Emma Spier Camposano, like many graduating seniors around the country, is thinking about her future. Camposano, a microbiology major, is graduating this May with honors, while juggling job applications alongside fun summer plans. Currently, she is kept busy balancing her roles as president of Clemson’s Solid Green club, as well as being an intern for the Sustainability Commission.
Most recently, Camposano spearheaded Solid Green’s Earth Week. This week featured Yoga and Succulents and a Solid Green Blood Drive. They also hosted the Conscious College Road Tour’s Information Station, an event highlighting sustainable products at college campuses across the country.
Brimming with intelligence and passion, Camposano lights up when talking about the environment, being able to contextualize scientific facts with real world examples. Camposano is unapologetic when it comes to these issues. The coal industry and questionable FDA policies regarding dairy farms are a few of the many things she is outspoken against.
Camposano advocates for her Earth-friendly lifestyle (being an early riser and a vegan) in an exemplary manner. Instead of preaching, Camposano highlights her own choices as examples for those around her.
“How do you get people to care and value the things that you value? I think by living, as a demonstration of what this could be for you. I’m happy, I’m healthy, I’m doing my part to save the planet. I try to be a role model for a lot of people,” Camposano said.
Camposano jumps from big idea to big idea, completely unafraid to talk about changing the world, or the path and role she envisions for herself.
“I came in and I was like ‘microbiology, I’m gonna be pre-med, that’s where I am gonna go’ and then I realized when you’re a doctor you’re running around putting out fires. You’re fixing problems that have already occurred,” Camposano said. “What I want to do is more of a creative thing. I want to work with people who are going to inspire me to come up with new ideas, to create new initiatives, educate people, help incite a happy change and not working with people who are scared and concerned and worried all the time.”
Camposano is currently hunting for a job, but plans on going back to school to get a Ph.D. either in sustainable food systems or geomicrobiology.
Talking about what changes she would like to see in Clemson going forward, Camposano mentioned composting in dorms, as well as the creation of a life skill class, which would teach students about how to live a sustainable lifestyle.
“It’s not so much something that we are teaching students, as it is a life skill. I feel like in high school I didn’t get a lot of life skills, including cooking and things like that, so I think having a holistic class where students learn how to be personal [sic] sustainable with your finances, what you eat, your sleep schedule, with the food choices that you make, the relationships that you end up being in,” Camposano said. “All of that can be looked at through sustainability perspectives and I think that a class like that where we teach freshmen all those things is invaluable. It’s something that should be required everywhere. I think that there just needs to be a more holistic approach to sustainability so people don’t think that it is just crazy vegans out there trying to impart their knowledge on you.”
Camposano had a few pieces of advice for those new students who come after her: “get involved in something” and “find your niche.”
For older students, Camposano said, “Put yourself out there, you can still reach out. There is never an age limit for reaching out to other people and getting involved and becoming a part of someone’s network and then adding them to your network. I don’t think you can ever be too old to meet people and make friends and forge new relationships. I think that is all really important, especially for older students who feel like ‘I’ve missed my chance.’ Particularly for them, the biggest part is making that first call, first email, getting involved any way you can.”
When asked if her impending graduation has sunk in yet, Camposano said, “It doesn’t feel like it. Everyone is saying ‘goodbye, we’ll miss you!’ and I’m like, ‘where am I going?’”
Wherever she goes, Camposano is sure to be world-changing.
NOTE: Story has been edited to correct a previous version that misspelled Camposano’s last name.