Being a member of the Transylvania University swim team has meant the world to senior Emma Lloyd. Swimming in college was one of the reasons Transy was her top college choice. The other was that she hoped to follow in the footsteps of the teacher she so admired in high school, Sophie Schwab ’11. Lloyd was thrilled when she was admitted to Schwab’s alma mater.
“Transy definitely has shaped who I am today and the teacher that I am in the classroom,” says the elementary education major and psychology minor from Lexington.
Initially a little nervous about student teaching — worried that her lifelong dream might not translate well to reality — she actually found clarity in local classrooms at Cassidy Elementary and Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary.
“It’s been awesome,” she says of meeting the challenges of the classroom and feeling perfectly natural there. “It’s been really hard, and obviously very different from taking classes, but it’s been amazing. I’ve left school every day knowing in my heart that this is where I’m supposed to be.”
A member of the swim team, Chi Omega and co-president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, Lloyd says she’ll especially miss the community of her team and coaches.
“Our team is a lot like a family, genuinely. There’s no one on the team you can’t go to if you have a problem or need advice. Everyone is so caring and loving to each other that it’s just a constant state of lifting each other up.” She says she felt that sense of family and ready-made friendships wherever she went on campus. “It’s been amazing.”
She’ll soon be creating for her own students that same sense of community and the welcoming space she felt in Schwab’s classroom at Lafayette High School. She later plans to specialize in the field of education, either in special needs, student guidance or reading intervention.
“It’s meant a lot to attend Transy,” she reflects. “I’ve always wanted to go to college and be a teacher. It was really special to get into my top choice school, to go where Ms. Schwab went, and to get to swim here too. Just being able to put all the pieces together was really special.”