Graduate Profile: Emily Ostler, MTS '22

May 16, 2022
Emily Ostler, MTS '22
Emily Ostler, MTS '22, Courtesy photo

HDS communications reached out to our 2022 graduating students to hear from them in their own words about their experiences at HDS, the people who've helped and inspired them along their grad school journeys, and their plans for the future.

Memorable Moment 

The simple, shared moments of rest on campus stand out most. I cherish afternoons in the garden, talking with classmates as we harvested hops or kale under the sun. I cherish discussions on the lawn outside Swartz Hall, studying in the Braun Room with friends, and meditating in the Multifaith Space on Thursday mornings. I also cherish a few new loves, which I found at divinity school: storytelling, literary Chinese, meditation, tea, and seedlings, to name a few. The friendships, knowledge, and memories I have cultivated here have vivified my world, and I am certain that they will continue to do so.

Message of Thanks 

I would like to thank first my friends here, who laughed with me, bore me up in my injury, celebrated my successes, stretched my thinking, and allowed me that great joy of cherishing and being cherished back: Maisie, Leren, Yisi, Naomi, Ven. Purnajan, Maria, Jacob, Htay, Esedullah, Toby, Ven. Aggadhamma, Oorja, Quinn, Liz, Kate, Justin, Tianyi, and many others. I am so grateful for all of you.

I would also like to thank Professor Gyatso for inviting me deeper into the personally and professionally transformative world of Buddhist studies; Professor Robson for guiding and emboldening me in my scholarship; Professor McKanan for keeping me rooted during the pandemic; Dr. Jojo for teaching me the power of together; Terry Tempest Williams for urging me to let the fire within me burn bright; and Leslie MacPherson for bringing me back home to the soil. I also must also thank the myriad critters, plants, and gardeners whom I met regularly at the garden, because it was through them that I came to more clearly see myself miraculously entangled in a web of kin whom I am called to love.

Lastly, I would like to thank my parents and my two friends-become-sisters, Laurie and Sarah. Their confidence in me has allowed me to stretch into internal and external worlds I would not have otherwise. Thank you for believing in me.

Future Plans 

I do not know exactly what I will be doing over the next few years, but I do know a bit about how. No matter what I do, I will keep reaching my hands to earth, I will write, and I will labor to live with an ever-braver love. And I will carry you all with me. To my fellow graduates, congratulations!