The Ghostwriter had the opportunity to sit down and interview senior Emma Cotter for our Student Spotlight series. Read the transcript below for our full interview!

Q: Hi, my name is Natalie Bearfield and I’m interviewing…

A: Emma Cotter [and]  I’m a senior.

Q: Alright, so Emma, we are outside in the WA courtyard right now. Would you like to explain why we are here?

A: Yeah so I really love nature and I love being outside. I’m always outside doing something, whether it’s running, hiking, [or] taking my dog for a walk. I just really appreciate nature and the courtyard’s a beautiful quiet place at WA to study or read or do anything you need to do.

Q: You mentioned you like to take your dog for a walk, would you care to tell us about your dog?

A: Yeah. My dog’s name is Riley. He will be seven in May. He’s a soft-coated Wheaten Terrier, and he’s kind of crazy.

Q: What’s your favorite vacation spot during the summer?

A: I love anywhere where there’s a beach. I love Florida, I love just being in the sun and wherever it’s warm and beachy, I love.

Q: Are there any places you would love to travel to someday?

A: I would really want to go to Italy, somewhere in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica; I want to go everywhere.

Q: Would you want to travel far somewhere? Like live somewhere far away?

A: Oh yeah, I think so, definitely. I always said I wanted to live in Northern Italy or something. I want to live everywhere. I love going to New York City as well, so I definitely want to live there for a bit in my life.

Q: What draws you to those places?

A: I feel like just the environments of those places are super, super fun. And yeah, I just love the sun and the water and the ocean and stuff.

Q: So you’re a senior, do you have any sort of idea what you want to go to college for?

A: I’m planning on majoring in biology on a pre-med track. So I can become an anesthesiologist or, if that doesn’t happen, I’m still deciding whether or not I want to do pre-med, but I think I’m going to be a nurse anaesthetic.

Q: Sure, and what do they do?

A: Basically a nurse anaesthetic is just the assistant to an anesthesiologist. So just patient’s history, just watching everything happen. And then an anesthesiologist administers anesthesia and does all of that.

Q: Perfect, so what are you planning to do for your capstone? 

A: Yes, so I was originally going to shadow an anesthesiologist but it’s very hard to get internships in hospitals. So now I’m just gonna do an internship at my gym and I’m gonna just shadow the personal trainer.

Q: Do you like being at the gym and working out?

A: I love it. I’m always at the gym.

Q: What kind of music do you listen to while you’re at the gym?

A: I listen to everything. Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Taylor Swift hype music, but I like listening to Kendrick Lamar. 21 Savage, Kanye West, I like everything.

Q: Perfect, what would you say your favorite Taylor Swift album is?

A: Probably, I’d say Speak Now, or 1989.

Q: So as a senior, what would you say your favorite moment here at WA has been?

A: I’d say honestly so far, probably cotil in junior year. Cotil is so much fun. And yeah, just being with all of your friends, so much fun. Senior sunrise this year was also a lot of fun. But honestly, every day at Westford Academy where there’s something interesting happening is fun.

Q: What would you say your proudest moment is or your biggest accomplishment while you’ve been here?

A: Probably my anatomy grade right now.

Q: What’s your favorite memory as a kid?

A: One of my favorite memories as a child was going to Cape Cod every summer. And so, me and my family used to rent the house for like a week or two every summer from when I was super little up until a few years ago. That was always super fun and I used to always look forward to it.

Q: What kind of stuff did you do on those Cape Cod vacations?

A: Swimming, boogie boarding, biking around the neighborhood, going into town. Just a little New England summer.

Q: Was it for a week, you said?

A: Yeah, like a week; week and a half or so.

Q: And that kind of obviously ties back to your love for the beach. Would you say that that kind of influenced your love for the beach?

A: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Like I grew up just around it.

Q: What’s your favorite sports team?

A: I love the [New England Revolution] and I love going to Revs games with my friends. I used to go all the time when I was little. So yeah, probably the Revs, and soccer is my favorite sport.

Q: Did you ever play soccer as a kid?

A: I did, yeah, for like, eight or nine years. I played soccer from, kindergarten to about eighth grade.

Q: Was there a reason that you stopped?

A: I mean, COVID happened. I also got hurt, so I have like two foot surgeries. So I just didn’t really back into it.

Q: Gotcha. Well, thank you so much, Emma for sitting down for an interview with me today. And good luck with [the rest of] your senior year.

A: Thank you.