Inspiring Women Magazine May 2023

profile
The "Pandemic President"
FAWCO’s outgoing President, Emily van Eerten, AWC The Hague, says
"goodbye" to her role as President.
Emily van Eerten
I
grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and until I
was 12 had never been further than the
surrounding states. That year, my older
brother was part of a local youth
symphonic band that toured Europe. My
parents had never been abroad at that point
either, so they signed up to be chaperones and
my younger brother and I got to tag along as
well. It was a “if this is Tuesday, this must be
Belgium” kind of tour, with concert stops in
London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Copenhagen
and Oslo. I loved it.
When I was 16, my life changed dramatically
when my older brother and his best friend
were broadsided by a concrete-mixer truck.
Nothing can prepare a family for that news,
and although we still got up every morning and
got through the subsequent days and years,
the harsh lesson that life is a gift with an
unknown expiration date hit me in such a
way that I approached every future decision
with the question, if not now, when? I decided
I would see the world, starting with Rice
University out of state. In my sophomore year, I
decided somewhat late that I should go abroad
for my junior year. Too late for any established
programs, I wrote to the British consulate,
got a list of universities, wrote to ten of them,
applied directly to three, and chose the one
with the most appealing brochure, St. Andrews
in Scotland. Luckily this ended up being even
cheaper than Rice, so my parents reluctantly
agreed. It was a fabulous
experience, which included a
spring break trip to Israel and
Egypt, acting in a theatre group
and performing at the Edinburgh
Emily as
FAWCO
President in
2005
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