Emma Saltzberg ’13

This week’s campus celebrity Emma Saltzberg ’13 recently returned from a semester abroad in Turkey. After only one semester of Turkish at the Five College World Language Center, Emma decided to have an adventure and study in Istanbul, which she found a “very cosmopolitan and fun, safe place to live.” As a political science major, Turkish politics were really intriguing to Emma: “Turkey calls itself the only majority-Muslim secular democracy in the Middle East, and people talk about the Turkish system as a potential model for the Arab Spring countries, but the reality is that a lot of people in Turkey feel like their political system is growing increasingly less democratic and less secular.” Emma’s experiences were not purely academic, however, and she got a full cultural experience both through nights out that would end with the morning call to prayer and a particularly memorable experience with Turkish hospitality:
 
“I was on a short trip outside of Istanbul and the family that owned the kebab shop where my friend and I had dinner ended up inviting us home, serving us like ten cups of tea apiece, and insisting that we stay overnight at their house. Turkish hospitality is not a joke. Then the next morning my friend and I accompanied their teenage daughter to her English class and ended up teaching it for a while. Study abroad!!”
 
 
Here at Amherst, Emma has been a PA since freshman year and finds it rewarding, despite some of its challenges. Though she only got involved in music in college, she loves being a part of Women’s Chorus and is honored to be its president for the 2012 year. She also enjoys crashing Glee Club events, and though you might not think that sounds like an official extracurricular, trust me, it is the way Emma does it.
 
 
Though unsure of what she wants to do after college, Emma sees herself going either into academia or into an NGO after spending a few years “bumming around,” figuring things out. She’s basically just in it for the money.