Who Runs The World?
Writer: Ilana S. / Photographer: Brooke F. / Graphics: Savannah T.
Every young athlete’s dream is to go D1 in their respective sport, but unfortunately, many either aren’t courageous enough to try or aren’t fortunate enough to see their dreams come to fruition. For Sarah M., a sister of Chi Omega, courage, determination and a little bit of luck allowed her to live out her dreams as a college track star at Florida State University.
Oddly enough, Sarah came to FSU with no intention of becoming a collegiate athlete. Coming from the small town of Ormond Beach, Sarah was simply set on joining Greek life. During recruitment prior to her freshman year, she fell in love with Chi Omega. “The people in that chapter were the people I wanted to become,” said Sarah.
This home ended up giving her more than she could’ve ever imagined when the chapter president at the time, Tara, saw Sarah run in the Tallahassee Half Marathon. After Sarah’s impressive performance, Tara encouraged her to reach out to the FSU track coach, with hopes that she could walk onto the team. To reach her new, elusive goal, Sarah spent the entire summer training to perform her best in the upcoming fall tryouts. All of her hard work paid off when she was granted a spot on the team running the 5k, and to this day, she credits Chi Omega for the opportunity.
While Sarah considers herself to be confident in her roles as both a runner and a Panhellenic woman, she recognizes that the Greek and athletic lifestyles do not always go hand and hand. To combat the clashing stereotypes of a sorority woman and an athlete, Sarah tends to ignore the fact that track is not the most feminine sport by focusing on herself and the legacy she is leading. “Being in both [Chi Omega and track] gives me the opportunity to make a statement and show that I can represent women in an otherwise male-dominated sport,” she said.
Sarah best describes her life as “two worlds colliding”, allowing her to create a college journey that is uniquely tailored to her interests. “I really try to bridge the gap between the two,” Sarah says, and she does just that through the art of balance. “[Balance] is a characteristic I will hold on to for the rest of my life. Balance is definitely one of the most important lessons I have learned at FSU. My success has mainly come from balance and the ambition to succeed.”
In recognition of her successful track career, Sarah recently won the notable Femina Perfecta award for track. Each year, this award is given to “The complete woman [who is] expected to possess the traits of Vires (strength), Artes (knowledge) and Mores (tradition), symbolized by the three torches of that seal.” This award is nothing short of an absolute honor for any Florida State student to receive, and Sarah accredits her involvement in both athletics and Chi Omega to this high achievement. Feeling as though she has grown tremendously through Greek life and athletics, Sarah translates three key ideals from her extracurricular interests into her friendships, academics, and everyday life: drive, dedication, and ambition.
In addition to the Femina Perfecta award, Sarah is on the ACC student-athlete honor roll and the Student-Athlete Academic Committee as a representative in addition to being the cross country volunteer liaison, and receiving student-athlete recognition for completing over 50 community service hours.
Women like Sarah embody what being a Panhellenic woman truly means by exemplifying all the good that comes from the Panhellenic community while adding another layer of substance to what the general public thinks about sorority women. Women like Sarah are changing our community for the better every day, and we are incredibly proud to stand by their side as they do.