Alumni Sara Tarbert found a way to balance a successful basketball career in college all while navigating the challenging demands of being a nursing major. 

While in high school, Tarbert was a star athlete. Her basketball career became notorious when she earned 1,742 career points, 1,028 rebounds, and was third Team All-State. You can find her official recognition plague in the trophy case on the first floor of the school.

After graduating in 2013, she accepted a full scholarship to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) as a Division 1 athlete. Tarbert said, “All I ever wanted was to go D1 and when I had that opportunity to do so on a full ride, I jumped at it.” 

Although she had a successful year at UMBC, such as winning Rookie of the Year in the division, she wasn’t happy. At UMBC, the environment she was in was not something she liked. She dreaded going to practice and games. 

“For something that took well over 40 hours of my week, not including all the away trips, having to dread [basketball] was a lot and really upset me,” she lamented.

In addition to the emotional drain, she realized that in order to be a nurse, it would take her six years at this college to get her degree.

She knew that, unfortunately, UMBC was not the school for her. She decided to transfer to Stevenson University, where she could play basketball and get her degree in a shorter amount of time. She said, “After many discussions with my parents and past coaches, and looking into schools and the ability to play and still pursue nursing, I decided that leaving was in the best interest for me for my long-term goals and happiness.” 

Basketball did not affect Tarbert negatively, in fact, it made her strive to work harder. At Stevenson, you had to maintain an 83% average or you would be kicked out of the program, so that helped Tarbert keep her grades in check. 

Along with the hours of basketball and nursing, Tarbert had to go to clinicals for classes. Clinicals would take up her whole day, which took away from basketball and made her feel behind compared to others. “My nursing classmates were all very intelligent and highly driven people. There were sometimes I would spend my night at basketball practice and my classmates were in the library studying” she said. 

The hardest part for Tarbert was balancing school and basketball with her clinicals.  Luckily for Tarbert, her coaching staff was very supportive knowing the players were “student athletes, not athlete students.” 

College can be extremely stressful, and when times got hard, Tarbert would go to the gym to shoot hoops or would cry to her mother. It is extremely important to know who is there for you and who will support you. 

Tarbert was an active student whether it be in the classroom or on the court, saying: “I never saw school as a burden or difficult, so maintaining my grades was something I always strived for.”

Unlike most students in high school, Tarbert loved high school and never took time in school for granted. She stated, “Everyone is always in a rush to get out of [highschool], but I would never trade my experience for anything.”

Tarbert is currently working full time in the emergency room at St. Agnes, a community hospital in Baltimore.