WTHR asked all of our reporters and anchors to come up with a list of little-known facts about themselves so you can get to know them better.
Follow Emily on
and
to learn even more about her!
My last name "Longnecker" is of Pennsylvania Dutch/German origin. I'm half-Italian, though, from both my mom and dad and it's definitely the heritage that dominates my personality and cooking skills.
I've visited nearly almost every Civil War Battlefield in the United States of America thanks to my dad, who was a high school history teacher. There was always a quiz on what we had learned that day before we could go swimming in the hotel pool.
I'm a huge Star Wars nerd. My mom still has the picture where all my other little girl cousins are feeding their baby dolls around the Christmas tree. I'm proudly holding my new Darth Vader doll from Santa.
When I was 16, I visited Indianapolis with my high school marching band and marched in the then-Hoosier Dome. I was on the dance team. I had never been to Indiana before that visit and I had no idea, years later, I would call Indianapolis home. It's funny where life takes you.
One summer, I worked in the Zippo Lighter Factory buffing lighters on an assembly line. My dad thought I was having too much fun as a lifeguard and bartender and wanted me to see how "real people" worked for a living. I got a 4.0 that following semester.
I lived and studied in Paris when I was 20. My dad gave me a credit card for emergencies. I thought that leather jacket I spotted in Italy qualified as an emergency. It was for my boyfriend back home. My dad didn't agree. It's part of the reason I ended up buffing lighters when I got home that summer.
When I was 22, I traveled to Karachi, Pakistan for the wedding of one of my best college girlfriends. It's still one of the most interesting places I've ever visited.
In my first reporting job as the "rookie reporter" I was recruited to go into a tank full of sharks. There was a traveling shark show that year at the county fair. I was in a cage and they were only nurse and lemon sharks, but it's still one of the scariest things I think I've ever done.
I can breakdance, but I have to know you well to show you. I can do "The Dolphin" or as some people refer to it, "The Worm."
I've been featured on two shows about police solving crime - "The First 48" and "The Shift."
I have jumped out of a plane thousands of feet above the ground during a skydiving adventure.
What list about me would be complete if not for a few facts about my four-pound side kick, my dog Luca?
Luca was once a certified therapy dog at a nursing home when we lived in Cincinnati. It was going well until the home got a permanent bird display in the lobby. Luca took offense to the birds. More like, he threw himself against the cage and traumatized them. When push came to shove, the nursing home chose the birds. Luca got "fired" from his only volunteer opportunity.
Yes, Luca has a small chest of drawers for his many Halloween costumes and sweaters. No, I don't know the exact number. I lost count a while ago.
