Emma-Kate Squires Unlocks New Opportunities Through Photography and Exploration

Four years ago, Emma-Kate Squires plunged into the Pacific Ocean, heart racing as leopard sharks glided beneath in the shallow waters off La Jolla Shores. The Kansas native swam in the Pacific ocean for the first time on a trip with the University of San Diego's (USD) Outdoor Adventures. Every year since, she’s guided that same snorkeling experience for other students, coming full circle on her college journey.

"Coming from a landlocked state, I was like, 'I can go snorkeling with sharks for school now?'" Squires says with a smile. "It wasn’t my first time doing activities like backpacking, climbing and snorkeling, but it was my first time doing these activities outside of vacationing."

That willingness to dive in — literally and metaphorically — has defined Squires' time at USD, where the international relations major has built a thriving photography business while simultaneously studying topics such as foreign relations, nuclear conflict and military strategy. It's an unlikely combination that somehow makes perfect sense when you meet the senior who describes herself as both "an absolute nerd" and someone with an "artist brain."

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Squires spent six years in Colorado before moving to Kansas for high school. There, she was elected Youth Governor through the YMCA’s national Youth and Government program, serving as the state’s top youth leader and presiding over its model government. She also founded an annual politician panel that continues to bring elected officials together with students for open discussion. Despite her accomplishments in Kansas, Squires was eager to explore life beyond the Sunflower State.

"I really wanted to come to a place that had a lot of things to do," Squires says. "I think that USD was the first place that I felt like there was a connection with the community as much as it was with the school."

She arrived knowing no one, armed with only a camera and advice from her mother that would shape her college experience: "Fight really hard to never be numb, and work really hard to feel everything, all of the time."

"Even though that's uncomfortable, I think it's some of the best advice I've ever heard because growth is uncomfortable," Squires says.

That philosophy to experience everything with an open heart and mind has served her well. Squires has managed to juggle a demanding major with a photography business that has taken her across the country and around the world. She shot the Lunar New Year festival in Malaysia, animals in the Masai Mara wilderness and the Queen Mothers in Ghana.

"I overthink things all of the time, and so I feel like I can't have a conversation without thinking about the larger implications of it," she explains. It's this intersection of global awareness and visual storytelling that makes her work distinctive. Photography isn't just about aesthetics for Squires; it's about understanding the human stories that connect us across cultures and borders.

Her photography journey started modestly with senior portraits in Kansas. But Squires saw each photoshoot as an opportunity to practice what intimidated her most: meeting new people and getting to know them.

"I think a lot of my job is meeting people and getting comfortable talking to them and having an hour to do it," she says.

The skills she honed behind the camera translated seamlessly to life at USD. Through the Outdoor Adventures program, she built a community of fellow adventurers. Her dorm room door is covered with photographs from her travels — visual proof of a college experience well-lived.

"You got to just get out and do it because it doesn't do anyone any good to sit and think about the photo. You have to actually go take it," Squires says, explaining her personal philosophy that extends far beyond photography. "I'm a huge advocate of just saying, why not? Why not do it?"

That "why not" attitude has led to spontaneous road trips to the Imperial Sand Dunes on Wednesday nights and plenty of other last-minute adventures. For Squires, who shoots with a Nikon Z-6 mirrorless camera she purchased herself, every moment is worth capturing, every day an opportunity to create beauty.

"You are the sum of how you spend all of your days," she says, quoting a professor from her Semester at Sea experience. "I think that I try to do a couple of things every day that make my day more beautiful."

As the oldest of three siblings, Squires’ parents have supported her creative path even when it didn't follow traditional markers of success.

"There's not as clear a model for what I should be doing as there is for a lot of college students," Squires acknowledges. "So, I really value that they've been really supportive through that."

Looking ahead to graduation in May, Squires plans to continue building her career as a photographer while staying true to the international relations education that taught her to think critically about the world. She wants to create work that matters, campaigns and stories that reflect the deeper meaning she's always searching for.

"Throughout my time at USD, I have become more secure in myself," she reflects. "I think the problem that I, as any young person has, is that I had a lot of dreams, but I had no idea how to get there or how to make them happen, and therefore they feel unattainable. But that isn't true. You just have to start doing it."

For Squires, that meant picking up a camera and saying yes to opportunities even when they seemed impossible. Four years later, the girl from the Midwest who had never swam in the Pacific Ocean prior to attending USD has become a woman who guides others into its waters, teaching new students the same lesson La Jolla's shores taught her: sometimes you just have to take the plunge to see the reward.

— Kelsey Grey ’15 (BA)