Alumnae Spotlight

Michelle Patrick Hall graduated with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Religious Studies in 2001.  She is from Swainsboro Georgia, lived in Atlanta from 1997-2012, and currently loves living in Portland, Oregon.  After Agnes Scott she received her Masters in Theological Studies from Candler School of Theology at Emory University.  In 2010 she started a small software business with her husband.  They spent the next six years running a team of developers who built Drupal based websites and applications for nonprofits and higher education institutions. Currently, she is an independent contractor for an open-source software foundation called the Apereo Foundation.  She thinks the best thing about Agnes Scott is the network.  She gained an amazing group of friends and mentors who continue to support and challenge her 15 years after graduation.  She feels that the focus on research in the Psychology department and the opportunity to present research was an indispensable experience for her.  She wrote: “being placed in the hot seat during poster presentations at the Southeastern Psychological Association conference helped me cope with my stage fright and honed my confidence and focus.  That skill comes in especially handy during client presentations.”  She finds that her Psychology major has been directly applied to her daily life.  She adds that it helps with being a boss, business analyst, and project manager.  Over the last two years, she has become involved with the Rotary club.  She networks with business people in other fields, does amazing community service work in her neighborhood, and builds her leadership skills.  Rotary’s Four-Way Test reminds her of the Agnes Scott honor code, which is part of the reason she was attracted to the service organization in the first place.  Her photo is of her working in Portland.