Emily Bouche: Afternoon student commencement speaker
The Pointer
bhaig870@uwsp.edu
Emily Bouche grew up in the small town of Sauk Prairie, Wis. After graduating from Sauk Prairie High School in 2004, she chose to attend the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, but it wasn’t exactly her first choice.
“I never wanted to come to school here because my older brother Matt was also here, so I didn’t want to follow in his footsteps, but then I found out that they had a very good education program,” said Bouche. However, having her brother there turned out for the better, creating even more memories.
Bouche, currently in her fifth year of undergraduate studies, is graduating with degrees in elementary education, special education and Spanish. Although her original plan included a major in elementary education and a minor in Spanish, placement and study abroad credits afforded a Spanish major, and a couple of classes later, a special education major was also in her sights.
One of her best experiences, and a common piece of advice she gives to freshmen is to study abroad. Since coming to UW-SP, Bouche has had the opportunity to study abroad in Oaxaca, Mexico, to study Spanish and taught English in Japan. This past February, she also used the Spanish that she had learned to translate for a medical mission trip in Lima, Peru.
After she graduates, Bouche plans to participate in an on-campus internship for a year, then teach abroad or become a hall director while pursuing higher education, or find a job here in Wisconsin to teach. Bouche compares the role of a teacher to the coach of a team, in which she draws up the game plan, instructs and trains her players to the best of her ability, and then releases them to compete. At this point, the game is ultimately in the hands of the players as they choose the amount of time, effort and energy they will put in to the game.
“Whether a general, special or foreign language educator, my job is not only to get students ready for the game but to make sure they succeed,” says Bouche in her teaching philosophy.
Some of her favorite memories include studying abroad and playing on the tennis team.
“I definitely made a lot of friends playing tennis; I made a lot of friends and memories that I will never forget,” said Bouche. She was also involved in the residence halls as a community advisor and assistant director, which she credits as another good experience. For her ceremonial speech, Bouche has threw out one copy, but has compiled her final that includes life lessons that she learned while being a Pointer mascot for four years.
“That’s the hard part about writing a graduation speech, it has to be funny and interesting," said Bouche.
