Sarah Flatt
Sarah Flatt has known since 6th grade that theatre was her passion and would some how, in some ways, forever be a part of her life. She knew she was hooked with the first curtain call she took as a chorus member in a community theatre performance. She still gets a thrill with every curtain call. To her, it means somebody was watching you and is thanking you for doing a good job.
The Honors Program sophomore from St. Clair Shores is now majoring in theatre and creative writing and pictures her life beyond SVSU to include attending Lutheran seminary. Ultimately, her goal is to use her theatre and writing background to challenge people to move beyond their prejudices and biases to accept people who may be “different” from their norm. Why is Sarah so fervent and devoted to this mission? It is likely because Sarah herself is about challenging people to accept her as she is, and that is a theatre major and performer who is wheelchair-bound.
To Sarah, the theatre is the ultimate venue for her to move people away from seeing her as a performer in a wheelchair to an actor in a performance. She says she can’t wait to play the “average” girl who happens to be in a wheelchair; she smiles when she adds “people will have to deal with it.” Dealing with her as an “average” student is one big reason Sarah chose SVSU. She says that she felt welcomed on campus her very first visit. “I didn’t make it out of Wickes Hall without falling in love with the place,” Sarah recalls.
Sarah certainly challenges others, but she also challenges herself. In July 2005, she traveled to Dublin, Ireland (pictured) as part of a Study Abroad program, where she spent five weeks studying Irish theater and literature at University College Dublin.
When asked why Study Abroad is so important, she laughs and comments she doesn’t know where to begin. She mentions the opportunity to experience another culture, the chance to understand our global differences and similarities, and the challenge to face one’s fears and know that though they do not disappear, they are manageable. Sarah talks about how the experience has changed her for life, and not just for the five weeks of her studies. Her perspective, the context of studying literature and learning, and her exposure to a world that is both small and huge all at the same time have deeply impacted Sarah Flatt.