Schaeffer stanza-bove the rest

It's pretty hard to think of something you've been passionate about since the first grade. The test of time and the onset of puberty usually weeds out our innocent childhood fascinations and replaces them will a whole new bag of tricks. For Emma Scott Schaeffer '12, however, one love has remained constant: poetry. After reading Shell Silverstein's "Flower Fairy" and other childhood favorites countless times, Schaeffer was hooked. It wasn't until her first grade teacher announced to the class that they too could write poetry that Schaeffer started composing the stuff herself.

Naturally, since the days of pigtails and playgrounds, Schaeffer's style has changed a lot. "It's just like anything else; if you keep working at it, it's going to evolve and hopefully improve and change. Plus, to me, poetry is such a personal thing. It's going to change as you do," she explained.

During her senior year of high school, Schaeffer took a creative writing class in which she was inspired by imagism, an early 20th-century poetry movement that focuses on short works rich with imagery and clear, sharp language. "I like to notice tiny details about things and then focus on them. It forces me to come up with an original type of description," she said. "If you're writing something small and precise, you have to be original. Otherwise, no one's going to remember it, and you're not going to be saying anything new."

Schaeffer not only feels a connection with her own poetry, but also wishes for her work to speak personally to its readers. "I like for there to be some sort of meaning behind what I'm describing, even if it's up to reader interpretation. I think that when you go to read a poem, you want to take something away from it and find something of yourself in it," she said.
Schaeffer is the treasurer of Vassar's poetry and written word group, Word Smiths. She also occasionally visits the Cubbyhole for open mic nights and even submits her work to literary magazines every now and then. To keep in touch with her poetry-loving friends from home, Schaeffer uses a blog to post her work: "I use it to post poetry and lyrics. My friends and I used to swap poetry back and forth, and the blog is kind of an easier way to read each other's work," she said.

Although Schaeffer is obviously very passionate about poetry, she understands that professionally, the field isn't exactly promising. "I'm planning to be a teacher because I'm not quite brave enough or foolish enough to go into the world saying I'm going to be a poet and nothing else," she said.

Schaeffer is currently working toward a teaching certification by taking classes in the Education Department and doing field work in Poughkeepsie. "I love being in the classroom, and I think the two work together well—poetry and teaching," she said, adding, "I want to teach public school, and I'd like to focus on creative writing or be a writing specialist."

Aside from her poetry and education endeavors, Schaeffer is also a comedian. Last year, she joined Vassar's sketch comedy troupe, The Limit, and hasn't looked back since. "It's definitely the right group for me. Everyone has a really unique sense of humor. We tend to go into darker and weirder comedic territory, especially this year. We try to push the limit, so to speak," she said.

"Comedically, we like to get some audience involvement and see how far we can take it beyond just doing our sketches and films," she said. "It's so much fun—probably one of my favorite things that I do at this school."

Comedy and education aside, Schaeffer's lifelong love of poetry will always remain constant: "I want it to continue to be a big part of my life for as long as possible," she said.