Student Spotlight: Sarah Baroody
Junior Sarah Baroody of Lugoff , S.C., says her Erskine experience is about making a difference in the lives of the people around her. It was Erskine’s intimate, small-town atmosphere that attracted her when she visited the Due West campus.
Baroody first heard about Erskine from a friend at her high school. Drawn by the community feel of the campus when she visited, she was offered a financial aid package enabling her to come to Erskine, her first choice.
As a sophomore, she took Psychological Statistics, usually taken by juniors or seniors, and this was a pivotal experience. “It was the hardest course I’ve ever taken,” she said. “It made me think about things differently, and developed teamwork skills, presenting skills, and critical thinking.”
The course showed her “how interconnected everything is,” and gave her direction as a psychology major.
Professor of Psychology Dr. Robert Elsner commented on Sarah’s progress over the past semesters. “She learned that friendship and teamwork are a benefit of her schoolwork, especially with people outside her comfort zone. She learned to allow herself to find passion in inquiry.”
Baroody has developed an impressive research agenda and will be submitting several papers for publication this year.
She is also working on a second major.
“Sarah Baroody is an English major who is very insightful in drawing connections between her studies in psychology and those in literature,” Professor of English Dr. Joan Little said.
Active with Chi Women, the Erskine Arrow, BCM, RUF at Erskine, the Erskine Society for Psychology, and the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation program, Baroody also serves as a photographer for the Communications office.
“Her work in science has allowed her to focus on detail that has informed her photography, and vice-versa,” Elsner said. “Sarah is one of those students who truly shows the best of a liberal arts education.”
Little noted that Baroody is “an enthusiastic supporter of the arts and letters at Erskine” and has “created plans to revive the college’s literary magazine, The Review.”
Off campus, she works at a daycare program with three- and four-year-olds in Greenwood.
Baroody hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in experimental psychology. She enjoys designing research and obtaining data in unconventional ways.
Meanwhile, as she continues to learn and grow, she says she wants her legacy at Erskine to be “one of making a difference in people’s lives—making a positive impact on others.”
Baroody enjoys recording Erskine’s history and adding to its archives with her work in photography.
Like many Erskine students, Sarah Baroody believes the guidance she has received here has helped set the course of her life. She feels certain that she “will not be able to just walk away from Erskine after graduation” as she moves into the next arena for service and success.
“Erskine matters to its students,” she said.