GMS: What memories are coming back to you by just being on campus?

EF: I feel like I have a ton of memories. I remember playing out here (gardens) with Walter Moore, who was our gardening teacher back then. Overall, I just have a ton of memories of spending a lot of time outside. 

GMS: Do you remember any of your field trips from your time here?

EF: The Land was my favorite. We were the group that built the structures that are not there anymore, but they had porta-jons. Even my overall favorite Montessori memory would [be] The Land. 

Costa Rica was also hard to beat, and I liked Arizona. I really liked the biodome (Biosphere 2) and have always remembered that. Going to Grimsley, I felt really spoiled with the field trips. We went to such cool places. 

GMS: What were your Grimsley field trips like and how did Montessori trips prepare you for those?

EF: I actually went on an exchange program where we stayed with host families, and I feel like my experience with Costa Rica was super helpful. We stayed in the Dominican Republic, and it was definitely a growth moment for me. I got paired with a girl who had only taken French courses, so my Spanish background that started here (GMS) helped me greatly. 

GMS: If you had not gone to Costa Rica, would you have felt confident enough to go on the Dominican Republic trip?

EF: My parents may not have felt comfortable with me going if it was not for Montessori and that travel experience that I had before. It was a good learning experience. 

GMS: How have things changed here on campus since you last were here?

EF: I think the rules have changed a lot. We did not even have gates around campus back when I was here. I feel like we were given so much freedom and independence, but I never felt unsafe. They just trusted us to take care of ourselves and each other. It led us to bond more with each other with experiences like sleeping in the rain at The Land or trying to cook for each other. 

I’m sure everyone who graduates from here thinks their class was the best class here, but I think that my graduating class was one of the superior class years.

GMS: Do you recall what your transition from here to Grimsley was like?

EF: I loved Grimsley. I had a really great experience there. We (Emma and fellow GMS alumni) all had different friend groups when we got to Grimsley, but we still had that connection through our time there. 

Montessori gave me some confidence going into Grimsley, even though it was completely different from Montessori. I still knew how to hold my own there and make my own path. I’m grateful I had both Montessori and Grimsley to contrast each other. 

GMS: What are some aspects of Montessori that helped you in high school?

EF: Teamwork, collaboration, interpersonal communication skills. I knew how to do group projects and ask my teachers for help if I was struggling, which allowed me to be successful even if I did not know the actual content. 

GMS: What led you down the path of studying education?

EF: Some family influences for sure. My dad was a professor and my mom is a therapist counselor. I decided to minor in education on a whim, even though I knew I did not want to become a teacher. 

I also did an AmeriCorps program after I graduated from UNC for the College Advising Corps, so I worked in two public high schools doing public advising. Since I loved that, I decided to earn my master's degree in education.

GMS: While you were at the University of Georgia, you worked as a career advisor. What was it like doing career advising for college students, when you were just in their position?

EF: It was fun because when I was at Georgia and Colorado College I felt like I could still relate to them. It was fun giving advice, but I also had to take my own advice. 

GMS: You went from college advising to recruiting professionally for Brooks Pierce. How has that change been?

EF: A lot of people move from college career services to professional recruitment because they are so similar, and it’s something that I have always been interested in. We were moving back to the Triad, and I figured if there was a time to pivot, it would be now. 

It was a big change from college students to a very professional work environment, which I think was good for me. I am beginning to learn about law from my coworkers and am coming from a place of curiosity about their cases. 

We had interns this past summer and we got to plan activities for them, which was one of the reasons I was drawn to this role. We were then able to extend a few full-time offers, which allow me to watch them grow in their careers.

GMS: You stated that “We moved to the Triad;” how did you meet your husband, Coleman?

EF: I met my husband at Grimsley my junior year, and we started dating our senior year. We have been together since then. We have similar goals, and we both loved growing up in Greensboro, but we knew we did not only want to live here our whole lives. 

When we both realized we had always lived in the Southeast, we decided to move to Colorado for a couple of years. Then we wanted to settle down and buy a house, so we moved back here. 

GMS: How has being back home been with both your family and your husband’s family?

EF: We moved to Winston-Salem because we were not ready to move right back to Greensboro, so the city is still new and exciting. It’s been really nice to be close to family because now we can come over for birthdays and have casual family dinners on weeknights. 

GMS: Are you familiar with any of our GMS parents who work at Brooks Pierce?

EF: Jimmy (Chang) works on my floor, and he is funny. He found out I went to Montessori and then found my eighth grade photo to show me. Dan Smith and Noah (Hock) are great too as I work with associates who are moving to becoming partners a lot. It’s honestly such a great law firm, and the people that work there are so smart and dedicated. They go above and beyond for clients and each other. I never would have thought I would know partners, but they are really laid back and super nice people.