Sunday, November 05, 2006
Senior among top 50
 Sara K. Riffert, a wife, mother of three, college senior, and part-time businesswoman, is one of 50 National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) merit award scholarship recipients. As a member of the USI NSCS chapter, she applied for the $1,000 scholarship along with over 3,000 high-achieving new members from across the country. Riffert and other candidates were judged on academic record, life and collegiate experiences, and the quantity and quality of awards and activities. Membership in the NSCS requires a student to be in the top 20 percent of the class. Riffert is earning a 3.75 grade point average. Engaged citizenship is an element of the NSCS mission. Riffert has an exemplary record of community involvement. After high school, she earned a cosmetology license. Over the next seven years she worked as a beautician, a customer service representative, and a sales support coordinator, gaining software skills. When daughter Kayla, 8, son Kason, 5, and stepson Ty, 14, were younger she and her husband Ron started a children’s daycare service. She obtained a license, and she maintained certification in first aid/CPR and trained in the Respectful Interactions with Infants program and Feeding Infants meal pattern. Clients could be offered reduced rates because of her training. Within a short time period she and her family were involved in tragedies that included a tractor-semitrailer accident, custody issues, learning disabilities, illness, and death. Family is important to Riffert. She stepped out of her comfort zone and took charge of life. She enrolled at USI in elementary education. To help with finances, she has earned scholarships from USI Alumni Association, 2005 Today’s Woman Conference, USI/Epi-Hab Center, and more. She has earned money as a consultant for Creative Memories, plus she volunteers for vacation bible school and tutors in Academic Skills. She is a room mother, a mentor at Mount Vernon Junior High, an after-school tutor for EVSC, a U-5 soccer coach, and a substitute teacher for the Catholic Diocese. She will begin student teaching in the spring at Christ the King School, and her goal is to obtain an elementary school teaching position in the Catholic Diocese and complete a master’s degree at USI. Riffert exemplifies the overall NSCS mission of academic excellence and stepping up for family and community. Plus she has added USI on the list of colleges and universities with a NSCS merit award scholarship recipient. |
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