Sarah Medearis, a senior in microbiology, said she has been busy the past three years of college both preparing for her future career and helping others. Medearis, who will graduate this spring, said she has a passion for helping children, which is why she decided to be pre-medical with the goal of becoming a pediatrician. Medearis has demonstrated her passion in other ways as well, such as traveling to Ecuador and Brazil the past two summers to work with pediatric doctors.

Medearis said she found it rewarding to see how grateful the children were for everything they did.

“We made a difference in their lives and they touched ours,” she said.

For Medearis, her summer abroad trips were not the first time she has served others. She said her passion for community service started at an early age.

“I have always been interested in community service since middle school,” she said. “My mother was very philanthropically-oriented.”

She said she volunteered with an organization called Friendship Trays in Charlotte. The organization delivered lunch and dinner six days a week to people who couldn’t afford food.

Currently, Medearis works as a therapist for a seven-year-old autistic child. She said she enjoys taking him swimming.

“He has the most infectious laugh,” she said.

She also works for a research lab doing immunology for poultry science. When she is not working, Medearis finds time to plan philanthropy events for her sorority, Pi Beta Phi.

“We have a great time raising money for literacy,” she said.

As she nears the end of her undergraduate career, Medearis said she still proclaims her best memories to be her freshman year.

“My best time at N.C. State was freshman year at Owen Hall when I met my friends that I am still friends with today,” she said.

In the spring, when Medearis graduates, she plans on taking a year off before medical school to work in a lab in Charlotte.