That was until April, when the 18-year-old from Blue Mountain College in Tapanui joined 20 others from around New Zealand in a 10-day trek through the Himalayas as part of a three-week expedition to Thailand and Nepal.
The trip was organised by the New Zealand adventure trekking company Youth to Everest, and was part of Emma's efforts to earn a gold certificate in the Young New Zealanders Challenge of The Duke of Edinburgh's Awards.
On Saturday, she was one of 11 pupils from the college - and 29 overall - to receive gold certificates from Governor-General Anand Satyanand during a short ceremony at St Hildas Collegiate School in Dunedin.
A 12th Blue Mountain pupil, Anna Venz (18), also earned a gold award, but was unable to attend the ceremony because of exam commitments.
Other winners in attendance came from Otago and South Canterbury and - in one case - as far afield as Pukekohe, in Auckland.
The awards aimed to promote youth development in a variety of areas, with participants taking part in community activities, sports and outdoor pursuits, and residential activities.
Emma said the group spent several days in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, visited schools and hospitals built by the Lion Foundation of New Zealand and the late Sir Edmund Hillary, and trekked to an altitude of 4220m in the Himalayas.
"I didn't really know what to expect and Kathmandu was a big shock.
It's a developing country and it just hit me how hard other people do live."
Blue Mountain College art department head Vicki Crawford said she was impressed with the success the school's pupils enjoyed, given the school's roll of just 240 pupils.
Last year, five pupils from the school won gold awards but the school's only other success had been one gold award about six years ago, she said.
"It's just such a lovely occasion to celebrate youth and setting goals for the future," she said.
Also at Saturday's ceremony, Roslyn Venturers members Sean Laing (18), Rebecca Rees (19) and Elisabeth Rietveld (18) were presented with the Queen's Scout Award by the Governor-General.
