By Emma Wille, marketing and communications coordinator
To seek the heights can mean different things to every sister: academic achievement, professional success or personal growth, for example. For Emma Nye (Phi, University of Kansas), seeking the heights is a wide range of goals. Through perseverance, dedication and the help of her Alpha Chi Omega sisters, not only has she become the most decorated youth female weightlifter in the U.S., but she also says she has become a better person from it all.
Emma has been an athlete practically her whole life. At just 3 years old, she began her journey as an elite gymnast, and after 8 years of training, she had clear goals for one day joining the University of Alabama’s gymnastics team. However, after shattering her heels twice, Emma and her family knew she would have to medically retire from the sport she so dearly loved.
Her injury didn’t stop her from taking on new athletic hobbies, though. She says, “At that point, I'm 11 years old, full of energy and super athletic. So, I thought, ‘What am I going to do now?’ My dad ended up putting me in sports performance, and then I ended up getting into CrossFit.”
Soon after, Emma began private weightlifting lessons to grow more muscle. Her weightlifting coach realized that her technique and strength grew rapidly thanks to her prior gymnastics training, so, to test Emma’s potential, her coach placed her in her first weightlifting competition. “I ended up winning it. And then I ended up qualifying for nationals. And then I won my first national championship at 11 years old,” she says. “So I was 12 when they sent me to the Olympic Training Center for camps, and I ended up breaking my first American record.”
Now the college senior is a six-time national champion, a 32-time American record holder and has been on eight international teams. But her success came with challenges. “Growing up, I've kind of always been by myself, just because I didn't really have friends. I had a pretty strict schedule, and I'm always traveling” she reflects.
Emma also realized that not everyone would be as supportive of her and the sport she loved. “When I got to high school, that’s when comments would start coming out,” Emma says. “You know, people would make fun of the way that I looked. People would make fun of the fact that I did weightlifting cause it's not a normal sport for girls to do. I would come home from school crying. I was just always by myself, and all I had to focus on was weightlifting”.
Despite the challenges, Emma kept working hard and pursuing success. Still training for her weightlifting competitions, Emma started her freshmen year of college at the University of Kansas – with no interest in joining a sorority. “I thought, ‘I'm not going into a sorority, like, no, girls were so mean to me in high school. Absolutely not,’” she says.
But after attending a COB event, Emma realized that Alpha Chi Omega women were different and the Phi chapter was exactly where she belonged. She recalls, “I ended up telling them my life story. They were the first girls that ever said, ‘That’s so cool!’ and I really appreciated it. I wasn’t scared anymore.”
Since joining Alpha Chi, Emma’s sisters continue to encourage her to seek the heights. She says, “I’ve just never felt this much appreciation in my life. These girls are my best friends. We are totally inseparable.”
Last year one of Emma’s closest sisters was able to cheer her on in person at the national weightlifting championship. “I needed her there,” Emma says. “Just seeing her around in the crowd made me feel so much better. It was the best trip ever just having her there.”
Emma’s collegiate experience in Alpha Chi has also helped her discover more about herself. “I don’t have to be Emma the weightlifter; I can just be Emma, my true self, and be vulnerable and open,” she says. Her sisters also cheer her on to reach new heights in school and the chapter, including in her role as vice president public relations and marketing! Her role has helped her shine outside of her weightlifting accomplishments and show off her creative abilities through designing clothes and running the chapter’s Instagram.
Emma is excited to keep pursuing her next goals: taking on the Olympics and eventually getting her master’s degree. “I would have never done it without the help of the girls to become a better person,” she says. “I wouldn’t be here without them surrounding me with love and encouragement. They transformed me into the person that I am today.”