HAC Student Spotlight: Emma Lucas

By: Abbey Wang

As an incoming freshman to Trine University, Emma Lucas chose to come to campus as an undeclared major. After her conversation with Amy Nicholls, the chair of the Humanities and Communication department at the time, Emma quickly decided that she would pursue a bachelors in an English and Communications double major. In just three and a half years, Miss Lucas graduated from Trine, amidst the beginning of a global pandemic to become a teacher.

Currently, Emma Lucas works as a teacher at the middle school she attended in Hamilton, Indiana. She teaches reading and language arts to students from sixth to eighth grade. Emma told me that this was not what she thought she would be doing, but she is so happy she is. “It was kind of a surprise because I did not go to school for education, but the opportunity just jumped out at me and it has been one of the best choices I’ve made” (Lucas, 2020). Not only does she love being back at her alma mater as a teacher, but she gets to do it with one of her closest friends right down the hall teaching with her.

During her time at Trine University, Emma was extremely involved on campus. She knew the misconceptions of HAC majors on campus and she was able to broaden her scope of what someone with a HAC degree is capable of. She recalls many of her fellow students and family members questioning what a HAC graduate can do with their degree. Emma wants people to know that there are way more positions out there that HAC majors are qualified for than meets the eye. “There are so many different avenues you can take with a humanities degree” says Lucas. Aside from the plethora of job opportunities the HAC department prepares students for, Emma says one of her favorite things about the HAC department is the small community that is Taylor Hall. “Every time I walk into Taylor Hall, I see so many familiar faces. I knew all the professors and basically all the students in my classes. It was nice having a group of people to study for a Don Jones Test within the LINK until 3am.”

Reminiscing on her time at Trine, Emma mentions the many professors that made her time at Trine impactful. When asked to if there were any professors she wanted to thank, she wasn’t able to choose just one; Amy Nicholls (for everything, but mostly influencing her to become a HAC student,) Sarah Franzen, Jeanette Goddard, Don Jones, Byron Bond and Christine Olding to name a few. 

When asked about advice for current or future HAC students, Emma said, “Be grateful that HAC is what it is and that you have the wide range of opportunities that you have. As a HAC student, you have all the materials and help from faculty that you need to make any idea into reality. Make the most out of it.” Emma Lucas hit the nail on the head; without constantly growing department, HAC students have the world at their fingertips; they just have to reach out and grab it.