It's not often you get to live out a childhood dream, or grow up to be exactly what you want to be. Senior Buffalo track and field star Sarah Vance is one of the lucky ones.
"I've known I wanted to be a teacher since first grade," Vance said. "I just knew. I love kids."
Vance is entering the final year of completing her degree in early childhood education. Following graduation she hopes to enter graduate school to get her masters in education and eventually become a kindergarten teacher.
The strong work ethic of Vance didn't appear out of thin air. Vance grew up in a big family comprised of three brothers and two sisters, all athletes and all of them competitive. The only thing that has changed for Vance is what sport to play.
"It's kind of funny," Vance said. "My whole family ran cross-country so I thought I was supposed to run cross-country. I hated it. It was not for me. Then I decided to join track."
The decision immediately paid dividends as she began to concentrate solely on track and field. A native of Lockport, N.Y., Vance went on to set school records for Lockport High School in the shot put, discus and weight throw. When all was said and done, Vance left high school a five-time sectional champion.
When it came time to move onto college, Buffalo was not the only school to take a look at Vance. In addition to turning down offers from Binghamton and Virginia Tech, Vance even passed up a chance to attend Kansas of the Big 12 Conference.
"I didn't want to come to UB, then I came for the recruiting weekend and the whole team was amazing," Vance said. "I loved it. I went to the indoor track meet and the boys broke the school record five times in one meet that day."
That first impression made all the difference. Vance immediately stepped in as a freshman, finishing the season as the Bulls outdoor track Top Newcomer.
However, if you ask her, that first year couldn't have been any harder.
"(I was) scarred to death," Vance said. "I was a pretty good student in school. But track wise, it was really intimidating the first week. It's hard to come from being No. 1 to last. I had to work my way up the ladder."
All of Vance's fears were easily put to rest over the next couple of seasons. In her sophomore season, Vance set a school record in the shot put in addition to winning a Mid-American Conference championship in the same event. Yet, this multitalented star is not limited strictly to one event, as she competes in the hammer throw and discus throw, as well as the shot put.
"Coach Garnham is my event coach," Vance said. "He always said I could be a master of one event or a jack-of-all-trades. I want to be a master of all of them."
That statement sums up the work effort and energy Vance puts in on a regular basis. Despite being a conference champ and school record holder, her goals are not yet fulfilled.
"The ultimate goal is to make it to California for nationals," Vance said. "After that, I want to qualify for the USA Championship meet in Indy. I would like to move up a few school records. I would like to qualify for regionals in all three events. Right now I only have two, I need to throw farther in discus, but it's all coming together."
With all the success Vance has experienced as an athlete, the time to move on from being a student-athlete is near. While she has had the passion to teach for years, the outlet to do it might soon be changing.
"I want to keep competing," Vance said. "I would like to be a coach. If I had the opportunity to be a teacher or a coach at the Division I level, I would take coaching. End of story. If I can teach people what I've already learned before they have to wait as long as I did to learn it, they are going to do very well."
If you happen to catch Vance on campus consider it a rare sight. In addition to all that comes with being in school and playing a sport, Vance also works as a substitute teacher for her native Lockport school system.
"I usually work until about one, I go straight to the weight room and then right to practice," Vance said. "And I have class from 7 to 10. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday I don't have a free minute."
Whether as a teacher or a coach, Vance hopes to impact young peoples' lives in a positive way. She wants to pass down the life lessons learned from being a student-athlete, perhaps nothing more important than the work ethic instilled in Vance from being at Buffalo.
"Learning how to work," Vance said. "It sounds crazy but you don't know how to put your body to the limit until to you do it. For my coach to push me as hard as possible without breaking and emotionally being able to deal with it."
Vance's career as a college athlete will soon be coming to an end and the time to focus on her career will come. But if Vance has her way, 10 years from now everyone will know exactly who she is.
"Ideally being an ex-Olympian and coaching somewhere amazing," Vance said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
