids books and deciding which ones would be a good fit for a TV or movie adaption”. While working on the animated series "Transformers: Earthspark" for Nickelodeon Animation, Nowak moved to New York City where she is currently based. In 2022, she started at Google as a researcher and creative strategist. And in 2024, she left Google to pursue her passions and write her first Young Adult novel.

While Nowak’s post-graduation trajectory has been nothing short of impressive, there’s another story that Nowak has been writing since leaving USC — a story of resilience. 

April marked 5 years since Nowak was sexually assaulted. While her peers were preparing for graduation and celebrating job offers, Nowak remembers sitting down with detectives, lawyers, and therapists, feeling like “another statistic”, unable to “celebrate a milestone [she had] worked so hard to reach”. For the past 5 years, Nowak has been turning and tuning her story of grief into something she could look back on and be proud of. 

“Surviving sexual assault comes with an overwhelming amount of grief, trauma, and the sense that your body and your life are no longer your own. But what’s often overlooked is the financial strain that follows — the cost of navigating the aftermath, not just emotionally, but literally.” Nowak said. “You might miss class for a therapy appointment, or because you're testifying in court, or because it's simply too hard to sit in a room full of people and pretend you’re okay. But at a school like USC, missing even a single class doesn’t just mean missing out on learning — it can cost you hundreds of dollars.”

“I created this scholarship because no survivor should have to choose between their healing and their education. This is about more than tuition. It’s about making space for survivors to continue their education, to feel supported, and to reclaim their future on their own terms.”

Open to undergraduate survivors of sexual assault, The Nowak and Adler Resiliency Scholarship at USC is one of the first university-specific scholarships in the country for survivors of sexual assault. “With its launch, [I believe] USC became the first Big Ten school to directly offer a survivor-specific scholarship of this kind,” Nowak said. The scholarship aims to empower survivors to continue their education and reclaim their narrative. 

Undergraduate students regardless of year or academic program are eligible to apply, but applicants must currently be enrolled as a full-time student in an undergraduate degree program at USC. Additionally, there is no GPA requirement. Applicants will be evaluated on a personal essay that reflects on the applicant’s journey, goals, and how they define resiliency. It’s a scholarship created by survivors, for survivors and hopes that those who may have been silenced by their past can voice how they are not defined by a single thing that happened to them, but by their ability to continuously write their own stories and move forward. 

The scholarship opens on May 15th and applicants can submit their personal essay until July 31, 2025 to receive the scholarship for the Fall 2025 term. The scholarship will also be available for the Spring 2026 term and on. 

Interested applicants who meet eligibility criteria will be able to apply at the link here during the open period.

Academy Alum Opens Resiliency Scholarship

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