After moving to the US at age 7, Sara spent the better part of her childhood in Denver, CO. She was curious and stubborn growing up, sometimes to her detriment (as her mother likes to mention). However, she likes to think that these qualities have aided much more than they’ve undermined her. Knowing little to no English, she struggled early on but gradually overcame the language barrier by becoming an avid reader. In fifth grade, only 3 years after she had started learning English, she won first place in my school’s spelling bee. She realized that with determination, relentlessness and hard work, she could achieve anything. Less than a decade later, she graduated from Overland High School with academic honors and an award for her writing as the Copy Editor of our Yearbook program.
She started college at CU Denver but eventually transferred to the University of San Francisco in the midst of the pandemic. College proved to be transformational for her personal, intellectual and spiritual development, and often says that she “became herself” in San Francisco. Greenhouse was pivotal in easing the transition — she received the funding she needed and lots of moral support from both staff and friends in the cohort. The change in environment, especially during quarantine, brought about immense change. In college she worked as a literacy tutor, eventually being promoted to Site Lead her senior year. It was through this work that she discovered her passion for literacy, teaching and working with children. She also worked as a medical scribe in the Emergency Dept for a year. Her senior year, Sara was also selected as one of 10 psychology students for our department’s Honors Thesis program, where she completed a research thesis and oral defense. She graduated December 2023 magna cum laude with my major in Psychology and minor in Chemistry.
Sara spent the majority of 2024 working as a clinician’s assistant for the CU School of Medicine’s Addiction Research and Treatment Services (ARTS) program. Early on in this year, she found out that she was selected for the Fulbright US Student program, and she made preparations to head to Morocco as an English teacher in the fall. As the eldest child of an immigrant family — one that transitioned early on from a two parent home to a single parent one — she had no choice except to be relentless throughout her life. She was the first in her family to achieve the things she has, and there was no instruction manual for her to follow. She faced constant personal challenges, but with determination, faith and support from loved ones, she was able to push through and get to where she is today.
