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Show fc 04.20.201 is i" ww VOLUME XUV ....., Isiue 16 . . Photo C ot irt;v of Far? Photograph Ballet did not come naturally to Pettit. - N , Student profile: Sarah Pettit Brittany Johns Staff Writer Sarah Pettit, a communication major with an emphasis in PR will be graduating this May. Sarah is a hard worker, and has been known to put forth her best effort in most everything. Just getting by isnt good enough for Sarah. Everything she does she does to the best of her ability. Success isnt about being gifted, success is about making the most of your gifts. Sarah is creative, thoughtful and passionate. All that comes through in her schoolwork, says Kim Zarkin, Pettits advisor. In April she applied for Ricter7VPR student of the year contest, where she made the final round of the competition. She presented a case study to organize a ' contingency campaign for Charlie Sheen. Sarah made it to the finals because she is thoughtful and expresses herself well. She is able to convey her passion in her writing. When you read her work, it is obvious that she cares about the projects shes been involved with, says Zarkin. Although she made it into a handful of finalists, she did not win. But the experience was worth it, says Pettit. Over her experience at Westminster, Pettit has had the opportunity to intern at a variety of internships. Her first one at Make-a-Wis- h Foundation were she was and wish stoable to write second Her intern was a communiries . cation internship at the Governors office. She has recently been accepted to serve an internship this summer. After completion of an essay component, editing her resume, and gathering three writing samples, Pettit was accepted to serve a Political Journalism internship at Georgetown University. She will be required to put in an eight hour shift interning followed by four hours of classes, five days a week. If you miss one class you fail and you get kicked out. I am looking forward to it, but a little nervous, says Pettit. press-releas- es I just was hoping to get in. It seemed like it was something that could really help me in the future, where I could learn more professional skills and enhance my resume, says Pettit. Her favorite courses at Westminster have been Professional Writing, The Forum, Principles ofPublic Relations, Multi Media Image Production and Communication Sc Gender. Communication and Gender was a fantastic class, everyone should take it, Pettit. Pettit grew up on a farm in South Jordan, where her family raised everything from pigs to ducks. We raised just about everything, says Pettit. The cutest was the baby pigs having them around as a kid was a lot of fun. Pettit was the third oldest daughter born to John and Jeanie Pettit. She grew up with three sisters, Laurie, Angie and Jessica and one adopted brother, Mickey. He lived up the road from her family. His dad lived in a different state and passed away, so Mickey looked up to Pettits fasays -- ther. When she was 10 years old, she was diagnosed with Von Willebrand, the most common hereditary bleeding disorder. She was always suffering from bloody noses, where her mother, thought she had broken a blood vessel. It wasnt until Jeanie took her to the doctors that she found out she had this blood disorder. For the most part my life has been pretty normal. But I still have to be careful, Pettit said. I bruise easily, and medical procedures or emergencies could cause complications but so far Ive been really lucky knock on wood, she said. Pettit discovered the art of dancing when she was in the first grade. She told her dad she wanted to take ballet lessons after she had watched The Nutcracker. She wanted to be the ballerina in the jewelry box. As a little girl, who didnt want to be a ballerina, says Pettit. i .v i:v j 'j t uj '.'i She had to work hard at it. While studing ballet at SLCC, she met her biggest role model Carolyn Anderson Barnett. Barnett was one of the first principal ballerinas for Ballet West, under the direction of William Christensen. She took me under her wing and taught me how to dance like the professionals do, says Pettit. Dance is an artistic expression, a release of freedom, hard-wor- k, and drive. Pettit adds. Its getting back on top of your point shoes when your toes are bleeding and doing another grandbetmet when you dont want to move. She started competing in pageants when she was 17. At this point she had no previous experience and was in the mindset that pageants just consisted of having a pretty gown and a good wave. When she entered into the Miss Herriman pageant, she said she lost because of that mentality. I was really naive, and I did not get what the competition was meant to teach me. I deserved to lose, says Pettit. It was when she figured out that pageants were about service, learning how to help her community and self growth, that she was able to understand what the Miss America program was about. Through pageants she found that she was good at marketing herself. It made her aware of the world around her, paying close attention to politics, the news, and was even beneficial for her interviewing skills. Pettit won five titles over her pageant career: Miss Herriman Miss Salt Lake County Miss Utah County Miss Pioneer Valley Miss Legacy The Miss America Organization awarded Sarah the state wide Community Service award twice, for her efforts with child passenger safety. Through the scholarships the Miss America Organization provided her, she was able to pay for her associates degree, and a small portion of Westminsters tuition. College is expensive. With scholarships you should always take all that you can get. I was lucky to receive the financial assistance that gave me my associates degree, she said. Her involvement with the many pageants was her motivation to obtain a college degree. When she was a junior in high school, she would go into her councilors office. Because she was dyslexic, she was put in with a special counselor. She told her councilor that her dream was to be a teacher, but her councilors said people with disabilities dont make great teachers. Basically she was trying to persuade me not to go to college, says Pettit. As a kid, Pettit always wanted to be a teacher. She would turn her parents guest bedroom into a classroom, use her allowance to buy teachers workbooks, posters, and multiplication charts. She would even construct report cards out of construction paper and hand deliver them to her little sisters friends parents. Eventually her sisters friends wouldnt come over anymore they were so tired of playing school. When her councilor told her that people with disabilities wouldnt make good teachers, this news crushed her. She said, Why bother with college? But in order to be in pageants contestants have to be enrolled in school. She figured she would do a couple of classes, and after the Miss Herriman Pageant, she would quit. To her surprise, she did quite well, despite what her councilor said, she received a decent GPS full of As at SLCC. She enjoyed school. Pettit received her associates degree from SLCC in 2009. She came to Westminster her sophomore year to continue her education in communication. I feel really lucky to have studied at Westminster to have access to the communication faculty. They have all been extremely accommodating. Ive learned a lot of great things, and they have taught me how to pursue my professional ambitions. She will not only take away many memories and new friends from Westminster but most importantly a new found view of confidence in herself. I never realized that I am really hard on myself. But my experience at Westminster has taught me to have confidence in myself. I mil take away great skills that the communication program has taught me but the most valuable thing I will take away from the program is realizing my potential a greater sense of self confidence. After graduation on May 28, Pettit is set to serve her internship at Georgetown University. After that she hopes to fulfill her dream to work in a non-profit Pettit said, I believe in destiny, that things happen for a reason. right where I will need to be. Ill end up |