Live free. Play free.
Prior to her recent graduation, psychology major and Spartans alumna Emma Gamache spent five years playing on the TWU women’s volleyball team. In her time playing the position known as libero, Emma embraced this Italian term meaning “free” both in her playing mentality and in her life as a believer.
“We use the phrase on our team, ‘Live free. Play free.’ . . . It’s the ability to realize that there’s more to sport than winning and losing, and when you can really capture that mindset, you’re really able to play with a lot of freedom,” Emma explains. With a team full of athletes intent on playing at this level of freedom, it’s no wonder that in Emma’s fourth year on the team, they won the national championship.
Growing up Spartan
Emma was raised with TWU alumni parents and her father a Spartans men’s volleyball alumnus, as well as the current director of Athletics at TWU. Emma describes her father’s impact on her volleyball dreams, saying, “Growing up, I always envisioned following after my dad’s footsteps.” Once at Trinity Western, she was able to correctly direct her fiercely competitive nature and lean into what she describes as the gifts God gave her to play volleyball at TWU.
Recognizing that being a Spartan was a privilege and not wanting to waste that, Emma welcomed opportunities to serve on campus, in communities, and overseas. Going to different countries and experiencing different cultures through service trips with her team gave Emma “a greater appreciation for life outside of athletics.”
More than athletics
Volleyball was not all that drove Emma to excellence while at TWU. “The mentors I gained through my time at TWU, specifically within athletics, allowed me to go from a sponge to a hydrant.” Considering further how these mentors impacted her, Emma shares, “I was poured into endlessly, allowing me to give back to the TWU community by pouring into younger students and athletes.”
Also, as part of her psychology program, Emma had the opportunity to get a taste of the working world through practicum placements. Reflecting on this experience, she says, “I was blessed to intern for three different organizations, the last of which I now work for, Kurumbuka Leadership Solutions,” adding, “The relationships I made during my time at TWU have equipped me to be my best self; they are my lifeline—in the workplace and in my relationship with Christ.”
A light for the nations
Emma’s current role as operations manager with Kurumbuka, a non-profit organization that addresses poverty, marginalization, and regional conflict in African communities through local leadership training, gives her cherished opportunities to be the light. Emma shares, “It has been so rewarding to travel to Rwanda, Africa and see how my education from Trinity Western is allowing communities and lives to be transformed.” The nature of the organization means a lot to Emma, as she is able to see the impact it has on local leaders and how they, in turn, are able to create positive change in their own communities.
In considering what it means to be the light, Emma doesn’t shy away from the foundation she has been raised on and is still standing on today. She explains, “To be the light is to live in the freedom that Christ gives you—to be able to live a life that declares his name and to live a life that really just is after his own image.”
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university. We are dedicated to equipping students to discover meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. Drawing upon the riches of the Christian tradition, seeking to unite faith and reason through teaching and scholarship, Trinity Western University is a degree-granting research institution offering liberal arts and sciences as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has locations in Canada: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Instagram @trinitywestern, Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn. For media inquiries, please contact: media@twu.ca.