By Adel Mozip
YAN – Detroit
Sarah Nasher is a Detroit Southwest Yemeni American who can be a different person to many different people. To her single mother, she is a mature teenager who often spends her free time cooking and caring for her younger siblings.
To her southwest Detroit community, she is an avid activist, advocating for reform on topics ranging from education to youth voice. Now, Sarah has another title AAYSP’s 2019 Student of the Year Awardee. AAYSP is the American Association of Yemeni Students and Professionals.
Sarah is a graduate of Universal Academy. Throughout her high school career, she has maintained a 3.93-grade point average, ranking her sixth out of her class of 52 other students. In addition to her remarkable GPA, Sarah has also scored in the 93rd percentile on her standardized testing.
Although Sarah’s academic achievements are incredible, they represent only a small portion of her high school career. The larger portion of her time was spent serving her school and community. Sarah is Vice President of her school’s National Honor Society and is an active member of Universal Academy’s Student Government.
Furthermore, Sarah has been a leading member of multiple nonprofit organizations. She is president of a Joining in to Revitalize Our Neighborhood (JIRON), an ACCESS youth project based in southwest Detroit that focuses on high school and collegiate prep, community building, and leadership training. She is also Chair of the Chadsey Condon Community Office’s Youth Council, a committee created to also benefit the young people of southwest Detroit.
While serving both these groups and the Southwest community at large, Sarah was chosen to join the 482Forward Youth Collective and was voted Co-Chair. 482Forward is a youth-driven organization that focuses on taking direct actions to solve the educational injustices Detroit residents face.
As a member, Sarah has not only participated in these actions but took part in creating them. She has interviewed the 2018 gubernatorial candidates about issues in Michigan’s school system. Sarah’s commitment to excellence in both her schoolwork and extracurricular activities has made it possible for her to stand out against other students in the race for scholarships and college acceptance letters. She has been awarded the Detroit Rotary Club Student Service scholarship, the CAIR-MI Rosa Parks scholarship, Islamic Center of America scholarship, and the American Educational Foundation scholarship. In total, Sarah has accumulated around $1.7 million in scholarships.
Although Sarah has been offered admission into many of Michigan’s top schools, she plans to attend the University of Detroit Mercy as one of the few students accepted in the prestigious 5-year accelerated Physician Assistant program. There, Sarah plans to learn how to continue serving her community through the field. Once she graduates, she dreams of opening a public clinic, within a largely immigrant populated community, in Southwest Detroit for those who don’t have access to proper healthcare due to many reasons including citizen status, language barriers, and transportation limitations.
In five years, with a University of Detroit Mercy diploma mounted on top of a wall, Sarah aspires to continue to serve the community that has helped build her character.
