In her four years at Gustavus Adolphus College, Senior Dance and Psychology Major Sarah Jabar has made quite an impact on campus.
“She’s got it. Like that one song. She’s what you need when you need it—Sarah Jabar, God love her. I know I do,” Junior English Major Jordan Walker said.
Among other things, Sarah is heavily involved in the Gustavus Dance Company, which has helped shape her life on the hill. “I like to say dance major first, before psychology, because it’s what I’m more passionate about,” Sarah said.
“My sophomore year, I went to Nationals for the American College Dance Festival [ACDF] in New York. It was the coolest thing I have ever done,” Sarah said. Competing in dance at a national level was the natural fit for Sarah, who has been dancing for the past 19 years of her life.
“I would comfortably say that Sarah is my favorite dancer at Gustavus. She is an incredibly engaging and technical performer with a clear understanding of choreography. I notice how she is able draw the audience into her movement, whether it’s jazz, modern or somewhere in between. She’s compelling,” First-year Renee Guittar said.
Sarah also works in the Career Center and is an intern for Big Hill Farm. “It was an honor working with her on the farm. It was her excitement and her easy going-ness that kept the farm work extremely fun every day,” Senior Environmental Studies Major and fellow Farm Intern Lucas Neher said.
Her love of Big Hill Farm has inspired others to pursue experience in agriculture. “If there’s one thing that I want people to know about Sarah, it would be how much she loves the farm. Petting raspberry bushes and exclaiming about asparagus, she has inspired me to throw myself into the amazing project that is the Gustavus Big Hill Farm, where I will be working this summer,” Guittar said.
Farming and food have become a passion of Sarah’s, and she intends to continue working with food after she graduates. “I will be [in St. Peter] for the summer working for the CICE [Center International and Culteral Education], and I’ll be hanging around the farm a lot. In the fall I want to move to Minneapolis and find a job dealing with food. It’s also important that I find something that will allow me time to dance. Not sure how that’s going to manifest, but we’ll see,” Sarah said.
Sarah’s excitement for life is seen in all aspects of what she does. “Sarah is an individual who finds great balance between her various values. Health and overall wellness, art in all forms, environmental sustainability and really thinking about the nature of people and the world, to name a few. I love just talking with Sarah and being around the positive energy she emulates from learning about and living these interests, “ Senior Nursing Major and Sarah’s roommate Kelsey Nielsen said.
Other friends agree. “Sarah has the amazing ability, in the least amount of words possible, to make me realize that whatever I’m worrying about doesn’t matter. She is always welcoming and up for anything. A flexible person with a carefree attitude, her aura is difficult to resist. For me, she’s a friend and an incredible role model,” Guittar said.
No matter what she’s involved in, one thing is certain: she has a special presence on campus.
“She’s a wonderful, upstanding lady in this community [and] has so much to offer,” Neher said.