Emily Crispino ’06 was inspired by her fine arts professors to teach. The Watertown, CT, native will return to St. Lawrence in fall 2009 in a much different role than when she left three years ago. She is thrilled to re-engage with the St. Lawrence community, working in the fine arts department and mentoring students while pursuing her master’s degree so she can become a teacher, a career path the professors she worked with so closely very much inspired.

“The fine arts department was incredibly supportive of their students, letting them become their own artists,” the fine arts and speech and theatre (now performance and communication arts) double major says.  “The approach of my teachers has helped me in my decision to become one. I want to help other students in the way that my teachers had helped me.”

Most recently a substitute teacher, Emily will work with students in two critical, yet separate, settings on campus.  “I will be working in the theatre as a technical assistant with Production Manager John Larrance as I did when I was an undergraduate, but I will also be ‘House Mom’ for Delta Delta Delta sorority,” she explains.  “Both will help me with my career because they will allow me to interact with students in different ways.  In the theater I will be able to work on my teaching skills, while I will help students with everyday issues that arise in their lives and assist in developing the skills necessary to deal with those issues through my work with Tri-Delta.”

“Once I finish my graduate work in art education, I am hoping to become a high school art teacher in New York City,” she says. Wherever she is, Emily knows she’ll be able to rely on both St. Lawrence experiences to help her pursue her dreams.  “Having a liberal arts education has made me more prepared for the real world than I ever thought it would have,” she attests.