Hello, hello! I’m Sarah (Marie Ellinger) McKay and here is a little bit about me! I am a junior at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC and I am majoring in sociology and minoring in both anthropology and religious studies. Boone is smack dab in the mountains and I LOVE IT! Being outside is wonderful to me and being surrounded by so many places to go hiking, climbing, waterfall exploring, hammocking, etc makes me so happy. Plus, I love the snow and it does that a lot here. My family currently lives in Apex, North Carolina but we have only been here for about 4 years. We’ve lived in California, Nevada, Minnesota, Kansas, and now here.

My roommate and I work nannying for my campus minister’s children, Macyn and Nate. Their home has a separate apartment connected to their home and that is where we live. I love being able to spend so much time with the kids and it is so wonderful to be in such close proximity to a family when I am away from my own. The campus ministry that I am a part of is the Wesley Foundation and it is so central to my experiences here at App. So many of my closest friendships have been made and so much of my growth, both spiritually and simply personally, has occurred as a result of that incredible community.

Some core things about me: My roommate and I named our apartment Kevin and I feel as though that is a good representation of my love for silly things and finding joy in them. I am a huge fan of fruits of vegetables, especially peas. I really enjoy reading and my favorite books at the moment are Velvet Elvis and Ishmael. I am in no way musically inclined but I love it, all kinds, and I love to dance! I also am a huge fan of crafty things & I love making things…I just finished crocheting mittens! Woot!

I’ve been on various local and inner city service trips throughout the years but this will be the first trip outside of the United States. My biggest excitement about our time in Kenya is seeing the change in our perspective of what is important. We will be introduced to a way of life that is so extremely different from our own and I believe we will learn to see life and what is meaningful a little differently. Gah lee I am so excited! I absolutely can’t wait to meet all of you…how amazing is it that we all get to experience this together? :)

-Sarah