Emily was born and raised in Durango, Colorado before going on to complete her bachelor's degree in French and Anthropology at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. After studying and teaching abroad in France for two years, she returned to the US to pursue her Master's Degree in French studies here at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is currently a doctoral student in French studies at UIUC, with a concentration in 20th and 21st century French literature and a specific focus on women’s autobiography and photography. She is pursuing two graduate minors in Translation/Interpretation and European Union Studies. Within her minors, she is particularly interested in language use, change, and reform in the EU and how this impacts the community/communities of different speakers living in (and in close proximity to) Europe.