A Remarkable Story
Meet Emily Vanlandingham
Meet Emily
As a legacy student, Salem College student Emily Vanlandingham grew up visiting the Salem campus. Emily’s great-grandmother, mother, and aunt are graduates of Salem College. When the time came for Emily to choose a college, she felt the pull to leave her hometown of Houston, Texas, and head east to Salem and the close-knit community she knew so well.
This summer, Emily attended the five-week Patti and Allan Herbert Frost School of Music Program in Salzburg, Austria, where she studied opera and took German classes daily. She also had the opportunity to attend Salzburg Festspiele, one of the many enriching experiences she had during her time abroad. Emily’s years at Salem provided her with invaluable skills and preparation for her time in a challenging learning environment this summer. “At Salem, I learned to advocate for myself through talking to the professors, and I was able to apply that skill in Austria,” Emily said.
Now in her junior year, Emily is majoring in exercise science and in visual and performing arts, with a concentration in music. She plans to be a physical therapist and said:
“My time at Salem and in Austria has reiterated why I want to become a physical therapist, and that’s because of music… First and foremost, music is what inspired me to think about my body and really care about it…my favorite learning experience was connecting with a better technique for breathing to support my singing, and that has translated into my desire to become a physical therapist and help others reconnect with their body.”
Emily’s journey—from Salem to Salzburg and beyond—reflects how Salem empowers students to explore their passions, embrace new experiences, and connect their learning to a purposeful future. With the foundation she’s built at Salem and the perspective she gained abroad, Emily is well on her way to blending her love of music into a health leadership career that will empower others.