Raider Profile: Emily Turley

Emily Turley moved to Fryeburg from Windham just before she entered fifth grade. "I'm so glad we moved here, I love it." Her parents are the Rev. Ken Turley, minister of Church of the New Jerusalem in Fryeburg, and Laurie Turley, music teacher at Pine Tree School and Conway Elementary School. She has a brother, Ethan, who is an eighth grader at Molly Ockett Middle School. She has a very close family. They even have their own band, The Turley Family Band and have performed at Fryeburg Fine Arts Festival and at a few other venues in Maine. Dad, Ken, also has his own band called Primitive Man. She says, "Our family is very much 'music and church', actually 'church and music'. My dad makes sure of that."If there is anything that defines Emily at Fryeburg Academy, it is theater and music. Her favorite theater role was as Sabina in "The Skin of Our Teeth," the all-school play during her sophomore year. "I liked that role because she was very different from me, which was really fun and it was my first lead ever." She has done theater all four years and notes, "I have done almost every play," which consists of all-school plays, one-acts, the all-school musical and the one-act competitions. She is really looking forward to her next role as the cranky boarding house owner with a cockney accent in "Nevermore" (playing at Gibson Gym on Bradley Street in Fryeburg on May 6 to 8). "The play is very interesting, a lot of people will enjoy it. There is a lot of action, comedy and also there are deeper messages within. It's the story of the final five days in the life of Edgar Allen Poe and no one knows for sure what happened to him." She says it is very easy for her to learn her lines not as easy to absorb schoolwork, but she certainly is an excellent student and, because of it, a member of National Honor Society. Her favorite classes have been literature of the Holocaust and the language of film and she loves history, especially "when a teacher brings history to life instead of just giving notes." She is also a member of Interact Club and the French club. "I can read French, but I need to work on my accent when speaking it."Musically, Turley says her Fryeburg Academy highlights have been winning the Maine state competitions last year and again this year and taking third place in instrumentals (she is a bass player). She also plays the bass in the Fryeburg Academy rock band. She would like to join a pre-established band as bass player, but does not want to be in charge. She is also a singer "mostly doing backup, but I sing 'Son of a Preacher Man' for the Fryeburg Academy Rock Band." She has many friends, especially those who work and travel with the theater and music groups. "I pretty much like everybody." After visiting a friend at another high school, she notes that she was inside all day, whereas at Fryeburg Academy she likes walking between the buildings and the variety of interactive and interesting classes, adding, "I love walking down the hallway listening to six different languages."In her non-student moments, she listens to "Irish music, jazz and soft rock. I really like Incubus, Lifehouse and Jeremiah Freed. I also love music from other countries." She says she always has a pleasure book going and has read the entire Harry Potter series at least 10 times! "I get more out of it every time. J.K. Rowling is a complete genius." She also loves writers C.S. Lewis and Agatha Christie. Additionally, she is a movie buff and likes historical fiction movies such as "Last of the Mohicans", "The Patriot" and "Enemy at the Gates". Turley is ready to move on to college and has picked University of Southern Maine. She hopes to major in music with a minor in theater, with plans to perform professionally. She likes the idea of being close to home. "I will miss my family, but especially my mother. She is pretty much my best friend." She will continue to attend her church camp in Fryeburg. She admits, "I hold myself to some pretty high standards...with lots of guilt involved... I needed to do well to get scholarships. But I plan to relax more when I get to college."