Spotlight On: Emory Allen, CCES Class of 2024

Christ Church Episcopal School experiences have prepared graduating seniors for whatever comes next and to make a positive difference in the world. Each week, we will put the spotlight on a graduating senior from the Class of 2024. We hope you enjoy getting to know these amazing CCES students!

When Emory Allen, Class of 2024, sets a goal, there is little doubt in anyone's mind that she will achieve it. Director of College Counseling, Linda Schulz, describes Emory as a student who “demonstrates great determination and courage” and “is steadfast in always giving her best efforts to all she pursues.” Emory’s ambitions at CCES have spanned the pool, the track, the classroom, and even the hospital ward. Throughout them all, she has shown a remarkable amount of grit and compassion. 

 

Emory joined CCES as an eighth grader and immediately plugged into the swim team. As a distance swimmer, she excelled in races requiring a high level of mental fortitude and endurance, and her success was evident in the various accolades she received throughout her swimming career, including All County, All Region, All State, and Highest Point Scorer. She also spent her summers by the pool serving as a swim lessons coach and a summer league swim instructor.

 

Mentorship opportunities like these have always been very important to Emory, and during her senior year, she started volunteering at the Serenity Place, a local rehabilitation center for mothers with young children. Described by Service and Experiential Learning Director, Elizbeth Jarrett, as “kind and respectful, hardworking and motivated,” Emory provides babysitting for the mothers’ children every Tuesday night. 

 

This opportunity, however, might not have been available to her had she not made the difficult decision to try out for the cross country team instead of the swim team during her senior year. The cross country’s close knit team welcomed her with open arms, and she quickly realized running provided a competitive outlet and an opportunity to make new friends. This decision to get out of her comfort zone has spurred her on to continually try new things, including volunteering at Serenity Place and later joining the track and field team. “So many good things came out of the scary decision to transition from swimming. It has inspired me to try new things, make new friends, and I’ve gotten to know Ms. Jarrett better, who introduced me to Serenity Place,” Emory reflected. 

 

Getting out of her comfort zone is nothing new for her though. During the summer before senior year, Emory participated in CCES’s Internship Program, which provides rising seniors with real world experience through internships in various fields across the Upstate. Her cousin is a pediatric ICU nurse, so she has always been curious about the nursing profession. Through the internship program, she had the opportunity to spend a few weeks in the pediatric ICU at Greenville Memorial Hospital and quickly realized how much she loved it. 

 

Despite working long hours, she knew something was different when she came home after a long day at the hospital and never complained about being tired. Instead, she was too busy reliving the day’s adventures and discoveries. “I love that it’s not a ‘sit at the office’ job, but you get to be moving around and doing something with your hands,” Emory says. “You are also exposed to so many different situations, and you get to have a big impact on both the kids and their families.”

 

After this experience, she made the decision to pursue a career in nursing, and this goal has shaped her college search. She wanted to attend a school that would allow her to start working as a nurse as soon as possible, and that criteria narrowed her search to schools with “direct admit” programs, in which students complete four years of nursing education including clinical rotations. She applied to James Madison University, Auburn University, and West Virginia University, among others, but the one that ended up being the top contender was not on her initial list until Mrs. Schulz suggested it – Belmont University in Nashville, TN. 

 

Belmont has a direct admit nursing program, and ninety-six percent of students enrolled in the program are employed in nursing within six months of graduation. This checks an important box for Emory, and it is also located in a big city with a strong medical community found in Vanderbilt University. The Belmont campus, however, feels small and organized in a way that made Emory feel right at home when she visited.

 

In looking ahead at closing of her chapter as a CCES student, Emory has one more goal she would like to accomplish – break six minutes in the mile at a track meet. Given her track record (no pun intended), it won’t be long before she meets that goal, careening her forward towards the many more she will pursue at Belmont and beyond. 

 

 

Name something this world could use a lot more of? Empathy. 

Who is someone who has greatly influenced your life? My mom. 

If you could create one mandatory course for seniors, what would it be? Finance.