By EMILY PAOCELLI
Co-Executive Editor
Sarah Clark, though she is only a 21-year-old senior in college, has accomplished many things in her time before, during, and after attending Saint Rose. A published poet, a performer of music and theatre, a journalist and a public relations professional—Clark has done it all, and plans to do it all, still.
Clark originally didn’t plan to graduate with a degree in communications. After performing poetry and theatre throughout her high school career, she first planned to spend her life on stage.
“When it came time to choose what I wanted to do with my life, I kind of knew music was what I wanted to do, or performance,” said Clark. “Or, at least I thought it was.”
Clark originally auditioned at Saint Rose for a music program, but ultimately chose to attend Marymount Manhattan college for theatre. She said she didn’t get into the program there initially, but planned to re-audition after her first year. However, according to Clark, she never made it that far.
“Once I got there, I was taking, for my freshman seminar, a ‘storytelling in multimedia’ course,” said Clark. “So that’s what kind of introduced me to journalism and writing as a career, and just multimedia as a whole.”
Clark transferred to Saint Rose in 2018 after her first year at Marymount Manhattan, since she was pursuing a program that strayed from Marymount’s focus of performing arts and wanted to ensure she attended an institution with ample resources and opportunities in the communications field. She said she saw the Saint Rose campus a total of five times before she began to attend the college.
“I felt a little insane,” said Clark. “I was so nervous about making the wrong decision again.”
She said her first impressions of Saint Rose were “picture perfect,” from the on-campus apartment she lived on to the friends she made and the classes she attended.
However, Clark said this view of the college faded as she started to understand the financial hardships that the college was going through.
“When you start to uncover things a little bit more…you start to say, ‘oh, this is not what I thought it was,’” said Clark. “Once you start to kind of learn more about the background of it, and you start to say, ‘oh, this is kind of weird, why are they doing this?’ Or when you start to look at the tax returns and notice that we’re so far in debt, which is why we’re not getting the stuff that we need or once had, you start to kind of question that.”
Clark said that Saint Rose has presented her with so many opportunities, like funding the possibility for her to attend the New York Press Association conference in 2019. At this internship, Clark met an editor for a local paper who urged her to apply for a paid internship through the NYPA.
“So I did, and I got it, and it was paid, and after it was over they offered me a job and I thought that was wonderful,” said Clark. Clark said she owes this opportunity to the college, since they provided the funds for her to attend the conference in the first place; but, she said she’s concerned and frustrated about what happens when the college’s budget can no longer support student opportunities like hers.
“When you start cutting budgets, and you start cutting things that give the students these opportunities, it puts your students at a disadvantage, and then they don’t get the resources that other people have,” said Clark. “If I didn’t have that opportunity to go to that conference, I would not have had that experience.”
However, Clark emphasized other features at the college that serve students and don’t necessarily require massive budgets or funds to do so.
“Obviously I love the relationships that I fostered here, that I was able to really grow and work on,” said Clark. In her time at Saint Rose, Clark was part of student clubs like PRSSA and The Chronicle. She also said that she met her best friends and her partner, Phil, who she described as “the love of [her] life,” at the college.
David Meister, a graduate of the college, worked alongside Clark both on campus at The Chronicle and off campus at a Market 32 in East Greenbush.
“She’s a remarkably talented writer, a remarkably wonderful human being, absolutely will do anything for any of her friends, and anybody,” said Meister. “She’s achieved a lot in her time at Saint Rose, and I know she’ll go far in whatever she does.”
Clark also mentioned her bond with journalism professor Cailin Brown, who has recently left the college.
“Sarah is a go-getter, and The Chronicle, the Department of Communications and the college all benefited from her work ethic,” wrote Brown in an email.
Clark had a bit of advice to offer to any prospective Saint Rose students.
“My best advice would be to do your research thoroughly, and to not let what you think you want stand in the way of exploring opportunities,” said Clark. “If I was not so focused on Marymount and wanting to experience what I thought I was going to experience there…I would have come to Saint Rose instead.” Clark also said that it’s important to have goals, but to focus on what is feasible, and to have backup plans.
All in all, Clark said that she is glad she spent most of her college experience at Saint Rose.
“If you can take away just a few things from that, even if it’s just people, or a few experiences, I think you had a great experience,” said Clark.
As Clark moves on from Saint Rose, she looks ahead to a job as a medical receptionist at a dermatologist’s office in Salem, Mass. as she finalizes plans for applying to and attending graduate school for public relations. Her ultimate goal, she said, is to work for a non-profit organization.
“I see myself working with non-profit organizations, especially with poetry and helping young students, or really anybody, realize their passion for writing,” said Clark. “I am already set to volunteer with Mass Poetry next month, when I get out there, for their poetry festival.”
Of all that Clark’s future holds, she appears to be most excited about the prospect of settling down in New England with her partner.
“Everything about [New England] was what I was looking for in a place to live, the more I experienced it. It has the city of Boston, it has the nature in New Hampshire and Maine…you have the ocean,” said Clark. “I can’t see myself anywhere else.”
