"I'm definitely going [to Dartmouth] this Spring if I get into three classes," Kearney, an incoming member of the Class of 2015, said. "I have no priority, though, because I'm a [member of the Class of 2015]."
Kearney will not compete for the Dartmouth ski team, because the Big Green does not offer competition in mogul events.
"I probably would not even qualify for Dartmouth," she said, referring to the team's alpine and Nordic squads.
Born in Hanover and raised across the Connecticut River in Norwich, Vt., the Hanover High School graduate said she did not expect to attend an institution so close to home.
"I thought there was no way I would be that person," she said.
Kearney said, however, that after temporarily putting academics on hold to ski professionally full-time, she appreciates the flexibility that the D-Plan will allow her. Under Dartmouth's term system, she will attend classes during the Spring and Summer terms, leaving campus in the Fall and Winter to train.
"Dartmouth offers one of the few schedules that can accommodate that," Kearney said.
Kearney said her time away from the rigors of studying may make for a challenging transition back to academics, noting that she will have to familiarize herself with the Dartmouth campus, proper citation formats and a structured class schedule.
"It's foreign to me," she said about the collegiate experience. "There's this requirement and schedule that is not optional."
Jill Kearney, Hannah Kearney's mother, said she believes that her daughter will be successful in her adjustment.
"I think she'll do fine because she made the choice on her own time when to do this," she said. "As a parent, I always hoped she would eventually continue her education. She is an incredibly focused student."
Kearney said she looks forward to new experiences at Dartmouth, both inside and outside the classroom. Kearney is interested in geography and history, and in trying her hand at sporting events beyond the ski slopes, she said.
"I'm actually really interested in taking gym classes," she said. "If I can get a tennis lesson out of my Dartmouth education that would be lovely."
Dartmouth women's alpine coach Chip Knight said that he is excited for Kearney to attend the College.
"It's great that she's locally born and raised here in Norwich," he said. "It's obviously a huge asset to the Dartmouth community to have a gold medalist on campus."
Although Kearney first qualified for the U.S. Olympic team as a 16-year-old, she said her experience with the sport began as a recreational pursuit.
"It was just a family activity that my brother and parents did growing up," she explains. "From there, it evolved into a career, but slowly."
Jill Kearney said her daughter's skiing career arose primarily out of a love for and dedication to the sport. Hannah Kearney was a talented skier at an early age, Jill Kearney said.
"I got her skiing when she was two years old and she took to it really quickly," Jill Kearney said. "If there were any bumps in the moguls, she loved them. She stuck with it and rose to the top very quickly."
Once her parents recognized Kearney's talent, they brought her to the Waterville Valley Ski Area in Waterville Valley, N.H., where she began taking competitive mogul lessons when she was nine years old.
After a disappointing performance in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games and a subsequent knee injury and concussion Kearney rebounded and won a gold medal at the 2010 Olympics, beating out Canada's Jennifer Heil for the women's moguls title.
Norwich residents celebrated her victory with a large homecoming ceremony complete with decorations, home-made baked goods and a police-escorted parade, The New York Times reported.
Sophia Schwartz '13 who trained with Kearney at Waterville Valley said Kearney has a close relationship with the Upper Valley.
"It's nice because she's from the area. She's very involved with the community," Schwartz said, adding that the two have discussed Kearney's arrival at Dartmouth. "I know she's excited."
