B.A., sociology/anthropology
Erie, Pa.

Presentation Remarks:

Sara, your nominations came with no shortage of praise for your gifted, driven, and yet humble qualities as a scholar, athlete, and community servant—a person who, as one nominator writes, "exemplifies the values embodied in Denison's mission statement."

As a Sociology/Anthropology and Spanish double major and a member of the National Hispanic Honorary, you have become known for your genuine and unpretentious joy of learning. One professor writes that as early as your sophomore year you proved to be "adept at unpacking complex arguments, rendering them into lucid language and eager to take up controversial issues and to lead the class in thoughtful conversation." In your junior year, you went to Ecuador to focus on issues of inequality, cultural identity, and social service. You returned to perform what your nominators call a "fascinating analysis" of the how the Ecuadorian concepts of economic self-sufficiency and environmental stewardship are presented in the nation's media and political discourse.

Your cheerful and humble leadership style, characterized by the way you lift up those around you, earned your teammates' vote as a co-captain of this year's soccer team. One professor likens your style of play as a midfielder to your style of learning: with "the ability to see things from 360 degrees, to adjust and reorient herself as the flow of game or of life changes direction…She demonstrated the ability of all great liberal arts students; the ability to adjust, adapt, and take on new roles and responsibilities."

In addition to academics and athletics, you have been recognized for tirelessly taking on some of the most challenging community service assignments available to Denison students. You committed yourself to three years as an America Reads tutor, to the intensive education, team-building, and planning required of a Breakaway chair; to working with troubled teenagers in the Garden of Hope and applying your social science knowledge to that program's assessment; and to two years of volunteer coaching the Newark High School soccer team.

Sara, as your nominators point out, you have left few stones unturned here at Denison, and there is absolutely no question that next year, when you go to work in Chicago public schools through Teach for America, you will "enhance the aspirations and educational skills of young students who deserve to be inspired." And that will be just the beginning.