How Donor Support Is Preparing One UNK Student To Give Back To Her Hometown

By Lily Dohmen ’27

Sage Larson has wanted to be a teacher since she was in sixth grade.

She always pictured herself at the front of a classroom, helping someone else experience the same spark that she experienced when learning from her own teachers as a child.

“I loved the feeling of learning something new,” she said. “I was always so proud of myself when I could get something right and I want other people to feel that way, too.”

Her dream also grew from home. Larson’s mom has been a daycare provider for more than two decades. Larson spent her childhood helping whenever she could by reading stories, doing crafts, playing with kids and watching her mom build confidence in every child who walked through the door.

“I love how my mom made every kid feel like they could do anything,” she said.

Now Larson is a freshman at the University of Nebraska at Kearney studying elementary education. She is already getting early experiences that make teaching feel real. Through her education courses, Larson has visited schools and community resources across the Kearney area.

As she adjusts to college life, scholarship support from the UNK Fund – College of Education Student Scholarships has helped ease her financial burdens.

Larson grew up in Arapahoe, Nebraska, and hopes to return there one day as a teacher. Her goal is to give back to the community that shaped her.

For Larson, small-town schools are places where relationships matter deeply and where communities play an important role in shaping students’ futures.

“I want to be the teacher I needed when I was growing up,” she said.

Donors who make scholarships possible do more than support one student. They invest in every future classroom that student will lead.

“Their investment does not just stop with me,” Larson said. “It carries into every classroom and every student that I will teach.”