Sarah Peters makes lists of all the things she has to do every day, but she also needs a second list to keep track of all the awards she has received at Lynchburg College, including the Robert L. Hill Distinguished Senior Award.
As the Hill Distinguished Senior, Sarah will carry the Class of 2009 banner during commencement on May 16. An economics major from Harrisonburg, Va., she has been on the Dean's List every semester, maintaining a 3.96 QPA, and is a member of Phi Eta Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi.
She has received numerous academic honors, such as the Steven W. Streep Award for Excellence in Business, the Robert L. Hill Award for Excellence in Economics, the Wall Street Journal Student Achievement Award in Economics and Finance, and the John O. Hayden Service Award.
In addition to her economics major, Sarah has minors in mathematics and political science. She has also served as president of the Lynchburg College Investment Club and vice president of the Westover Honors Program. As a four-year member of Westover, Sarah said she was able to connect with a group of students with similar academic interests. "It helps you build connections," she said. "You can extend class discussions way beyond class time."
She has been the principal student clarinetist in both the Wind Ensemble and Orchestra and participated in the pit orchestra for Hello Dolly, Oklahoma!, and Amahl and the Night Visitors. She also did her first travel abroad over spring break with LC's study abroad program to Spain and Morocco.
Sarah served as president of the Methodist Student Fellowship, volunteered with the Parkview United Methodist Church Food Bank and Soup Kitchen, and is currently serving as secretary for the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. She has been the Advocacy Chair and a team captain in the Relay for Life cancer fundraising event.
Her favorite "extracurricular," however, has been serving as a PASS Leader for economics, tutoring fellow students for three years in micro and macro economics, and currently international economics. "I love economics so much," she said. "Teaching has been one of the greatest experiences here."
Sarah has been accepted into the Ph.D. in economics program at George Mason University, but has decided to attend part-time while she works full time as an economist at the U.S. Minerals Management Service, the government agency responsible for offshore leasing and drilling, among other things.
Someday, though, she hopes to be "Dr. Sarah," and teach economics at a college or university, maybe even her alma mater. "When I came here I just fell in love with it," she said of LC. "I knew it was the right place to be."