Emma Nair '19 Finds Wonderful Balance of Leadership, Arts, and Passion for Psychology
Have you ever thought about why people vote or how empathetic people are?
It’s something that Emma Nair ’19 thinks about, and she learned more about it this summer at “Compassion Camp,” a week-long program in Eugene, Oregon, that featured psychologists from all around the world.
“They talked about why people give and vote, how people spend money and why, as well as other topics such as biases in donating, nuclear war, climate change, and refugees,” Emma said.
After Compassion Camp, Emma spent time in a social cognition lab with Dr. Sara Hodges at the University of Oregon. She worked on research focused on empathic accuracy, or the ability to accurately infer another person’s thoughts.
Her work involved measuring empathy and what people were thinking. “For instance, one experiment involved having people guess what someone else is thinking, and then grading how accurate they are, which translated to how empathetic they were to a certain person,” Emma said. “I knew what the person was thinking, so I could say how accurate the guesses were on a scale from 0 to 3.”
To meet a need for interests in psychology at Hutchison, Emma founded the Psychology Club, a place where students can learn about the different values of psychology.
“The goal is to have discussions about job opportunities and research methods that we might not discuss in class,” she said. “I wanted a place where people who have similar interests could talk with others.”
Emma's interest in psychology helps when she gets into character for theater. She is involved in both the Hutchison and Memphis University School theater programs and recently played the role of Erzulie in Hutchison's production of Once on This Island. Emma also enjoys singing and was named 8th chair, second soprano in the 2018-2019 All-West Choir. Don't miss seeing her perform in our Winter Music Concert on Wednesday!
Fifteen-year student Emmy Walton ’23 has put her heart into becoming a rocket scientist one day. After developing her interests in science and math through various STEM opportunities at Hutchison, she will follow her dreams at one of the nation’s top schools for engineering, Purdue University.
The National Merit Finalist was challenged by Hutchison’s various academic and extracurricular activities. From the tennis court to the courtroom to the classroom, Sarah is a well-rounded, hardworking Hutchison student who lives up to the school’s mission of inspiring girls to go anywhere they can imagine.
Eve-Elyse Hall ’23 has been known for setting up her teammates on the volleyball court throughout an excellent high school career. Now she’s setting herself up for a bright future after choosing to sign to play volleyball at Asbury University in Kentucky.
Hutchison world language students participated in the 2023 U of M Language Fair, sponsored by The University of Memphis Department of World Languages and Literatures. Demonstrating their knowledge of Spanish and Chinese, Hutchison had a total of 21 students win awards at the fair.
Note to the State of Tennessee: If you want to get legislation passed, put Hutchison girls in charge! Seventeen juniors wrote and presented six bills at the YMCA Youth in Government conference in Nashville. All of the bills made it onto the Senate and House dockets, and one was signed into law.
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Dabney Roberts Ring ’90 joined Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s staff in January 2016. She is currently a Senior Policy Officer and the Federal Relations Lead on Mayor Strickland’s intergovernmental team. She helped build an immersive internship for Hutchison senior Katie Frazer ’23.
Each year, Hutchison seniors on the Philanthropic Literacy Board research community needs and decide how to allocate grant money to local nonprofits that focus on those issues.
As eighth graders study the Holocaust, they got a unique opportunity to hear from a Hutchison staff member and her father about her grandparents' story of survival.
Anna-Margaret Webber '23 became the latest member of the Hutchison lacrosse team to earn a college scholarship as she signed to play for Rollins College.
Natalie Alexander ’25 is the first recipient of the award. She was chosen because she exhibits characteristicsthe award’s namesake, Dot Jones Hammons ’76, has demonstrated throughout her life: intellectual curiosity, steadfastness, loyalty, kindness, and compassion.