A Great Stepping Stone
Emily Burns was one of Profiles of Excellence for Commencement 2016.
Editor's Note: This story was originally published in 2016 as part of our Profiles of Excellence series for Commencement 2016 and has been slightly updated. Emily is now studying neurobiology and psychology at Bay Path University, where she is part of the Women in STEM Honors Program. She also still works as a tutor in the Writing Center at HCC.
From an early age, Emily Burns had her eye on HCC.
For the first 10 years of her life, she lived on Edbert Drive, a short walk from the school's main entrance on Homestead Avenue. Her parents are alumni, and "they both loved it," she says.
Her father, Sgt. Brian Burns, '85, has worked as an HCC police officer for more than 30 years on the 3-11 p.m. shift; her mother, Cynthia, '84, an audit supervisor for the state Dept. of Revenue, often brought Emily and her younger sister to campus for dinner.
"I used to come up here all the time and visit," she says. "I knew this was a really great institution to begin with. I thought it would be a great stepping stone for me."
A resident of Belchertown, Emily Burns, now 22, stepped across the stage at the Mass Mutual Center on May 28, 2016, to claim her diploma from Holyoke Community College at Commencement. She graduated with high honors, a GPA of 3.977 and an associate degree in Liberal Studies, a customized program she tailored to fit her eclectic academic interests.
She began her HCC education as a Foundations of Health major with the intention of becoming a nurse. But an Introduction to Psychology course and English College Composition early on got her thinking about different possibilities.
"Those courses really opened my eyes to a new way of looking at college and what it means to be a college student," says the 2014 graduate of Belchertown High School. "Instead of choosing a degree that would lead directly to a career I chose something that would open doors for me in a variety of ways."
During her four semesters at HCC, Burns took a diverse mix of courses such as Introduction to World Music, Statistics, Forensic Psychology, Nutrition, Art History, Introduction to Criminal Justice, Introduction to Anthropology, and, her favorite, Abnormal Psychology with HCC professor Jane Vecchio.
"My biggest challenge was changing my degree because I'm very much a planner," she says. "I'm goal oriented. It's not always easy to realize you don't have everything set in stone and figured out, but I'm glad I was shown different ways of looking at things. There's a lot of value in a liberal arts education."
Aside from her studies, Burns kept herself busy both on campus and off.
She was a New Student Orientation leader for the Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 semesters, and she worked about 35 hours a week between her two jobs as a legal assistant at the Holyoke law firm of Moriarty & Wilson PC and peer tutor in the HCC Writing Center.
"Having the opportunity to work as a student with other students has been the most meaningful experience to me because I've had the opportunity to encourage and understand what others are going through in their college experience," she says. "I've gained a whole other perspective of what college is like."
Among her academic accolades, Burns was a two-time scholarship recipient from the HCC Foundation and was inducted last fall into the Phi Theta Kappa national honor society.
During the summer following her graduation, she worked as a volunteer with a group in her hometown of Belchertown called Tweens to Teens that focuses on issues relevant to girls 9 to 16.
In September 2016, she began working on her bachelor's degree in neurobiology (with a minor in psychology) at Bay Path University in Longmeadow and continues to work at HCC as a tutor in the Writing Center.
Though she has moved on as a student, a new member of the Burns family has stepped in. Her younger sister Erin, 20, is now a student at HCC, studying visual arts.
"We were both taught from a very young age the value of community college," says Emily. "Holyoke Community College gave me the opportunity to explore who I am and what I like, and that will lead me somewhere awesome."
