Not long ago, Emily was walking the halls of Sartell High School. Now, she is making the most of life after high school, taking on new challenges and exploring new opportunities!
As a junior, Emily now attends the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin, and is majoring in Business Administration with a minor in Spanish. Emily says that her favorite things to do around campus are going thrifting, hanging out with friends, and taking walks on trails around the Menomonie area.
Having moved to Sartell when she was only four years old, Sartell has been Emily’s hometown for almost her whole life. When asked if she prefers college or high school more, Emily says that she prefers college because it makes her appreciate home more, and everyone from home, including her family and her hometown friends.
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I just feel like I can be myself more here and be more of an adult on my own.”
— Emily says when asked why she picks college over high school
Emily and her roommates had a blast at the Billie Eilish Concert! (Photo used with permission from Emily Brown)
Q: How is college going?
A: “Its good, there are challenges, but they all help me better myself.”
Q: What do you miss most about high school?
A: “Just being able to see all of my friends on a daily basis.”
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “Watch a lot of movies, go to the gym, and thrift with my roommates.”
Q: What has been the best part of college?
A: “Meeting new people and experiencing new things I never thought I would do.”
Emily Brown
Emily sprints towards the in-goal area in attempt to score a try during a rugby game. (Photo used with permission from Emily Brown)
Emily has been playing Rugby at UW Stout for three years. Her interest in the sport first started when she saw a flyer for the Womens' Rugby club hanging on the wall of her freshman dorm. Emily says that her favorite thing about rugby is the team environment and how everyone is positive and uplifting. She describes her team as one big family.
When asked her opinion on more girls from Sartell being exposed to opportunities to join community rugby teams in Central Minnesota in the last year, she said, “I think it's really cool because it’s such a body-positive sport compared to the other sports at Sartell High School.”
Emily and her friend group all pose together in excitement on graduation night. (Photo used with permission from Emily Brown)
One of the most challenging things Emily experienced when going to college was being separated from her high school friend group. Emily and her friends have all been friends since 7th grade. Emily said they are all very close, given how many of them are in a group. Her high school friend group consists of Hannah Sundell, Jenna Dahlberg, former journalist Shea Stuckey, Rachel Stangle, Molly Stein, former journalist Greta Schmidt, and Kelsey Kinville.
Their favorite thing to do was to hang out at Hannah's or Molly’s house and just talk about anything and everything. Emily said that no matter if the topic was important or interesting, they made it important. The biggest thing Emily misses is being able to see them all every day at school.
Emily and her two sisters love to get fun drinks together on each other their birthdays! (Photo used with permission from Emily Brown)
Another challenge of college is leaving behind siblings and family.
Emily said going to college and not seeing her sisters every day was a big challenge for her. “I was used to always being around them and talking to them whenever I needed to, but when I went to college, I had to schedule a face time everytime I wanted to talk to them.”
Emily has two sisters, Lauren, a senior at Sartell High School, and Claire, a sophomore at Sartell High School. She says they are all very close to each other. When asked what they all like to do together, Emily said they love to just be stupid and laugh over the weirdest of things, and she says she loves to catch up with them whenever she is home.
Emily and Elise have been together for 2 1/2 years. (Photo used with permission from Emily Brown)
Emily and her girlfriend Elise's favorite things to do together are go thrifting, watch rom-coms, chit-chat, walk around each others college towns, and go to coffee shops. Elise attends college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she is majoring in Environmental Science and minoring in Public Policy.
When asked what's one thing Elise does that always makes her laugh, Emily said, “Whenever I’m being dramatic, which is a lot of the time, she calls me out on it and it just makes me laugh every time.”
Emily, two of her housemates and college friends love to explore the town of Menomonie, Wisconsin. (Photo used with permission from Emily Brown)
Emily lives in a house just outside of Stout's campus with five roommates. She says she prefers living in a house rather than living in a dorm because it's much easier. Emily says she and her two friends from freshman year, Amber and Macy, decided to rent a house off campus because they had such a fun time in the dorms, and they just wanted to be closer and thought it would be fun to actually live together.
When asked how living with Emily is, Macy said, “It's exciting, she creates a good environment.”
On the same question, Amber said, “She’s super clean…like hyperaware clean, she walks in the door, and it’s just chill and better.”
Emily says her only petpeeves on living with housemates are when people get too messy, when someone is really loud, or has people over without checking with everyone else.
