Emily Gotimer-Strolla is the middle genius in a family of
geniuses. She hales from Ridgewood, Queens and is part of the
fourth generation of Gotimers to attend St. John’s
University. She is the second child in a family of teachers
and scientists. It is little wonder, therefore, that she
wishes to become a teacher, one cannot help but think at the
college level. Emily may not even realize this about
herself, but one need speak with her for only a few moments and one
realizes how varied and interesting a person she is. Having
immediately categorized her as a teacher, one discovers her deep
interest in the arts. She is, in fact, an artist who paints,
draws, and sculpts in clay and balsa foam, a sand-like adhesive
medium.
Having entered St. John’s with scads of AP credits, Emily began
her major sequence in English as the only freshman member of an
upper-division Victorian Literature course. It goes almost without
saying that she completed this course (as she has all of her
others) with a perfect final grade. Emily has a realistic
attitude toward her work, however. She realizes that what one
knows is far more important than a letter on a transcript.
This exceptionally adult perspective is atypical for a student so
young, yet Emily has it.
Emily is a member of the freshman honors society Phi Eta Sigma
and was nominated for a Silver Key in English in the Spring of
2011. She is also the secretary of Sequoya, the University’s
literary magazine. She has read her creative writing at the
Barnes and Noble store near the Queens campus and has displayed her
art as well as a service project to raise money her former high
school, the Mary Louis Academy in Jamaica Estates.
Emily is a mainstay of the Honors Program. She often
represents it at Open House and Accepted Students Day and assists
in the program’s extensive events programming. The Halloween
party is her special favorite. Emily also tutors at the
University’s Writing Center, which allows her to perfect her
natural gift for teaching through daily practice. Making service a
part of her commitment to St. John’s, Emily regularly participates
in the Honors Program’s service projects, such as the Special
Olympics. In years past, she has also volunteered at Operation
F.U.N., a day camp run through Catholic Charities for mentally and
physically challenged children and adults.
Emily has found her time at the university to be a unique and
exciting time. She has taken advantage of a number of
opportunities offered through the Honors Program, such as visiting
the Cloisters, spending a class period on a schooner, and attending
a production of Throne of Blood at the Brooklyn Academy of
Music. Not only were these enjoyable experiences, but she
feels she came away with knowledge far beyond what she could have
achieved in the classroom alone. Emily is a commuter who
enjoys walking across the Great Lawn everyday and admiring the
campus she has been familiar with her entire life. Even
though she has always been a member of the St. John’s community,
Emily has found a home for herself on campus through the Honors
Program.