After students walk across the stage and receive their diploma from EMU, the great, big world is awaiting them. Life after graduation is unique for everyone and navigating that transition does not come with instructions. I was able to catch up with two recent EMU graduates, Elizabeth Dagliano and Adam Moyer, about where they are roughly a year after graduation. Elizabeth Dagliano, who graduated in 2020 as a liberal art major with PreK-6 licensure and a double minor in psychology and sociology, finds herself teaching in Rockingham County. 

Currently, Dagliano is teaching fourth grade at John C. Myers Elementary and is “absolutely loving it!” Her career in education did not skip a beat and started right after she finished her EMU coursework,  specifically “the day after completing student teaching,” when she took a  position as an HLA instructor in fourth grade, which means she taught strictly via Zoom. She is really enjoying her transition to an in-person position this year and getting to make connections with the students. Dagliano shared that she feels EMU prepared her well for teaching. When a new program was being implemented this year in Rockingham County, she was already familiar with it and was able to say “I learned this at EMU!” In addition to teaching, Dagliano also spends a lot of her time “babysitting for churches in the community.” In looking to the future, Dagliano has ambitions of “writing children’s books and maybe one day starting an educational farm where schools would bring kids to the farm and get to experience the animals, the land, and garden.” Dagliano also wanted to share advice for those about to graduate: “For those nearing graduation, I would say to be confident and don’t jump into the first offer you get unless you feel confident you will love or gain experience for it.”  

Adam Moyer, who graduated in 2020 with a major in Spanish language and Hispanic studies and a double minor in journalism and political studies can be found across the pond in England. Moyer is currently obtaining a master’s degree in international journalism from City University in London, England. As a former staff member of The Weather Vane, Moyer gave a lot of credit to EMU’s student newspaper and said, “The Weather Vane at EMU was a solid platform for me to gain my first two years of experience in news production. I learned a lot by collaborating with other student writers and editors to independently piece together an eight-page print newspaper every week. It’s not easy to do that as students with other classes, responsibilities, and random things in life. But it was always worth it. I won’t forget the five-to-midnight sessions any time soon; grueling sometimes, but satisfying knowing we were producing news together. I’m really proud of a lot of the work we did and it gave me the confidence to continue following a career in journalism. Keep the print alive, EMU!!”   Adam also wanted to give “special appreciation to Kirsten Beachy, Mark Sawin, Ji Eun Kim, and Adriana Roja” for helping him come this far in his journalism career and to “think and learn about the world through a critical lens.” In terms of future goals, Moyer responded, “I want to work for the Washington Post. You heard it here first.” He also wanted to share with those about to graduate, “You don’t need to have it all figured out. You don’t have to know what your first job is gonna be or where you will be a year from now. Take life one day at a time and the big decisions you’ll have to make will come to you as you grow, learn and trust yourself.”