Sarah Welsh
Sarah Welsh (Bellingham, WA) is many wonderful things. She is a petite savvy blonde-ringlet caramel eyed intellectual, a comedian, loyal friend, and most notably, the Sexy Mama for Duke East Term II 2013. The moment you meet Sarah, you feel as though you have taken a satisfying sip of a warm caramel latte. You indulge yourself into a conversation in which you feel warmth radiate from her sincerity, kindness, and light-hearted spirit. She is extremely altrustic, the type of person who asks about everything that is going on with everyone else, and rarely brings up herself. Behind her warm altruism (the whipped cream on the metaphorical caramel latte), Sarah is extremely talented in every way. What makes her such a cool person is that through getting to know her, you continue to be delightfully surprised with different facts about her. She is a cross-country runner, hiker, singer-songwriter (her voice WILL give you chills), animal lover, world traveler, sun shunner, cool-weather supporter, foreign country representative and Sexy Mama. Sarah Welsh is the kind of person you hope to meet at TIP because of how inclusive, down-to-earth, and intelligent she is.
In her 2nd year at Duke TIP, Sarah lived in Alspaugh Dorm in Amy's Rag where she met Courtney Moberley. She took Popular Cultures and Countercultures and became close with Sophia Kiang, Aislinn and Logan.
During her 3rd year, Sarah arrived two days late because she was stuck in Morocco, Africa with her family. She soon settled into Brown Dorm in Hannah's rag and had an amazing roommate that she became super close with: Elizabeth. She took the Evolution of Empires and got to know Lexi Stewart (SMP 2012), and Jonathon McKenny (Jon), a fellow 3rd year with whom she soon became very tight. Sarah spent much of her time with Sophia Kiang, and developed a thing with Jon from her class. Hannah, her RC, showed her disapproval for the couple, but they were very happy and very close. At the end of the term, Sarah inherited the honorable title of the Sexy Mama: fearless leader and tiara-clad role model for all 4th year girls, star-handler/placer, and star-wearer on the right side of the face.
During Sarah's fourth year at Duke TIP, she lived in Alspaugh in Karis' Rag, took Politics in the Middle East, and was close with Hailey, Ellison, Jon, Daniel, Michelle, Chase, Gabriella, Bridget, Courtney, Mia, and many other tipsters. She was an outstanding Sexy Mama and offered stars to every fourth year girl, placing them on the left side of their faces next to their eyes on the daily. She had silver, gold, green, red, and blue stars, but she most frequently wore gold because she had a strange affinity towards it, and gold is the best. As revealed in the final rag meeting in Karis' room where the girls were confessing their rule violations from the term, Sarah confessed that she had visited the off-limits ADF dorm to visit her close friend Sophia Kiang (from her 3rd year who was now an ADFer) on many occasions. Lexi Stewart, the former SMP, visited Sarah and Jon illegally as well. Countless boys were infatuated with Sarah and fought to steal a dance with her during dances, and during daylight hours, they schemed and plotted, thinking about how to get with this amazing girl. During the 2nd dance, there was controversy when two boys made advances towards Sarah but she already had her sights on something cooler. From the moment she felt him breathe, the AC unit in the common room of Alspaugh was the object of her affection. Sarah famously disliked heat and the sun because she was from Washington, where the weather is a lot cooler. Sarah and Hailey (who were both in Karis' rag) were best friends and spent a lot of time together during the term. For the Talent Show, Sarah played the piano and sang "The First Day of Our Lives" by the Bright Eyes with Hailey, stirring emotion in the audience with her performance. After the talent show, Sarah passed on her tradition to another Sarah, Sarah Tanner, who is the 2014 Sexy Mama. **Fun Fact: Each year that Sarah was at TIP, she was in the classes of the Llama Mamas (George Saussy, Emily Bergquist, and Ellison Hersch)**
Sarah Welsh left quite the legacy at Duke TIP for being an inclusive friend to all, an international problem solver, a heartbreaker, an outstanding singer, a on-the-right-eye star wearer as the Sexy Mama and an AC lover. She has an amazing future in front of her and although she dislikes heat, Sarah has left a very warm presence at Duke TIP