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After Storied High School Career; University City Student Headed to Grinnell College

Senior Sarah Saber has racked up a load of accolades and awards during her school career here in University City.

Sarah Sarber spent close to two years convincing her parents to let her play the violin.

The convincing started when the University High School Senior was in kindergarten.  A story that her mother Susan Smorodin says really showed that Sarah's “kindness” began the day the teacher's daughter came into the class and played the violin for the kids. After school that day, Sarah, mesmerized by the beauty of the instrument, came home and expressed a desire to play the violin to her parents. Like many other children's fleeting interests, her parents assumed that desire would disappear so they didn't talk too much about it.

For Sarah, the interest didn't go away. Even after two years, she was still expressing an interest in playing the violin. Therefore, her parents finally decided to get her some lessons and a little kid violin to play; she played the instrument for many years after that.

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“She has a certain persistence and she also knows her parents have three kids and busy lives and work but sometimes she needs to beat us on the head a couple times before we get the message,” said Susan Smorodin.

 If this “persistence” is any indication of how Sarah goes about her school work and extra-curricular activities, then the benefits are quite obvious. Sarah, who is set to graduate from high school this Spring, will leave her alma mater with a resume laden with awards and accomplishments.

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Since ninth grade Sarah has been a devoted member of the Mock Trial team and currently serves as President of National Honor Society, Co-Editor of Spectrum, the U. City Literary Magazine, and a writer for Inklings, the school's writing club. She also works on set and tech productions for school musicals and plays.

In addition, she went to a camp called the Missouri Scholars Academy during her junior year, a camp she jokingly refers to as “nerd camp.” She also won a Book Award from Harvard her junior year. Lastly, she is in the Latin Club, and has been to several state conventions.

“I didn't get involved with what I got involved in to get in college. I got involved in it because I like it. I enjoy doing what I do. I enjoy being busy and stressed," said Sarah.

Sitting around and doing nothing has never been high on Sarah's list of enjoyable activities and goes completely against her personality. Her recent spring break can attest to this when she found herself sitting around the house and not doing much.

“I don't enjoy that,” Sarah said. “I like having somewhere to go, having somewhere to be, having something to do”.

Sarah said she usually works on homework or extra curricular activities until around 9 p.m. The hard work has paid dividends. Sarah said she's had a 4.0 G.P.A since before she can remember. In fact, she can't remember ever having anything lower than an A on a report card.

Sarah's intellect was something that her Mock Trial coach Margaret Williams noticed immediately when she first met Sarah, who would accompany her family to watch her older sister Jessie perform in Mock Trial tournament. Williams said she remembers that Sarah both adored her older sister, Jessie, and was very smart.

“She would make As even if she didn't study half as much as she does,” said Williams. “She doesn't just learn A material; She learns A plus material.”

 Sarah's exemplary academic record coupled with her 31 on the A.C.T has granted her acceptance into Grinnell College, a small liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa that was ranked number 18 in the top liberal arts colleges in the nation this year, according to the U.S. News website.   

 Sarah decided on Grinnell when she and her family were visiting relatives in Des Moines last summer and stopped at the college for a quick visit. Sarah said that  she fell in love immediately with the liberal progressive aspect of the school, which fits her personality since she describes herself as “very liberal” and  “basically a hippie.”

“I just love everyone because everyone has good qualities and everyone deserves to have peace,” Sarah said. “I don't like people who are mean.”

Sarah said she is very anti-war and doesn't believe that nations need to fight to solve their conflicts because there are other ways to handle things.

Fortunately for Sarah, her abomination for cruelty hasn't been tested during her four years at University City High School. She said University City is a very open and friendly community and that she has never experienced any form of bullying at her school nor has she seen anyone become a victim of any bullying.

The open-minded, non-judgmental aspect of Sarah's personality is something that her Mock Trial coach can attest to. Margaret Williams said Sarah is the type of person that won't just turn someone off. She will hear what they have to say and then process the information, and see for herself if it will work. Williams said those skills  are very good for both Mock Trial and for life in general. 

Williams said the direction that life will take Sarah in 10 years really depends on what drives her. If she continues to have the quality of “ let me see what this is, let me process it, and then I will make up my mind” is both beneficial for the future but also makes it hard for Williams to peg exactly where Sarah will be in the future.

“She may not necessarily do exactly what a family member might recommend, but she will hear them,” Williams said. “And that is a quality that if more adults had we wouldn't stick our foot in our mouth as much and I think we would make wiser decisions. I think this is a quality that will help her find success.”

Williams noted that the close-knit aspect of Sarah's family will also benefit her in the future. Sarah's immediate family consists of her, her parents, and her younger brother Michael. Her grandmother lives right next door, and her cousin and her cousin's son live in the house next door to her grandmother. Her Aunt, Uncle, and another cousin live two blocks away from the Sarber's. Sarah's sister Jessie,  who is a student at Washington University regularly comes home. The Sarber's have around 20 family members that live in the St. Louis area.

The twelve University City based relatives get together every Sunday for a big dinner that takes much cooking and much preparation. The Sarber's eat dinner and breakfast together every day and try to attend as many of each other's extra-curricular events as possible. Sarah said she plans on continuing this tradition when she has a family of her own one day.

“I like knowing what is happening in the people's lives around me and having them be interested in what I am doing,” Sarah said. “You see all the time on TV, the families that just eat frozen TV dinners. We don't do that. We eat together every night. And I know what is happening. It is not like I am completely by myself. I have a good support system.”

Sarah said she is still uncertain what she plans on majoring in in college, but she's interested in academic areas like English Lit, writing, and Linguistics.  She just doesn't know  what they will translate into in terms of a career.

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