Emily Wenning ‘23, says she “tends to end up places.” She’s putting things mildly. Since attending Black Hills State University (BHSU), Emily has bounced around the globe, pursuing her passions for travel and social work. She’s taught math to children in South Africa, babysat foster children in Las Vegas, and helped migrants displaced by violence find a new home in Mexico City. She stays in any given place until a new city catches her eye. Wherever she is, Emily uses the skills she acquired studying Human Services at BHSU to do what she can, where she can, for the people who need it the most.
Emily was raised in Beulah, North Dakota, an oil and gas town with barely more than 3,000 people. Her father was a detective and her mother was a church secretary. She says it was a trip she took as part of the high school band to eight European countries—Austria, Italy, Germany, Greece, France, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom--that sparked her love of travel. “There’s a whole world out there! And it’s more than cows!” she said.
Emily says she was brought to BHSU by a recommendation from her sister, who had also attended the university, plus nearby hiking trails and the university’s affordable tuition. She intended to major in sociology or pre-law but decided to study Human Services. She also pursued a Certificate in Basic Spanish Literacy and fondly remembers her time learning from Dr. Du Lu Hsiao, a Spanish professor. “He’s just a very nice man,” she said. “He does a really good job of utilizing a lot of different teaching methods to keep you engaged with language learning because language burnout is hard.” The grammar and vocabulary she learned in Dr. Hsiao’s classes are the same she now uses in Mexico.
Emily also joined a team led by Dr. Emilia Flint studying cultural differences in the way participants in the Special Olympics, a competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities, prepare for their events. In the basement of Jonas Hall, Emily transcribed the recordings of Flint’s interviews with German athletes, working alone except for the snakes stored in the room next door. “I feel like being a part of a research team not only expanded my knowledge of the research process but [also] provided me with some strong relationships with my professors which improved my academic success,” Emily said.
Halfway through her degree, just when everything was going smoothly, Emily dropped out of school and went to Vegas. In the mornings, she took pre-seminary classes, and in the afternoons, she helped low-income children with their homework or worked with an organization supporting foster families. Four months later, she was in Durban, South Africa, teaching English and math to young children, many of whom had been absent from school for long periods because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ready to finish her degree, Emily returned to BHSU, picking up right where she left off. “It was really easy to come back to BH[SU] because I had a really good relationship with professors,” she said. “I literally just emailed the Registrar’s office.”
Emily graduated with a degree in Human Services with an emphasis in Family Studies and a Certificate in Basic Spanish Literacy. From there, she made the long journey from Spearfish to Mexico City to volunteer at CEAHPAZ, a migrant shelter. CEAHPAZ houses families and individuals displaced by violence or persecution. The organization provides language lessons, distributes necessities, and helps migrants get legal status in Mexico. Once, her job was performed by eight people. Now, due to budget cuts, it’s just her and one other employee. One critical part of her role is navigating the language barriers that come with sheltering migrants from around the world. For example, she figures out how to get the Arabic-speaking Palestinian children to play with the Farsi-speaking Iranian children and the Creole-speaking Haitian children, while herself only speaking English and Spanish. It’s challenging work. But she makes do.
Emily plans to move to Washington this summer to be closer to her family, but nothing is locked down. Maybe she'll go to Latin America. She’s been eyeing Switzerland. Still, there are a few constants in her life. Her certificate in Spanish has opened up a whole new continent in which she can work and travel. Meanwhile her degree in Human Services introduced her to the social structures and behaviors that underpin much of her work. Wherever she goes, it’s the skills she learned studying at BHSU that allow her to pursue her passions.