Artistic License

As an artist, NCC alum Emily Eisenhard, gravitates toward abstraction – she loves painting and then cutting up her canvases to create collages. That might explain why NCC’s general studies program was such a perfect fit for her.  

Just as art allows her to create a cohesive piece out of disparate parts, the general studies curriculum provides the flexibility that allowed her to explore different disciplines, discover new interests, and complete an associate degree that prepared her for transfer to Moravian University.   

For example, Eisenhard doesn’t consider herself “much of a math person” but was pleasantly surprised by how much she enjoyed studying economics, particularly consumer spending. She also took a lot away from her introductory class on women and gender studies. 

“I knew a bit about [women and gender studies], but I didn’t expect to learn more about social justice, feminism, and research development,” she explains. “That helped me academically and personally in my relationships to understand how we can use our voices to uplift and make change in our community. I wouldn’t have gained any of this without the flexibility to make this major my own.” 

Even though Eisenhard is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in communications and media studies with a marketing concentration, she is still committed to making time for her art. At NCC, she joined student clubs and took classes that challenged her to develop better communication and graphic design skills while growing her passion for art through electives. Besides abstraction, she also dabbles in digital art and character design. 

Eisenhard’s work was recently featured in a small art gallery hosted by ArtsQuest at Lafayette College. At NCC, she was president of both the Art Club and Video Game Club, a member of Phi Theta Kappa (the international honor society for community college students) and the Honors Program. Eisenhard attended the Northeast Regional Honors Conference held in Harrisburg this past spring, where she presented an interactive art exhibit called A Sacrificial Offering as well as a research poster on “Creating Community through Murals.” She took home the Creative of the Year Award for superb creative work presented at the conference.  

On the short-list of her dream careers she lists being a full-time artist.  

“Creating something gives me hope that art will always be something created by humans, not machinery,” says Eisenhard. “We can all create something because we are all human, and this isn’t just paintings or drawings but can be writing, singing, theatre, and so on. Being an artist is one of the most powerful things you can be. It gives voice to the past, present, and future, giving us a way to understand who we are. Art can either uplift or destroy, and that is so interesting to me. I love hearing a reaction from people – how they feel, what they think – all of that to me is so worth the effort I put into my work.” 

In addition to pushing her academic boundaries, Eisenhard found opportunities to expand her social, cultural, and leadership horizons. She also was a member of Student Senate, the Honors Program Student Fellowship, and NCC’s literary and arts magazine, The Laconic. She joined trips to Philadelphia and New York City and spent spring break in London through a faculty-led study abroad program.  

“Being in clubs got me out of the funk of being stuck in my academics,” says Eisenhard, the recipient of the Sheila Maki Korhammer Scholarship and the Fred A. and Carol M. Williams Scholarship. “I got the chance to be a leader and learn more about the people around me, and I made so many new friends and connections I can aways come back to.” 

As Eisenhard continues her education at Moravian, she aspires to one day open her own business or marketing firm. And, of course, continue making art.