While some girls will spend their summers in the sun, tanning and relaxing, Sarah Dey will be in Ghana, Africa, working at an orphanage to foster sustainable development for the orphans and their village.
Dey, 21, is going to Africa as part of a mission trip, and it isn’t her first. She’s been to Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti in the past, and has helped children and their impoverished communities.
“These trips are so fulfilling and make me happier than anything else I’ve ever done,” Dey said. “My dream is to do this for the rest of my life. I want to work with at-risk children, finding ways to help them develop through their situation and environment to find success — especially in education.”
Here on campus, Dey is a family, youth, and community sciences junior with a specialization in poverty. She’s also a Florida Cicerone, an executive board member for the UF Honors Ambassadors, and a club softball player, she said.
When she’s not working, studying, or in class, Dey said she’s planning and participating in service projects, including mentoring children in local, low-income communities.
Dey said she’s owes a lot of her opportunities to UF.
“I’ve met so many amazing people here who have changed my life for the better,” she said. “I will be forever grateful to be a Gator.”
As summer and fall semesters are fast approaching, Dey offered advice for young women about to start college.
“Try new clubs, meet new people, take random classes, try a sport, go on a trip, anything,” Dey said. “UF has endless opportunities.”