Biography

My name is Sarah Tafoya and I just turned 17 this past January. I am a junior at Albuquerque High School and the Career Enrichment Center (CEC).

I have often been blessed with the opportunity to help others. During the summer I enjoy volunteering at Macedonia Bible Church. The pastor there, Reverend Smith, runs a summer recreation program that gives the kids in the neighborhood a place to hang out and do fun things while they are out of school. I am always happy to go and play with the
little ones or hang out with the young people that are closer to my age.

In August, Isshin Ryu Club hosted a banquet for those who help support the club. I was able to help prepare and serve the food for all those who were able to come. In December I volunteered to help make luminarias to place in the Kirtland community for the Christmas parade. In January, for the Dr. Martin Luther King Junior March, I helped set up the chairs in the Civic Plaza for the celebration that was held after we made our
way from UNM in the parade. Also, I have had many opportunities to perform some slam poetry that encourages the elimination of racism.

Most recently though, I was chosen out of more then 200 hundred juniors in high school to be one of the 50 students to enter the CEC Nursing Program. On February 5, 2007 I started my clinical rotations at the Lovelace Woman's Hospital. I will be working at different hospitals through the rest of this year, during the summer months, and my whole senior year. All of it is without being paid. I was also able to volunteer some of my time at Manzano Del Sol Nursing Home helping the elderly residents there.

I love to do volunteer work because I greatly enjoy helping people and giving them help in ways such as caring for their physical needs, listening to their problems, or working behind the scenes where no one really sees. It doesn't really matter what I do, but I hope that I will be able to help others for the rest of my life.