From an early age, Sarah found comfort and inspiration in the power of music and strived to share that power with everyone she encountered. Currently a student at the University of Alabama studying Instrumental Music Education, Sarah's primary instrument is the French horn, which she has been studying for 8 years now, and she is an alumni of the Play It Forward Scholarship Program.

Here are some of the wonderful moments she encountered whilst volunteering through the program:

One of my favorite memories...
...that I have of working with the Friends of India Ministry occurred while I was working with the Kindergarteners on their writing.
I remember that it had been a particularly long day for me; I had been at marching band rehearsal all morning and had to grab lunch quickly and head straight over to tutor in the afternoon. I was sweaty and tired, so I was so glad to be in the Kindergarten classroom that day.
Oftentimes, the third graders would really give me a run for my money. As I sat down to start helping the students learn to draw their letters, I sighed with relief, thinking that I couldn’t possibly mess this up, so it would be an easy-going afternoon for me. I wouldn’t have to make sure that my math or grammar was absolutely correct or search diligently for mistakes; I could just relax.
About ten minutes into rounding the table, helping each student with their work, a little girl named Abby pulled on my shirt. She had a big smile on her face. I will never forget what she said to me.
She said, “Ms. Sarah, why do you write your letters wrong?”
I immediately laughed, thinking that there was no way I had been writing my letters wrong all of these years. I said, "What do you mean I’m writing my letters wrong, Abby?”
She said, "You are supposed to write letters starting at the top, and you started at the bottom. You are supposed to do it this way.” She proceeded to point to a picture in the workbook, clearly illustrating that I was drawing my letters in the wrong way.
I laughed so hard that day.
All of those years, I had thought that I was writing in the way that made the most sense. I thought that I was doing it in the best and most productive way. I love this memory because it reminds me that even if we are confident in the things that we do and the way that we do them, we should always take a moment to think about the fact that every single person in the world does things differently than we do.
There is a large possibility that if we took a moment to learn from each other, then we would all be much better people. Instead of doing things on our own, we should learn to live and learn together, putting aside our own ideas and our own normal. We always need to be open to new ideas. And sometimes, we need to get schooled by a six-year old to remind us that we are all human; we are all flawed; and we can all learn from each other. 

My favorite event of the year...
...with the Friends of India Ministry was always our Thanksgiving Dinner. I love Thanksgiving, but I especially loved the way that we as an organization celebrated Thanksgiving every year. The goal of the Friends of India Ministry as a whole was to provide a service, that service being tutoring, to a community of people who were mostly new to the country and looking to plug into the community and help their children in school at the same time. Because of this, I was blessed to be able to learn so much about Indian culture and tradition through interacting and tutoring the wonderful people in our community who were from India. Most of the time, the Americans were the ones who shared the most about our culture as we tried to help the people who were new immigrants to learn about the workings of our culture and country, but on Thanksgiving, we all got to share a part of who we were and where we came from with each other.
On one Saturday close to the holiday, we would all gather at the church where we tutored and serve a grand Thanksgiving feast. Everyone was invited to bring a dish that they loved and that was special to their family. This created a giant banquet table full of samosas and squash casserole, curry and cornbread, and of course a beautiful myriad of deserts. As we got to know each other better, we also got to experience and try the traditional Thanksgiving foods that were special to all of us. I got to try so many amazing, homemade Indian dishes while my friends were able to try traditional Southern Thanksgiving food for the first time.
​I truly loved this because it was a celebration of how different we all were and how thankful we were for those differences. Though I was teaching math and English during that time, I was also learning about a beautiful group of people. I was learning how to embrace the person that I was and how to love others for who they are. I was able to appreciate my heritage while also learning about others. 
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Yet another new beginning with Integral Steps:

​In 2020, Sarah approached us saying, “I usually give a recital and want to [...] make it a fundraiser for PIF.”
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• At end of May 2020 with the help of Integral Steps staff, Sarah performed an online horn recital. Her goal was to raise $1680.
• Sarah raised $1450. That is enough for 1 scholarship student to have 1 year of private lessons.
• Sarah has since joined Integral Steps as an intern and has been invaluable in helping others understand what PIF means to students. 
• Sarah is legally blind and has almost completed her first year of a music education degree during a pandemic; she has shown that with incredible tenacity and hard work, anything is possible. 

We feel incredibly privileged to have her on the Integral Steps team!