Sarah Anciaux mixes classes and sports

CEDAR RAPIDS - Sarah Anciaux was dead set on becoming a veterinarian while she was growing up in Iowa City. Today she's still working with animals, but not in the way she had imagined - she studies sea worms.

Now a 22-year-old recent graduate of Coe College with a degree in chemistry and a minor in Spanish, Anciaux has spent many hours in the lab, studying sea worms that make cement, and researching the effect of silver nanoparticles on plants.

A top student in her 2007 City High School graduating class, Anciaux credits falling in love with chemistry to her City High School science teacher, Bruce Wilson.

“His passion rubbed off on me, and once I got to college, it was reaffirmed that I wanted to go into chemistry,” Anciaux said.

Over the past four years Anciaux also has been a key figure in Kohawk athletics. Anciaux earned multiple honors for her performance on the basketball court and earned the title of being an All-American track athlete in shot put.

“I'm a jock-nerd hybrid,” she said. “I even have a tattoo of an atom on my foot.”

The recipient of one of two McElroy scholarships worth $10,000 per year for graduate school studies, Anciaux will continue her education at the University of Minnesota this fall.

“I'm hoping to decide whether I want work in a lab setting, or secure a job position in an academic environment while there,” Anciaux said.

Anciaux credits her success throughout the years to having the support of her parents and remaining personally dedicated to excellence both in and outside the classroom.

“I hate disappointing people,” Anciaux said. “If I get a bad grade, like a B, I feel bad for making the teacher grade it - I hate not getting As.”