When it comes to family Sara believes her family has played a huge role in who she is, “My parents are my biggest role models because they taught me important values and support me in everything that I do. They have been with me for the many ups and downs I have had whether that be for school, sports, or life in general. My favorite things to do with them are horse camping, riding horses on the trails behind our house, four wheeling, and biking. Also, I feel like my two older siblings made an impact on me because they have shown me the ins and outs of life.”

At Royalton High School, Sara is involved in many activities that have also helped shape her into the person that she has become, “at school including cross country, track and field, honor society, student council, YES club, FFA and FCA. Last year I was also a part of the Spanish club and prom committee. My favorite activity was cross country because my teammates were more like a family than just friends. Everyday there was always something someone would do to make it a great day. Running is also one of my favorite hobbies because it is a sport where you easily see improvement with practice. However, I feel like the student council has made the biggest impact since it helped me be a part of the school and community more. I really enjoy helping plan things for the school because when I was in middle school, I looked forward to those activities. The YES club helped me gain more information on environmental issues and improve our school which most high school students should be educated on. I joined FFA last year because I love chickens and my best friends wanted me to do it. I was happy to join, but it definitely was not my thing. In FCA, I get to socialize with other student-athletes who want to be more involved with their faith just like me. All these activities were a great experience and have helped shape me into the person I am today.”

As for a favorite teacher in high school, Sara says there have been numerous teachers that come to mind, “Many teachers have had an impact on me throughout the years, but three of them really made school/school activities fun and those teachers are Mr. Hagman, Mr. Schaa, and Ms. Burgman. Mr. Hagman was my 5th grade long term sub in elementary school for most of the year. He was an excellent teacher and made 5th grade memorable. I thought it was so cool that he was my teacher and my brother's basketball coach! I would see him throughout the school in the following years, and he was always friendly and would say hi. Also, Mr. Schaa is a very fun teacher to have when you learn his sense of humor. His ‘dad jokes’ are one of the best things in his class because no one truly knows how to react to them, so there is an awkward laugh afterwards. He is an extremely smart teacher and is always pushing me to do my best. Sadly, Ms. Bergman left Royalton this school year, but she was always supportive with everything. She was my math and homeroom teacher, so I would see her more frequently than I would other teachers. She would help students whenever she could and help them to do their best. I know this is my last year here, but I wish Ms. Bergman was still here.”

Sara’s favorite memory came this year with Ava Schoenrock “Ava and I were dissecting a frog because Ms. Gerads had extra from her 10th grade class. We were trying to take bugs out of the stomach and as we were peeling the stomach open, Ms. Gerads came up to observe just as our hands slipped. The stomach contents flew all over us! Luckily Ava and I had goggles and gowns on, but Ms. Gerads did not. The good part was that we did get the stomach open and there were lots of bugs inside.”

As for next year and in the future Sara has these plans in mind “Next year I will be attending Winona State university and majoring in anesthesiology along with running track and cross country. Since I travel and help my stepdad with his veterinary business, I knew that I wanted to be in the medical field. At first, I contemplated being a surgeon or pediatric doctor, but I have had my heart set on being a nurse anesthetist for a few years now and in 10 years, I hope to have graduated from college and be working at a strategic hospital in southern Minnesota. I would eventually like to have 3-4 dogs and be living in a nice house in the country or shortly out of town. A trip to the Netherlands to see Anouk, Royalton’s exchange student, is also on the agenda.”

Sara’s advice to high school freshmen was this “Take care of your physical and mental well-being. You're going to be exposed to so many new things, places, people and experiences that it'll be very easy to overstress yourself. Make sure to look after your health by going to bed early or at least before midnight. Also, join many clubs because not only do you make new friends, but it also looks better on college applications!”