Emily Oehler

Biography

Last Name Pronunciation: AY-ler

Emily has taken an unconventional path in her education. After high school, she took a gap year to travel and became an au pair (live-in nanny) for a family in Italy. Upon returning home, she enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at Fox Cities campus in Appleton, where she completed her first two years of undergraduate studies. She then transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and Multimedia Communications in May 2021 as a first-generation student.

After graduating, Emily began to pursue a master’s degree in K-12 School Counseling at Minnesota State University, Mankato. While working as a counseling intern at a local high school, she realized her true passion lay in supporting students at the university level. This realization prompted her to pause her graduate studies and begin a career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

After gaining one year of full-time work experience, Emily decided it was the right time to return to school to obtain her master’s degree in a higher education program and officially joined the Badger community! She balanced both full-time school and work commitments, graduating from the Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis: Higher Education Program in December 2024.

Outside of educational pursuits, Emily enjoys iced coffee, hiking, thrifting, traveling to the East Coast, indulging in true crime documentaries, collecting tattoos and piercings, and cherishing time with her family and friends. Originally from a small town in the La Crosse area, Emily is thrilled to now call Madison her home.