Anna Hudson

(The following article is courtesy of the Gunnison Country Times)

Anna Hudson has always carried with her an endless drive to find out what comes next in life. 

As a kid, that often meant she could be found working on one project or another with an older crowd down at the Gunnison Arts Center. As a college student, that meant that the idea of taking four years to graduate could be thrown right out the window.

“I’ve always kind of been an old soul,” said Anna, who works as a land negotiator for Noble Energy out of Denver. “When I was a kid, I was spending a lot of time with people who were older than me and they were my people at that point.” 

Anna moved to Gunnison from Racine, Wis., with her parents and older sister at the age of 11. In part, it was due to that transition that she found ways to connect outside of typical teen social circles. 

She enjoyed playing the flute and the piano, acting in local theatrical productions and even took a few turns with the track team once she reached high school age. But the closer she came to understanding the professional people that surrounded her, the more she desired to reach the next stage in life. 

“To have these cool older people who weren’t my parents, but involved in fun stuff, really set me up to understand my relationships with people today,” she said.

Once the opportunity arose to begin her collegiate career while still in high school, Anna latched on. As the daughter of two college professors at that time, the life of an academic came with ease. 

“We got them onto college campuses and it became an every day, commonplace event,” said Roger Hudson, Anna’s father and a business professor at Western State Colorado University (WSCU). “They saw that as an inevitable part of their future, I think, and saw it as an opportunity.” 

After graduating from Gunnison High in 2005, it took Anna just two years to graduate from Colorado State University with a degree in business administration. She did so by taking heavy course loads, including a regular slate of classes throughout each summer. 

“I really wanted to see what real life was like and I felt like college wasn’t real life yet,” Anna said about attaining her undergraduate degree at the age of 19.

Upon returning to Gunnison, Roger tipped her off to a program that was just about to set sail at WSCU — Professional Land and Resource Management. Two semesters later, she was among the first class of graduates from that program. 

“I had no prior exposure to what being a land man or land negotiator meant,” said Anna.

The experience eventually paid off in the form of an internship with the Colorado State Land Board in the spring of 2010. It was there that Anna began to learn the ropes for how mineral leases exchange hands and the great benefit that both the state and individuals can receive in that process. 

In August of 2010, Anna took her current position with Noble Energy. Since then, her primary job description has been sorting out mineral rights in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, particularly in the Weld County area. 

“Every day is a little bit different,” she said. “It’s constantly dealing with something new and learning. It’s a lot like being a detective.” 

So what comes next? 

“I’m finding that as I get older, you think there’s one step ahead that will change everything, and really it’s changing every single day instead,” she said. “I think that I’m starting to learn there is no end point.” 

Her father suggested that the success of Anna’s older sister, Sarah, also played a vital role in spurring Anna to reach for great heights. Sarah is currently serving out her residency as a physician at a Detroit area hospital. 

Learn more about Western's Professional Land & Resource Management program by clicking here.