Like other winners of the 2024 Suzanne Macaoay Scholarship, Sarah Schildkraut had to overcome adversity to get where she is – an accomplished student with a promising future.

Her life had been on a conventional course – growing up in the suburbs, active in community service groups and school clubs – when traumatic events her first year in college resulted in her leaving school. It took a couple of years of therapy before she was prepared to restart her formal education, this time at nearby Middlesex Community College. It was at MCC where she took an introductory course to earth sciences taught by Dr. Claire Condie. Dr. Condie became Sarah’s mentor and confidant.  “Dr. Condie was very welcoming. She set up her office as a safe place for me.”

Dr. Condie encouraged Sarah to pursue a degree in earth sciences. This appealed to Sarah, whose father and grandfather had encouraged a love of nature, taking her hiking and fishing, and on family vacations to national parks. During her hiatus from college, she nurtured her love of animals by working at a local aquarium for a year, and spent a summer at the Turtleback Zoo in West Orange, answering visitors' questions about the animals and assisting with the pony rides.

A proud member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, Ms. Schildkraut will graduate from MCC in December. She then will begin studies at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, where she will major in Marine Science and Environmental Policy. Her career goal is to work for the National Park Service as a park ranger. Her related personal goal is to visit all the national parks in the United States.

Sarah writes, “I am very honored to receive the Suzanne Macaoay Memorial Annual Scholarship, and I appreciate the Foundation's generosity and commitment to supporting students studying geology and earth sciences at New Jersey community colleges.” The LSRPA Foundation is honored to have played its small part in helping Sarah attain her dreams.