Sarah Lou attended the real life "Hogwarts"; Woodward Academy in Atlanta, GA for middle and high school. Her sixth grade science teacher, Woody Ward, utilized the school's swimming pool to teach kids scuba diving, and Sarah fell in love with diving at the young age of nine.

Sarah's dad was a pilot, prior to owning and kicking ass as a commercial landscaper. Growing up, the family had two small, four seater airplanes, A 1968 Navion RangeMaster and a Grumin Cheetah.  Most, if not all, of her family vacations were the four of them packed into the Navion, flying around the Caribbean and scuba diving! 

When it came time to selecting a college and major, she knew that she wanted something on the water, marine related. Sarah was not looking for a traditional, 4-year degree, she wanted adventure! 

Texas A&M University had a maritime academy as part of their campus in Galveston, with a dual major of Marine Science and Marine Transportation. Neither her dad or Sarah knew anything about the Merchant Marine, but she followed his sage advice,"it will make you more marketable when job hunting!". 

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Sarah  started the dual major, but hated chemistry, biology and trigonometry. She loved the hands-on classes and traveling that came with Marine transportation, pursuing that degree and the third mate license.