By Taryn Wilson
Growing up in a small town in Bucks County, Penn., Sarah Cook is not your average Southern Belle. Relocated to the Birmingham area in the middle of her sophomore year of high school by her dad’s job, Cook, 23, is a transplant, but she has grown to know and love the South as her “home.”
After attending and graduating from Hoover High School, the state of Alabama’s largest school by both population and square footage, Cook decided to mix the idea of her southern high school alma mater with her Northern upbringing by attending Auburn University, an institution she describes as a large school with a “small town feel.”
Cook, who started at Auburn in the fall of 2008, characterized her time there as wonderful, adding that “waking up early every Saturday in the fall and wearing orange and blue” is one of her fondest memories.
Auburn became a place Cook describes as a “home that I can always return to,” adding that she met life-long friends and received a valuable education.
A member of the Tiger Splashers, Golf Gals, a campus liaison for The Layman Group, a member of a social sorority and a writer for the student run newspaper, The Plainsman, Cook was able to find her “niche” quickly at Auburn. “Auburn offered so many opportunities that it wasn’t difficult to find,” she said.
Just prior to graduating with a bachelor of the arts in journalism, Cook received a job offer to be a reporter for the Selma Times Journal, which would require her third move south, this time to a city with a history of controversy and a reputation for conflict.
But this didn’t daunt Cook, who pegs her time at Auburn as having given her the abilities and tools she needs to succeed in the real world.
“Yes, there are a few things I would like to change about Selma,” she continued, “but every town/city has its underbelly. It’s all about seeing the positives.”
“I could go on for days about how much I’ve loved moving here and starting my career,” Cook gushed. “I love being able to walk in to any restaurant and see a familiar place. I love that I get to meet amazing people that I would otherwise never know if it weren’t for my job.”
When asked to describe Selma in one word, Cook responded definitively, “a ladder.” Explaining, she continued, “Selma is a ladder for me because it’s given me the ability to reach new heights not only in my career, but as a person, too.”
“At a glance, Selma may not seem like the most riveting place,” Cook said, and, as only an Auburn graduate could finish the phrase, “but it’s filled with hard-working people who truly believe in Selma and love it.”
Citizen Alum 