2nd Column Rough Draft

Learning Life’s Lessons...All By the Age of 19


Sara is your typical college student, she goes to class, does homework, plays a little golf and hangs out with friends. When looking at her, you would never be able to see what has happened in her life that has made this girl so special.

When Sara was just 15-years-old she began experimenting with alcohol, going to barn parties and failing to realize the potential consequences. That is when she got her first MIP (minor in possession), a term all to familiar for college students, but not 15-year-olds. But Sara thought nothing of it, as most young teenagers would, took diversion and kept on drinking every now and then, but not excessively.

She began smoking pot at age 17 and it began to take over her life. Before she knew it, Sara was lighting it up when she woke up, on her lunch break, after school, at night and sometimes into the wee hours of the morning. It was that year that her best friend was killed in a car accident - he had huffed de-icer and froze his brain while driving.

“ After that, I hated God. I didn't believe in Him anymore,” Sara said. “I wanted to end my life, my best friend was gone and I didn't know why.”

That didn’t deter her from smoking as she continually skipped class to go blaze a couple. That was until she was finally caught by the school and was suspended from playing in her school’s golf conference tournament. She came back, however, and won Districts and even became the State champion that very year. Golf was the only thing going for her and she knew it.

It was that summer, however, when she obtained her second MIP and she knew enough was enough. She began going to church again to regain her faith in Jesus Christ, going on mission trips to Louisiana to help hurricane victims, to Romania to work in communist orphanages and teach bible study to kids, and to Chicago to work in homeless shelters.

What she saw on these trips changed her life immensely, but none more than her mission trip to Romania.

“ They were left in beds as children and fed maybe a spoonful of oatmeal every three days. So when I saw them, their real age was about 40 but they acted like they were two. Most couldn't talk and some couldn't even walk,” Sara said through tear-filled eyes.

The ones who couldn’t walk hopped around on all four’s to move. She became attached to these “kids”, some being adults. Sara put life in perspective when she talked of a young girl who she met while there.

“We brought them candy and their eyes lit up so big. I played patty cake with a girl for two hours and she laughed harder every time. It made you realize it’s just the little things that were so important and how much of an impact we made on these people.”

The Romanian government wants to tear down this orphanage to extract the clean water from underneath it, putting all of these people on the streets who have never been out there before. It is Sara’s goal to raise awareness about homes like these in danger of destruction. That is the kind of girl she has become.

She wants to complete the first four-year degree in her family and become the best women’s golfer in UNK history. She also has dreams of opening up her own beauty shop and get a degree in social work. It has all come full circle for Sara, who has come a long way from that little girl getting MIP’s, to a girl who is letting God lead the way.

“Knowing that I was strong enough to over come something like that led me to know I am strong enough to do anything.”