What do you call someone who is extremely hard working, intelligent, and hilarious? Emma Jasnoch.

Emma is a senior with double majors in Spanish and Latin American, Latino/a and Caribbean Studies (LALACS) who, is consistently described as intelligent by her peers and professors.

“My one word for Emma would be brilliant. She is literally the most brilliant person I know and is my personal Hermione. She is knowledgeable to the point where the graduate program she was accepted into at the Unniversity of Minnesota has a handful of graduate students, and many of them already have Master’s degrees in other studies! She is on the same playing field as these already accomplished graduate students and she rightfully deserves so. She will not only meet the expectations of her peers, she will exceed them,” Senior Bryden Giving said.

Emma’s skills shine through in her writing and analytical skills.

“Emma has grown into a meticulous writer who understands the importance of effective and persuasive communication in both academic and creative writing. In her four years at Gustavus, she has developed a keen ability for analyzing literature and the world around her with a critical eye,” Associate Professor of Spanish Ana Adams said.

In addition to being intelligent and accomplished academically, Emma is funny.

She loves to learn and loves to laugh, and uses the two to reinforce each other in a cycle. She allows her studies to be viewed with some humor which propells her forward to learn more, and as she learns more to find more joy and humor in it all.

“She has a hysterically quick wit, and has that sense of humor with the perfect blend of silliness and dryness. Even though she can be re pesada, it is always a good time with Emma, and I’m so fortunate to call her one of my closest friends,” Junior Andrew Malo said.

In addition to her humor and intelligence, Emma is very hard working and involved.

In addition to her two majors, Emma is the Spanish Academic Assistant, a Spanish language tutor, a copy editor for El Tintero, a member of Sigma Delta Pi (the Spanish honors society), and in the past was involved with the Language Buddies program.

Next year Emma will be attending the Masters/PhD program at the University of Minnesota in the department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, where she will become a Teaching Assistant and if all goes well and she enjoys it, hopefully becoming a Professor one day.

“I love studying Spanish because it challenges me not only to be a better communicator but also to empathize with different cultures. It’s very humbling in the sense that there is always something new to learn and there is always room to keep developing my skills and grow as a person.” Emma said.

One of the things that Emma has appreciated most about her time at Gustavus is the faculty who have showed her incredible support and influenced her the past 4 years here. But her advice to students is,

“I would recommend studying abroad, whether for a semester, a J-term course, or in a summer program! It’s one thing to learn about other languages and cultures in a classroom and another to actually experience another country’s lifestyle firsthand. You also learn so much about yourself along the way.” Jasnoch said.