Sara Killackey was born to lead.
Earning a coveted college degree while fully immersed in a four-year campus experience was less of a sure thing.
"I'm the youngest of four children and the first to go away to college," said Sara, who graduated summa cum laude on May 9 with double majors in History and Political Science. "My parents never went to college. All of my siblings either went to community college or took the commuter route to school. And so it was never really guaranteed for me to go to college."
Sara made her way to St. Ambrose from suburban Oak Forest, Ill., by earning good grades in high school and qualifying for essential scholarship assistance. In the course of her SAU career, an internship with U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill) came with additional scholarship funding, and still, Sara leaned on part-time jobs throughout her college career to cover expenses.
"This year I had four jobs, along with being the president of two clubs," she said. "It's been a wild journey but I feel incredibly lucky that I was able to go away to college because that has always been my dream. I've always loved education, and I've always known I wanted to go away to school. But it was never a guarantee."
Given Sara's obvious determination, ceaseless work ethic, and strong leadership skills, future success seems almost certainly guaranteed.
"She has made the most of every moment," said Larry Skillin, PhD, Associate Professor and chair of the History Department, where Sara was honored as a McDaniel Scholar and awarded this year's Agnes Renner Award as Outstanding Senior Student. "I believe she wants to pursue a career in Congressional staff work, and she is well on her way to that."
Staff work may only be the start of a career in leadership. She joined both the SAU Model United Nations program and the Student Government Association almost within a week of first setting foot on campus. This past year, Sara served as president of both organizations. (Her vice president in the SGA is Faith Boyd, who also is the first friend Sara made on campus.)
Sara also spent two years as president of the campus College Democrats, and, as a senior, got to see the political campaign process up close as the Iowa Caucus process came to campus.
"I honestly can't think of a better place for me to study political science than in Iowa," Sara said. "Having the opportunity to become engaged in politics in such a unique way really ignited my passion for politics. That's something I wouldn't really experience in Illinois because it's just not the same at all."
Of course, there was plenty to learn working for her home state's junior senator. Killackey spent much of summer 2019 working with constituents in Sen. Duckworth's Chicago office and learning the day-to-day operations of a congressional office.
"This internship was transformative, and I was able to truly immerse myself in my passions, made incredible connections within my field, and was given the opportunity to develop my professional skills," Sara said. "Without Sen. Duckworth's scholarship program, I would never have gotten this opportunity and I am thankful every day for the incredible opportunity I was granted.
"I was able to continue my internship in Rock Island while completing my senior year," she noted. "If the pandemic did not occur, in May I would have worked for the United States Senate for a year."
Sara still is hopeful she can work in the nation's capital following graduation, and she's eager to grow into the kind of leader who can help address problems as big as the COVID-19 pandemic that altered the final months of the college experience she dreamt about years ago.
Because the bulk of her SAU experience was exceptionally full, Sara feels ready to meet big challenges. Her experience in Model UN took Sara and fellow SAU students to seven different conferences, where they represented nations such as China, Columbia, Kazakhstan and South Korea and worked to negotiate diplomatic solutions to, in Sara's words, "these crazy, insane real world problems.
"Model UN has really helped shape me into a leader," she said.
After working to gain experience and some money, Sara plans to pursue either a law degree or a graduate degree in public administration. In either field, she will also will apply all she learned at St. Ambrose.
"As a first-gen college student, my education meant everything to me and I was really lucky that I was able to thrive at St. Ambrose," she said. "I definitely didn't do it alone. My professors were always there for me and helped me grow."
Grow, Sara did, earning her way every step.
"I definitely am a lot stronger than I was when I first started," she said. "It's funny looking back. I really learned to become determined, and to persevere. I had to work for it. That really helped me.
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