CLASS OF 2025: West Salem grad turned her struggles into empathy

This article is part of a series of profiles of 2025 graduating seniors in Salem high schools that will be published over the coming week. See the full series here.

After struggling with depression in middle school, Emma Tribbey knew she wanted to help other teens. 

She emerged from her darkest period with a deeper faith, a career plan and a clearer understanding that determination isn’t always enough to overcome mental illness.

“It just comes up, and you can try and work on it, but sometimes you’re not strong enough to do it on your own,” she said.

Tribbey graduated from West Salem High School this week. She has also completed the behavioral health career program offered at the school district’s Career Technical Education Center.

At West, Tribbey has been a “rock solid” presence in the school’s Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, program, a college preparation and leadership class. That’s according to teacher Ashleigh Allbritton.

“​​She has had to go through some hard things, and she’s come out so much stronger on the other side of it,” Allbritton said.

Tribbey is planning to become a child life specialist, someone who works alongside health care professionals to help children and families understand medical procedures or long-term treatment, often working in hospitals.

“When kids are admitted, you are there to explain to them what’s going on in their body and why they’re here, what they’re going to need to do to get better in a way that makes sense to them,” she said.

Doctors often speak in ways that children can’t understand, she said, which can lead to medical trauma and adults who avoid seeking health care when they need it.

Tribbey said she wanted to work with children, but wasn’t interested in nannying or teaching. She contemplated a medical career, but didn’t want to spend years more in school.

She learned about the job from her aunt, who’s a nurse, after her aunt’s son needed major surgery and had a specialist on his care team.

“As soon as she started talking about it, I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do,” Tribbey said.

On Thursday night, she became the first in her family to walk across a high school graduation stage. Her mother earned a GED, and her father only graduated after summer school.

“I’m really proud of myself,” she said. “It’s a big deal for any student, but it does make it a little bit more special for me.”

Tribbey grew up attending church with her family and found her way back after a period of doubt in middle school. She said her faith has helped her mental health, and she chose to attend George Fox University, a Christian college, to continue her spiritual growth.

“The people you’re surrounded with are people who are pursuing their own faith and have their own testimony, and are just people that will push you to continue to do the things in your life that bring you closer to Christ,” she said.

She was raised boating, backpacking and fishing with her family and loves to get outside and spend time on lakes. 

Tribbey teaches child swim lessons at the Kroc Center. She also runs a side business doing nail art, another passion.

“She’s so selfless and just wants to care for other people … nobody can teach that, that’s just part of who she is,” Allbritton said. “To have that at such a young age is really cool, and … she’s gonna be just such a light and a benefit to everybody around her as she continues to grow.”

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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