Emma Bloss

Growing up in a large family, Emma Bloss of Sisters would often help look after her younger siblings, including an infant brother with a medical condition. It’s a part of her upbringing that she’s proud to look back on, a nurturing path that eventually brought her to a teaching role at a local preschool.

“I have always loved kids,” says Bloss, who enrolled at COCC in 2017 while maintaining her full-time schedule at the school. “Although I have loved every second of being a teacher, I look forward to expanding my horizon to be able to keep making a difference in a child’s life in a different occupation.” That horizon is soon to include a Developmentally Appropriate Learning Environments certificate and an associate degree in the Early Childhood Education program — with an advanced degree planned beyond that.

“My end goal is to transfer to a university to become a children’s psychologist. Being an educator can have its challenges but seeing the difference I can make in a child’s life makes it so rewarding,” she adds. Regarded as a natural leader and caring educator by her Early Childhood Education faculty, the dean’s list student was named to the 2025 All-Oregon Academic Team, one of three students to represent the College for the statewide honor.

“COCC has really helped me discover who I am, and has helped me get through various struggles I have had to face,” she says. While Bloss points to the life-changing impact of receiving a COCC Foundation scholarship and a Partners in Practice grant from NeighborImpact and the Early Learning Hub of Central Oregon, her own perseverance has sustained her. “It can be very hard to juggle both at times, and as difficult as it can be for me, it’s been very rewarding to know all the hard work and time I have put into it is all going to be worth it.”