Meet Emily. Emily Corrao graduated from GHS in the class of 2022, faced with a daunting task—which of her passions should she pursue? Emily was accepted into Suffolk University, a private research university in downtown Boston that offers a wide variety of studies and opportunities for a taste of city living. Emily is a multi-talented student, having used high school as a time to explore her interests in drama, singing, and more, with the help of GEF funding, but ultimately decided that journalism was her path. Her pursuit of a career in journalism doesn’t stop her from pursuing her other interests as well—she’s involved in a number of clubs and organizations that extend outside the classroom. Emily is going into her sophomore year to continue to expand her horizons and seek new opportunities for both her career and her passions.
Q. What are you studying in college?
A. I’m studying broadcast journalism at Suffolk University, with a criminal justice minor. Criminal justice was one of the paths I was thinking about when I first applied to college, but I chose journalism because I felt like I could use it as a way to expand everything, because there’s so much variety within it.
Q. Where do you see yourself post-college, if everything went perfectly?
A. I would absolutely love to be in a big city, like Boston, New York City, or even D.C. if I try to go down the investigative journalism path. I’m in broadcast journalism, so I’d love to do something with less writing, more talking. I can write, but I feel like I’m at my best when I’m speaking.
Q. In Gloucester Public Schools, what were your interests and extracurricular activities?
A. I was a big drama person. I did drama all four years of high school. I also did chorus for three years, and was a singer for the Docksiders band for one year. I dabbled in DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) a little, and I was part of the school newspaper, the Gillnetter. I dabbled in a lot of things at GHS, for sure.
Q. What do you think you gained from each of these activities?
A. In terms of drama, I absolutely love singing and dancing and acting, and I feel like it helped my confidence. I loved the Gillnetter too. My journalism teacher at Suffolk has been super supportive, and of course Ms. Trigilio at GHS was super helpful. I feel like she really prepared me for journalism in her class. For chorus, I learned how to read music at GHS, which is so useful, and I learned how to match pitch and how to do solfege. I’m part of the Suffolk Chamber Choir, which is just a fancy word for a choir, and we do more classical pieces. I found that in the chamber choir, a lot of people don’t know how to read music, and I’m not amazing at it myself, but it does definitely help to know.
Q. Take me through all these activities you’re doing at Suffolk.
A. So, of course I’m in the journalism program through my classes. I’m doing the chamber choir, and I’m on the Executive Board for that. I’m in the PAO, the Performing Arts Office, and I’ve done two shows. I did a dinner theater show, where I was one of the leads, and then I was in “The Play That Goes Wrong”.
Q. Where do you think all these interests began for you?
A. I definitely think it started early for me. I’ve always loved music, and acting. I started doing plays originally in second grade, at The Annisquam Village House, and from there I started doing my school plays. I did my second, third, fourth, and fifth grade plays at Plum Cove, and all three years of middle school theater at O’Maley. I also did all the O’Maley theater summer camps, which again really helped my confidence. I did chorus in middle school as well. The teachers who ran those programs were very passionate about what they did, and the programs themselves were very welcoming. There were all different kinds of people with all different kinds of backgrounds, and you bond with people. They change you, whether they’re students or faculty.
Q. Who or what would you name as some of your greatest inspirations?
A. Obviously, Ms. Kimberly Trigilio. I walked into the Gillnetter one day my junior year and I thought it seemed really cool, so I wrote a story about the GHS graduation, and I decided I would do Gillnetter the next year. From there, I just loved it. Since I’ve been at Suffolk, I’ve interviewed a state senator, Michael Barrett, which was really cool. I got to use the tips that Ms Trigilio gave me, which helped me figure out what questions to ask and how to get the best answer.
Q. How are you feeling about the future?
A. Right now, I feel like I’m on a good path. I’m on the dean’s list at Suffolk, and I’m really excited. I love being in the city. Everything’s right there, I walk past the statehouse every day while going to class, and the staff is so helpful as well. I love journalism and I love how you can expand outward from it, whether it’s investigative journalism, or Oprah-style celebrity interviews, or newscasting, it’s all journalism.
*This article is part of a series funded by the Gloucester Education Foundation. An abbreviated version is published on the GEF website.
