HHP graduate profile: Emily Smith, family and consumer sciences education
Graduating students were nominated by College of Health and Human Performance faculty this semester for a graduate profile. Learn more below about family and consumer sciences graduate Emily Smith.
Name: Emily Smith
Major: Family and Consumer Sciences Education
Hometown: Parkersburg, West Virginia.
Hobbies/interests: I love to hang out with my 4-year-old, go to the beach, go to concerts, and shop.
Favorite class: I have loved every psychology class I’ve ever taken.
Favorite place on campus: I always enjoyed people watching on the mall on main campus.
An ECU memory you would like to share: I didn’t really know what I was doing with my life when I reapplied after dropping out for three years, when my advisor, Melissa Watterson, recommended the Family and Consumer Sciences Education program to me. The more I learned about this field, the more I felt like I finally found my purpose. Through every class I have taken the past two years, that sense of purpose has grown stronger. Thank you for the life changing guidance, Ms. Watterson!
Post-graduation plans: I hope to teach counseling and mental health to high school students somewhere in N.C., and to eventually continue my own education by getting a Master’s Degree in School Administration.
From Smith: “Raising my smart, funny, handsome, and kind little boy is my greatest accomplishment. Professionally, up until this semester of my internship, I had continued to work within the hospitality industry to support myself and my son. This is a job that will undoubtedly help me in my upcoming career as a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher through the leadership skills honed, relationships built, and practical experiences gained. Keeping my grades up these past two years, while also juggling the immense pressure and stress of being a single, working mom is something I never imagined I would be able to do. These things might not sound like much, but I think this journey will make me a better teacher through the life experiences and genuine understanding that I will be able to bring to the table in order to relate to my students and their individual stories.”