Ryan Phelps
June 25, 2014
What do the Caribbean Islands, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Hawaii, California, and Oregon have in common? They are all places that Emma Winkles has called home at some point in her life. Over the past five years alone, she has attended six different colleges in five different states. Today, the recent University of Oregon graduate plans to move to New York City where she is pursuing an internship in digital video production with CBS News.
The trend of traveling is nothing new to 25-year-old Winkles, who lived on three different Caribbean islands before the age of seven. Next was the East Coast; first, Rhode Island, then Massachusetts. The Winkles family moved quite a bit, sometimes by choice, and sometimes due to unfortunate circumstances. Her parents divorced, which prompted a yet another move. Three houses later, Winkles began her first year at Mount Wachusett Community College. She was unable to return home for Thanksgiving because her house caught fire. Unbeknown to her at the time, the tendency to jump from place to place would continue well into her college years.
Winkles was finally in the driver’s seat in her seemingly restless life. However, one thing was still missing. “I felt like I had no sense of direction,” Winkles said. She had always been interested in the arts, but struggled to find a passion that was worth the time and money to pursue. Graphic design eventually caught her attention as a potential major, which prompted her to move to Riverside, California. Winkles was raised Catholic, attended Sunday school and church regularly, and even sang in the choir. Religion was not something unfamiliar to her, but by the age of 15 she felt like it was a waste of time. Riverside is typically known for being a conservative, Christian city, which unfortunately make Winkles feel like an outsider. After five short months, Winkles failed to break through the boundaries separating her from the heavily religious community and relocated once more to a bigger, more diverse city—San Francisco. It was there that she was required to write a news article for one of her classes and, “That’s where I found journalism,” Winkles said. The unique style of a news article and the act of going out and gathering information sparked her interest in a new passion that she knew she wanted to pursue.
A strong love for journalism is one of the few things that have remained consistent in her nonstop life. Another consistency has been there to support her almost every step of the way: her boyfriend of six years, Ryan Jacobs. Although both are clearly not committed to particular locations, they are certainly committed to each other. Jacobs, who is a chef, found work wherever Winkles decided to study next. Likewise, Winkles applied to colleges wherever Jacobs was set on working next. Both were willing to sacrifice things—whether it was school or a job—in order to keep their relationship strong. However, there were times when the frequent moving became difficult with Jacobs’ work schedule, which prevented him from joining her in Oregon for the first three months.
The couple has recently wanted to move to Miami, with plans of selling their Volkswagen bus in order to buy a boat that they can live on. This plan, however, has yet to come to fruition and as Winkles admits, has resulted in some frustration for the two of them. “Meet me in Florida when you’re done,” Jacobs supposedly told her when she proposed yet another move. But Winkles is confident that the couple will continue to make sacrifices for one another in order to stay together.
One thing is certain at this point: Winkles will soon move to New York City in hopes of earning the internship with CBS News, and Jacobs will be right there next to her. “If I don’t get the internship,” Winkles said, “I’ll be heartbroken but I won’t be broken.” It may have taken her some time to find what she is passionate about in life, but now that she discovered it, she admits that she is willing to take risks in order to reach her goals. Traveling across the country in pursuit of an internship could very well be out of the question for a majority of recent college graduates, but for Winkles it’s just another stride in her ever-changing life. “I learned something new everywhere I went,” Winkles said, thinking back to the many places she has called ‘home’ in her life. Even if her plans in New York fall through, Winkles and her boyfriend will be more than happy to chase the sun down to Miami and float in the harbor for, well, as long as they like.
Ryan Phelps 