Sarah arrived at Loreto Normanhurst in 2010 as an 11-year-old boarder from Dubbo, supported by a bursary, now known as the equity scholarship. Sixteen years later, she returned to Loreto to share her story at the 2026 Sportsmen’s Lunch.

Reflecting on her time at Loreto, Sarah described her school years simply: “I loved it.”

She remembers the friendships, community, sport, music festivals, carnivals and boarding life, as well as the small moments that have stayed with her. Many of the friendships she made as a boarder have continued well beyond her school years.

Looking back, Sarah sees one word that captures what her Loreto education gave her: opportunity.

“Not everyone gets opportunity,” she said. “But I had and have all that and so much more. The weight of it is enormous, and I understand that now.”

Sarah's connection to Loreto spans generations. Her grandmother was a Loreto Kirribilli alumna, while her mother graduated from Loreto Normanhurst in 1980. Sarah spoke about the pride her grandmother had in seeing her continue the family tradition, recalling that she placed the Loreto Cup her grandmother had won during her own schooling on her coffin at her funeral last year.

After graduating from Loreto, Sarah moved to Newcastle and completed a Bachelor of Physiotherapy with Honours in 2019. She began working as a Physiotherapist at John Hunter Hospital, a role she loved, before an unexpected opportunity changed the direction of her career.

Sarah applied to study Medicine at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and was offered a place in the Bachelor of Medical Science (Honours)/Doctor of Medicine program. After initially deferring her offer, she commenced Medicine in 2021 through the rural clinical school in Port Macquarie.

The transition from full-time work to full-time study was challenging. Living further away from her family and friends, Sarah found the adjustment difficult and contemplated leaving many times.

However, she turned to the things she already knew community and sport. She joined a local running club, triathlon club and tennis competition, building a strong sense of connection and community outside of medicine. Since then, she has completed a 70.3 half Ironman, a marathon and an ultramarathon, using sport as a way to balance the demands of her studies and manage the mental load of medical school.

Her experience studying and working across regional and rural communities has also shaped her vision for the future.

“Studying and working in regional New South Wales has shown me something I'll never forget — rural and regional communities are underserved, and the people in them deserve so much better,” Sarah said.

Through clinical placements in Darwin and England, as well as work across rural communities in NSW, Sarah has seen the difference access to healthcare can make.

“Access to good healthcare changes everything. It changes outcomes, it changes lives, and it changes the trajectory of entire families and communities.”

Now in the final stages of her medical degree, Sarah is looking towards a future career in regional communities like the one she grew up in. She also hopes to mentor medical students who may be the first in their families to pursue medicine or who, like her, may once have struggled to picture a career that felt far removed from where they came from.

For Sarah, the foundations for that future were built through the support of her family and the education she received at Loreto.

“What got me here is the love and support of my family, and a Loreto education that gave me the opportunity to create a future. It taught me discipline, hard work, compassion, kindness. It taught me to throw my hat in the ring. It showed me that women are truly capable of extraordinary things.”

Sarah’s story is also a powerful reminder of what an equity scholarship can make possible.

“The equity scholarship is not a line item on a budget. It is a girl from Dubbo becoming a doctor. It is a fourth-generation Loreto girl carrying on a tradition her great, great aunt started. It is a future physician who will go back to communities that need her.”

“That is what generosity makes possible.”