For Emily Rama ’09, a major in English and minor in performance and communication arts has been about creative application. This year’s senior class president chose to showcase that application by taking advantage of St. Lawrence’s London Semester program.

“Communications is about our relationships and how we interact in the world and with the people around us,” says Emily, of Cottekill, NY. While staying with a host family in the small town of Muswell Hill, England, during Fall 2007, she had to learn how to travel on her own, develop independence and deal with all the emotions involved in leaving one’s comfort zone. The challenge was a great opportunity to communicate, and Emily calls it “the best experience of my life.”

“You go abroad and you grow so much,” says the Rondout Valley High School graduate. “You become this person who all of a sudden has all this worldly knowledge.”

Emily, who comes from a family that numbers dozens of Laurentians, has contributed to St. Lawrence as well, both before and after achieving her new “worldly knowledge.”  She was one of only a few people to volunteer to serve on the First-Year Council, has worked with the Chapel Planning Committee, and is a member of the English honors society and Kappa Delta Sigma sorority.

Emily is most proud of what she is currently doing on her class executive council; the biggest challenge, she says, has been learning humility, an important keystone in communication of all kinds. “I’ve learned that my best interest isn’t always the best interest of everyone else, not when it affects an entire student body,” she explains.