Spotlight On: Sara Caroline Iskandar, CCES Class of 2022

While Sara Caroline Iskandar applied to a handful of schools in the south, including Clemson, USC, Auburn, and Alabama, there was really only one place she wanted to be – at the University of Georgia (go Dawgs!). Her dad is an alumnus of UGA, and she has been visiting campus for football games since before she can remember. She says, “Every time I travel to Athens, I feel like I am home.”

 

Sara Caroline plans to go into the medical field, and she has her dad to thank for that as well. She shares, “Seeing the passion he has for his job [as a doctor] and helping others has made me want to follow in his footsteps.” Sara Caroline currently plans to major in biology at UGA and hopes to one day be an oncologist. She says, “I want to do my best to make people’s lives better and give them hope.”

 

Sara Caroline is a 13-year veteran of CCES, having been a student here since Primer, and calls her overall experience at CCES “amazing.” She appreciates many aspects of CCES, but specifically points out the smaller student body and class sizes, which have allowed her to “become close with people that she might never else have been close with.” She praises the teachers at CCES, describing them as “extremely caring” and “wanting the best for their students.”

 

By the time of graduation, Sara Caroline will have completed a total of seven Advanced Placement courses, all while maintaining Honor Roll (9-10, 12) or High Honor Roll (11). She says two of her favorite of those seven are classes she has taken this year – AP Spanish and AP Psychology. She loves seeing her Spanish skills improve with each class and overall, her language abilities are far greater than what she thought was ever possible. She calls AP Psychology “extremely interesting” and finds it “exciting to learn more every day” in class.

 

It’s no surprise that for a student so engaged and excited about learning, Sara Caroline is a joy to have in the classroom. Her teachers describe her as “not afraid of a challenge and willing to put in the work to accomplish her goals.” They share that her work is “thoughtful and reflective of her intellectual curiosity and her beliefs.”

 

“Quality over quantity” is how Bartley Sides, Associate Director of College Counseling, describes Sara Caroline’s approach to her extracurricular activities. While she tried a number of clubs and teams earlier in high school including Varsity Basketball and Youth in Government, by her junior year, she figured out where she wanted to give her time and energy. As a junior, she served on the Prom Committee, took part in the Student Leadership Academy, which provides leadership development for junior student-athletes, participated in Ubuntu groups, and was a part of the Health Careers Club. The one constant for all four years of high school has been soccer, from making the varsity team as a freshman to being voted captain as a senior. Her soccer coach, Ashley Seeley, describes Sara Caroline as someone who will do whatever is needed, from holding teammates accountable to coming early or staying late to help with preparation and clean up.

 

Another big area of involvement for Sara Caroline has been her volunteer work at Serenity Place, a local residential treatment center for pregnant women and young mothers. She got involved at the beginning of her junior year and calls it “a beautiful experience.” Over the past two years, Sara Caroline has volunteered a few hours a week and shares that through her time there, she has learned so much. She says the two most important things she has learned are to “never judge a book by its cover, because initial assumptions about someone or their situation are rarely correct” and “the importance of being kind to everyone, no matter what.”

 

For Bartley Sides, the first word that comes to mind to describe Sara Caroline is effervescent. “Her enthusiasm for others and for life in general is unmistakable.” Mr. Sides shares, “She exudes positivity. She is a leader on and off the field. She is the type of person that makes people around her better.”

 

Sara Caroline has certainly made her positive influence felt in multiple areas around CCES, and there is no doubt that she will continue to do the same in Athens, GA and wherever she goes in the future.

What’s the number one thing you are looking forward to at UGA? Football games

Favorite memory at CCES? Big Jump Day in Lower School

Top three bucket list travel destinations? Egypt, Italy, and Hawaii

Three adjectives to describe yourself? Competitive, genuine, and hard-working

If you could share an afternoon with anyone, who would it be? Taylor Swift