Education-English double-degree senior Emma Poll is now a student teacher at Linus Pauling Middle School
Emma Poll
By Ellie Webb-Bowen, CLA Student Writer - December 10, 2025
Senior Emma Poll has always felt drawn to the teaching profession. Her father, a middle school science teacher in Eagle Point, just north of Medford, was a huge influence on her decision to pursue teaching as a potential career. Coupled with a series of profoundly impactful high school English teachers and an appetite for reading, Poll is now close to finishing her degree in the College of Liberal Arts and College of Education’s double-degree program, where students receive English and education degrees at the same time, as well as a teaching license. During her final year, Poll is student-teaching eighth grade language arts at Linus Pauling Middle School in Corvallis.
But her time at Oregon State didn’t necessarily start on the humanities side of campus. Initially committing to Oregon State as a BioHealth Sciences major on the pre-physician assistant track, Poll was interested in exploring the medical field. Despite being an educator himself, Poll’s father also encouraged her to explore fields outside of education due to the generally subpar working conditions and compensation for teachers across the country.
While in BioHealth Sciences, Poll would oftentimes have to walk past Moreland Hall, home to the School of Writing, Literature, and Film, to get to her classes, but she first encountered the school during her first tour of campus. “When I saw the school’s banner on Moreland Hall, I thought ‘I wish I belonged there.’ I was already a big reader and writer in high school, so there was something about majoring in English or literature that I was still drawn to at that time.”
Poll excelled at her chemistry, biology, and public health courses so much that she ended up tutoring many of her friends and peers. “The funny thing was,” Poll remarked, “that during those early STEM years, I preferred to do the teaching and tutoring, rather than learning them myself.” This realization, along with the positive experience she’d been having in the school already, prompted Poll to drop BioHealth Sciences and pick up English and education.
Adding to her list of impactful English teachers from high school, Poll encountered the same passion and zeal for writing and literature at OSU. During her freshman year, Poll took Professor Rebecca Olson’s Shakespeare (ENG 201) and, despite not being a devout William Shakespeare fan, she ended up loving the course. “Professor Olson was so knowledgeable about Shakespeare and his writings,” recalled Poll. “She knew the material inside and out and created this relaxing and welcoming environment in the classroom. You could see her passion from the way she taught, she made learning enjoyable.”
Passion rubs off on people — those who fully believe in what they do make the difference. Another favorite of Poll’s was Professor Kristy Kelly’s Digital Literacy and Culture (WR 497), “Professor Kelly and Professor Olsen have a great way of getting their content across with emotion,” Poll said. “Their classes have always been fun and engaging, despite the heavier topics.”
Poll is also a part of Kappa Delta Pi, the honor society for the College of Education, and Phi Beta Kappa, an interdisciplinary honor society for the liberal arts and sciences.
Outside of the classroom, Poll was a member of OSU’s club volleyball team, in addition to being a tutor for OSU athletes. Now in her third year as a tutor and peer mentor, Poll works with student-athletes who are looking for extra academic support during and after their sporting season. Meeting a couple times a week, Poll gets together with underclassmen one-on-one to walk through assignments, help with studying, and assist with other academic tasks and deadlines.
“I want to help students excel at whatever stage they are at in their academic journey,” said Poll. “Not only do I get to assist them, but our sessions help me to improve my own teaching.”
This year, Poll started her student-teaching at Linus Pauling Middle School. “I just love it,” she said. “The kids are so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, it’s just really fun to be around.” Poll was able to observe two teachers at Linus Pauling, and ended up getting picked to be a student-teacher for eighth grade language arts. Poll is currently in the classroom 12 hours a week, but by the spring, she’ll be developing her own lesson plans and leading instruction daily.
Though she initially started down the path of being a medical student at OSU, Poll felt the draw of becoming a teacher and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to change course and take advantage of the unique dual major program offered through the College and Education and College of Liberal Arts.
“I may no longer be in the classroom at OSU, I’m still stepping into one everyday,” said Poll. “I’m going to graduate with two separate bachelor’s degrees; I’ve never heard of that happening elsewhere. It’s such a cool program and I’m so happy I ended up here.”