Emily Thompson, a student at UC Berkeley, is set to graduate this May with a major in film and media and a minor in Scandinavian studies. Raised in a conservative Mormon family in Utah, Thompson began questioning her religious beliefs as she learned more about the church's history. "A lot of it didn’t make sense to me," she explained.

Thompson faced challenges when her parents discovered she was queer at 16. She was sent to a wilderness therapy program for her senior year of high school. "It was pretty brutal," she recalled, describing three months spent backpacking in the snow without a tent.

After completing high school through continuation school, Thompson co-founded an art magazine that changed her life. She later transferred to UC Berkeley from Long Beach City College in 2020. Living at University Village with her wife and two children, Thompson found support through the Student Parent Center.

Thompson maintained a 4.0 GPA while balancing family responsibilities and academic pursuits. Her achievements include receiving the Departmental Citation Award for distinguished undergraduate work and participating in the Art of Writing program.

Last summer, Thompson attended the Consortium of the Humanities Centers and Institutes as an early career scholar, where meeting scholars like Judith Butler was a highlight of her experience at Berkeley.

In the fall, Thompson will begin a Ph.D. film program at UC Santa Cruz. Her family has ties to the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, and she plans to engage with their community alongside her wife, who works with the Amah Mutsun Land Trust.

Thompson aims to collaborate with Professor Martin Rizzo-Martinez on projects related to Indigenous stories and stewardship of land. Reflecting on these themes, she noted: "We’re all part of an ecosystem that we either steward or destroy."