Sara Maginot spends her time helping get COVID-19 shots to those in need, studying to become an addictions counselor and caring for her three-year-old special needs daughter, Gemma.
The 30-year-old former Marine also keeps busy at her Front Range Community College’s Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society chapter. Maginot has impressed nearly everyone she encounters with her work ethic and yearning to help others, said Andy DeRoche, history and ethnic studies professor at FRCC’s Boulder Campus in Longmont.
“When John Kennedy said, ‘ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,’ he was envisioning people such as Sara,” DeRoche, said in an email.
Maginot credits her work with DeRoche, as well as the environment on the FRCC campus in Longmont, as the big reason she is succeeding. Just a few years ago — after she left the Marines — Maginot admits she wandered a bit, not sure what she wanted to do.
“I knew I wanted to go back to school, I wanted to do something so I could get out and help people, I just didn’t want to go to school to make money,” Maginot said.
Two years ago, she decided to follow her two older brothers who also enrolled at FRCC. She liked that the two-year institution didn’t require applicants to take the SATs and tuition costs are much lower than a traditional four-year college, she said.
“Going to Front Range seemed like a good stepping stone for me,” Magino said. “And from day one I knew I found a home. The people there, students and professors, were nurturing and very knowledgeable. I couldn’t find a better place.”
Front Range is one of 936 public community colleges in the United States with a total enrollment of 6.8 million students pursuing undergraduate two-year degrees, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.
The value of a community college education is highlighted in April which is national Community College Month.
The Chronicle of Higher Education states community colleges are vital because they provide an “open door” for millions of young Americans who see four-year colleges as intimidating, especially if it involves living from home, tackling challenging courses in the first semester, or taking on loans.
“Community colleges offer students a chance to taste college close to home, with the possibility of taking courses part-time or moving easily from part-time to full time and back,” the Chronicle states. “Students who go to community colleges tend to take out fewer loans, even when one controls for the lower tuition.”
Maginot, a Fairview High School graduate, wanted to challenge herself after high school so she decided to enlist in the Marines Corps. She was a signals intelligence analyst at Camp LeJeune, collecting data and gathering intelligence on foreign adversaries.
She opted out of the Marines after a four-year stint because she didn’t quite fit into the military frame of doing things. “I couldn’t take orders without asking questions,” she said.
After the Marines, Maginot worked as a dog groomer and in restaurants. Her mom gave her the final push to go back to school and she picked Front Range, she said.
She was able to enroll her daughter in a daycare right across the street from the Longmont campus and Maginot immersed herself in psychology and philosophy courses. She said she was especially interested in becoming an addictions counselor.
“There is a real need our society has … to provide a judgment-free environment to get people the help they need,” Maginot said.
As an intern with Colorado State Legislature, Maginot helps reach out to constituents, including getting them appointments for their COVID-19 shots. She “puts her heart and soul” into helping constituents, DeRoche said.
She will graduate in May with an associate’s degree in psychology and plans to transfer to CU-Boulder to get her bachelor’s degree. She hopes to earn a master’s in the field.
Maginot admits she’s intimidated by the immense size of the CU campus and its classes. “I wish I could stay at Front Range,” she said. “I’m not sure I can have the same kind of connections with professors I had at FRCC. I am going to miss that.”
