This past year has been filled with many exciting changes. My senior year at Boston College was a bittersweet one, as I looked forward to new endeavors while preparing to leave a place I loved so dearly. In May, I graduated cum laude from BC with a degree in Philosophy (Perspectives Concentration) and Communication. After graduating, I was fortunate enough to spend one last summer at home on the Vineyard. This fall led me to New York City, where I have been living and working as a Capital Markets Paralegal at a Wall Street law firm, focusing primarily on commercial mortgage-backed securities. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my work and am continuously excited by all there is to learn. I’ll begin studying for the LSAT this January and will be applying to law schools in the fall, with the hope of enrolling in the fall of 2025. I look to the future of my education and career with a immense sense of gratitude for the opportunities I have been afforded thus far. I am endlessly thankful for MVYouth’s generosity and support for both myself and the Island community at large. One of the greatest lessons I will carry with me from my years at BC is the immeasurable power of education. MVYouth’s dedication to Island students’ access to education is second to none, and I will be forever grateful for all of your efforts. Thank you.
Emma Searle - Boston College
This fall has been my penultimate semester at Boston College. I look forward to graduating in the spring with a degree in Philosophy (Perspectives Concentration) and Communication. Having been led to BC’s Perspectives Program my freshman year through my core requirements, I’ve so enjoyed the pursuit of a Perspectives Concentration in Philosophy that has spanned almost four years now. Unique to BC, the Perspectives track is an interdisciplinary program of four year-long courses that are connected by foundational philosophical texts and principles. This semester I finished Perspectives III: Horizons of the New Social Sciences, which offers a philosophical frame to subtopics of sociology and economics, among others. In the spring I will wrap up Perspectives IV: New Scientific Visions, which focuses on the history and philosophy of the natural sciences. I spent this past summer in Boston as an intern at FGS Global (formerly Sard Verbinnen & Co.), a strategic communications firm. At FGS I was afforded the opportunity to witness a variety of communication-related situations unfold across a variety of different industries. Over the course of the summer I worked on both group and individual projects that were presented to the firm at the end of the program. I am so fortunate to take with me invaluable lessons from observing and working to support a host of professionals with a breadth of experience and expertise in the field of communications. This year I’ve also enjoyed continuing my involvement with the Undergraduate Government of Boston College and the Boston College Dance Ensemble, both of which have led to some of my most cherished memories at BC. As these four years come to an end all too soon, I am continuously reminded of my immeasurable gratitude for MVYouth and your indispensable support.
Emma Searle - Boston College
This semester I have been so fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity to study abroad in Italy. Beginning in early September, I spent three weeks in Florence with ten other Boston College undergraduate students before moving to Parma where we spent the remaining portion of the semester. While in Florence, we took an immersive art history class that brought us to a different site each day. The Uffizi Gallery, Michelangelo’s David, and a host of churches were only some among the breadth of historically and artistically-rich landmarks covered over the duration of the course. Once in Parma, we assumed a more typical four-class course load in which I was able to take both communication and philosophy courses to continue working toward the completion of my majors’ requirements.
Somewhat serendipitously, our classes were only held on Mondays through Thursdays, which allowed us to embark on a great number of weekend trips throughout Italy as well as to a few other European countries. Though I couldn’t pick a favorite among these excursions, I particularly enjoyed the trips we took to sea-side towns as well as our penultimate weekend spent in France. Perhaps the highlight of my time abroad, however, was the cooking class taught by a local chef and Parma native who so graciously welcomed us into her home each week. Every Wednesday we gathered as a group to cook traditional Emilian meals over which we would share innumerable laughs and foster invaluable friendships.
Though my return home has been bittersweet, the prevailing feeling I am left with has been that of gratitude for such a remarkable experience. I can not overstate how thankful I am to MVYouth for your continued support and for allowing me to pursue this tremendous opportunity.
Emma Searle - Boston College
While this fall semester looked quite different than the last, I have been so lucky to be able to continue my education on Boston College’s campus despite the pandemic. This fall, I declared a Philosophy major with a Perspectives Concentration in addition to my Communication major, and have been thoroughly enjoying my classes in both disciplines. This year, I am taking Perspectives II: Modernism and the Arts, and have so enjoyed continuing my study of philosophy alongside modernist art and literature. I am also working towards the completion of my Communication requirements, enrolling in critical methods and public speaking courses, which certainly looked different this semester in an online format. I have also been very fortunate to continue dancing with the Boston College Dance Ensemble in our Brighton Campus studio and look forward to the possibility of performing virtually at some point in the future. I have also begun working as the External Editor of the Bellarmine Law Society Review, a biannual publication of undergraduate legal scholarship, and have so enjoyed the exposure to the opinions of many undergraduate scholars provided by this position. As COVID-19 has created a very unique on-campus environment this year, my friends and I have been spending lots of time outside on BC’s greenspaces and finding new ways to explore the city of Boston in a COVID-safe manner. Most recently, I began my application to study abroad next fall. Though COVID certainly poses some logistical challenges to this endeavor, I am very excited by the breadth of opportunities that BC offers. I am immeasurably grateful to MVYouth for your continued support, and look forward to all that the rest of my time at BC will bring.
Emma Searle - Boston College
This first semester at Boston College has been immeasurably transformative and has surpassed any expectations I held before this school year began. Beginning to fulfill requirements for both my major in communications as well as our Core, I took classes covering topics such as the history of rhetoric, philosophy and theology, Spanish, and finite probability. I have especially loved my Perspectives on Western Culture course which I will continue into my second semester. In this class I’ve been guided through an examination of religious and philosophical texts and have been prompted to ponder big-picture questions such as “What does it mean to live a meaningful life?” In considering such questions I have consequently begun a regular practice of reflection, a practice that is highly encouraged and fostered at BC. Outside of my academics, I was accepted into the Boston College Dance Ensemble at the beginning of the semester and am overjoyed to further my love of dance at BC. Through this organization, I have developed such wonderful relationships with fellow dancers from each grade and so appreciate the support and shared passion for dance provided by this group. BC’s proximity to the city of Boston has also quickly become one of my favorite parts about school as I am able to take the T into the city with friends for a meal or an event or, as I just recently discovered during finals, to the Boston Public Library for a productive break from campus. Just in this first semester I already feel I have found a home and Boston College and I am incredibly grateful to MVYouth for their generosity and outpouring support throughout this journey.