Headshot of Emma Golding

After making her mark on the International Human Rights Clinic, Program Assistant Emma Golding left her position in early December. She begins nursing school at Emory University in January. As her colleague and friend, I will miss her generous spirit, compassionate nature, and perceptive intellect. However, I could not imagine a person more suited to enter the healthcare field.

Emma was constantly a surprise, with wide-ranging interests and skills. She could take professional headshots and design websites, while simultaneously conversing about food anthropology and solving crossword puzzles. At only 24 years old, she had been an editorial assistant, faculty assistant, legal secretary, bartender, waitress, hostess, busser, catering manager, circus performer, au pair, natural history and ecology educator, and Audubon Society counselor. She graduated from UMass Amherst in three years with a double major. She was one of the most self-sufficient people I knew. Every task she approached, she did so wholeheartedly.

In the Clinic, Emma was often the first individual students and staff interacted with as they entered our wing. She generated an easy positivity and warmth, qualities that were instrumental in establishing a community-oriented spirit over the past couple years. Students were often found milling about her desk, asking for advice on schoolwork and life. She presented everyone with a friendly face, even while juggling the demands of assisting eight clinicians, three classes, and multiple reading groups. A people-person with savvy judgment, she always stayed focused and easygoing in an atmosphere punctuated by a thousand interruptions. As my collaborator in communications, she showed an intuitive and creative approach to design and editorial. Her ability to parse complicated ideas and grasp difficult concepts will serve her well as she mediates between patients, healthcare professionals, and insurance companies.

Working with Emma has been a joy and a privilege, and while we are sad to say goodbye, we at the Clinic are thrilled to see her take this next step in her professional life. There is no doubt that she will be an excellent nurse and add tremendous value to the field.