Top student recovers from trauma

One of Maricopa High School’s best and brightest of the class of 2013, Sara Troyer knows what it means to overcome troubles and achieve academic greatness.

Seven weeks before her May 23 graduation, Troyer was in a serious multi-car accident on State Route 347.

The night of April 8 was a particularly windy night and Troyer was driving with her friends when a dense dust storm hit.

“I’ve never seen sand like that,” Troyer said. “I literally could not see anything but sand out of my car windows.”

When she came to a stop, Troyer was rear-ended by another car going fast. She suffered a bad concussion, requiring weeks of therapy.

“I’m getting better and I’m just about over the hump,” she said nearly a week after getting her diploma. “I’ve been finding myself after the accident now that I have some free time, and it’s been rewarding. I’ve discovered recently that I really like cooking Italian food and writing as much as I can.

“The most important thing is that I will be OK and ready for college, which is very exciting. I really want to find happiness for myself, and then start spreading it around.”

Troyer is bound for the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University to study marketing at the W.P. Carey School of Business, and has no plans of lowering her 4.3 grade point average.

As student body secretary, DECA CEO, Link Crew member, and honors graduate, Troyer earned the Presidential Scholarship, which is a full-tuition scholarship paying roughly $38,000.

“That’s really exciting,” Troyer said of the scholarship. “It wasn’t easy to get but it’s definitely easy to lose. I’ve gotta keep working hard at ASU and it’s just a lot of responsibility.”

Responsibility is not something she has shied away from. Troyer has worked at Papa Murphy’s Pizza during her high school years, and recently started work at Premier Orthodontics sterilizing equipment.

It was a combination of her work there and childhood experiences that has Troyer considering a change from business to pediatric neurology. 

***ADVERTISEMENT***“It’s interesting to me, helping people. I really want to make people feel better, and helping kids have a better future sounds really rewarding,” Troyer said.

“I want a career where I can be happy at the end of the day. Marketing is really cutthroat and I can make a lot of money for myself, but not really help anyone.

“If I can make minimum wage, but help a lot of people, I can sleep well,” Troyer said.