Make a Bigger Impact: Meet Communications Major Emma Van Dyke

Emma Van Dyke is a Communications major and an Entrepreneurship minor from Virginia. She has an eclectic extracurricular background in dancing and teaching snowboarding. At JCU, she is the president of STAND.

Tell us about your background. How did you end up at JCU?
My hometown is Leesburg, Virginia, just 30 minutes away from Washington D.C. I grew up in an activity-driven family environment. I took dance classes for most of my life, from modern dance and ballet to competitive dance. On the weekends, I would teach snowboarding or work in a petting zoo, which sparked my love for animals. So, if I wasn’t in the classroom, I was either dancing or working.

I have an older brother and sister, and they’re both out of the house. They still live in the States, but my parents now live in Naples, which is one of the reasons I decided to study at JCU.

Emma Van Dyke

I knew I didn’t want to stay in Virginia for college. I was considering schools in the States when my mom suggested I study abroad in Europe. I applied for the American universities in Prague and Paris as well as John Cabot University, which I eventually ended up choosing. I thought it looked great, and it meant having my parents close by.  Now that I’m getting to the end of this journey, I can safely say I am grateful it happened. I grew so much here. I don’t think I would have fit well in an American college. I fell in love with Rome, and I will miss it.

How did you end up choosing Communications as your major and Entrepreneurship as your minor?
I started as an Economics and Finance major, but I figured out pretty early that I am horrible at math. And then I took Intercultural Communications with Professor Ben Scribner, who sparked my interest in the field. I progressively started taking more communications classes and then decided to switch my major.

I wasn’t sure about which minor to pick, but then my advisor told me about the Entrepreneurship minor. I chose the Social Innovation path and was able to take some business-oriented classes, like Social Marketing and Fundraising this semester.

You are the president of STAND.  What is something that particularly impressed you during your time in the club?
Because of Covid regulations, when I was a freshman, there weren’t many activities to participate in, and socializing was difficult. Fortunately, during my sophomore year, I was able to get involved with the Community Service program, through which I was first introduced to STAND. In order to get the community service certificate, you need to attend what is called a “classroom experience,” so I started attending STAND events. In my junior year, I volunteered with one of the previous members of the board and she encouraged me to apply for a position on it. I was their social media manager first, and this year I am the President. It has become a passion project of mine.

In my role, I do a little bit of everything. I make sure that everyone carries out their tasks, and I help move things along if needed, but we all bring new ideas to the table. My VP Nicolette Balazs is very helpful; she creates the schedules and volunteers with me. We have grown a lot in terms of activities. We now have a stable relationship with INTERSOS, an important humanitarian organization in Italy and globally, and with the Nicola Bulgari Foundation. In February, we are going to kick off a fundraising campaign with INTERSOS to help the humanitarian crisis that has been going on in Darfur.

The thing I was most impressed by is the passion that everybody who gets involved with STAND has. It is nice to be surrounded by people who share the same mindset as you. We all understand that there are people out there who need help, to whom we can donate money through fundraising. We all want to help members of our JCU community, too, and that is why we also provide classroom experiences, where people can come and learn, but also make a bigger impact on those who really need it, outside of the classroom. It is very eye-opening to see actual, real-life problems. Sometimes it can be sad, but it is a good thing to learn.

You will be graduating soon. What are your plans for the future?
I am excited for my last semester at JCU and for my post-grad life, but I am finding it all bittersweet. I know I have learned a lot, and I am definitely a different person than when I first started. I feel like it is a full circle moment for me: I am sad it is over, but I am happy I get to take what I’ve learned and bring it into my future life. 

After graduation, I will go back to Washington D.C. and look for a job in the humanitarian sector. I would like to explore the communications side of it. I would also like to pursue an M.A. afterwards, maybe in International Affairs.

Do you have any advice for incoming students?
I would say, spend as much time as possible in Rome. My first semester, I traveled a lot, but at some point, I felt I needed to enjoy Rome more. Definitely take advantage of the city, you have so much to see! 

Also, get involved with the school’s extracurriculars. We go to a small school, but it can feel quite big in a sense, because of how many things there are to do. Whether it’s a club, Student Government, or just hanging out around campus, it can change your whole experience.