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Meet SPHIS Student Ambassador Sarah Belcher
Senior Sarah Belcher recounts her search for public health and discusses her experience as a SPHIS Student Ambassador.
Student Contributor: Sarah Belcher, SPHIS Student Ambassador
Degree: BS in Public Health
Anticipated Graduation Date: May 2025
The University of Louisville’s School of Public Health and Information Sciences (SPHIS) gave me the words for what I wanted to pursue. Growing up in eastern Kentucky, I saw the impacts of poverty and other social determinants of health on my region. This was especially true for cardiovascular disease, in which we continue to have some of the highest rates in the nation. With my tassel just turned from high school graduation, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in medicine at the University of Louisville while addressing these issues at the population level. However, I did not know how to articulate this or what my career path would look like. As I prepared to start my undergraduate degree program, I received an email for an information session on public health opportunities with SPHIS. I signed up to attend, not yet knowing about the options offered and thinking it was a general call for all health students. During the meeting, I realized “public health” was the term I had been looking for to describe my interests and quickly joined the public health major.
Now approaching the end of my last year of college, I can say this has continued to be one of the best decisions of my undergraduate career. I have been surrounded by faculty and staff in SPHIS who have helped me to grow both as a scholar and a person. The same interests that brought me to public health have grown and been given more direction. This year, I have had the privilege of being a SPHIS Student Ambassador. In this role, I have connected even more with the school and work to recruit new students as well. Most special to me, I have had the opportunity to recruit high schoolers from underserved areas. I now tell students about opportunities in public health and hope that I can give them the words for their interests like was given to me four years ago.
