Help clear a path for students

Your support will:

  • Allow us to admit top students based on their talents, achievements, and potential—not their ability to pay.
  • Guarantee competitive financial aid packages so students from low- and middle-income families can attend WashU.
  • Reduce the burden of student loan debt, allowing our graduates to follow their chosen career paths.
  • Free up resources our schools use for financial aid, allowing them to reallocate those dollars to academic programs, experiential learning opportunities, state-of-the-art facilities, and more.

Sarah del Carmen Camacho

Class of 2023, Arts & Sciences
Rodriguez Scholar, Trio Scholar, Mellon Mays Fellow

Exploring new ideas and discovering new dreams

“As a first-generation college student, I thought my dreams could only be of a certain size,” says Sarah del Carmen Camacho. A global studies and education major, Sarah explores the relationships between nations and regions to “bring the global community together on critical issues like immigration and climate change.” Sarah says she is incredibly proud to attend WashU and she “learned here that I can make a career out of my intellectual curiosity.”

You can try new things. Raise your hand. Make mistakes and know that you are always welcome to try again.

Sarah del Carmen Camacho

For Sarah, the Rodriguez Scholars community has been central to her success and finding her way. The financial support of scholarships and other resources are life-changing, she says, and so is the message they convey: “You can try new things. Raise your hand. Make mistakes and know that you are always welcome to try again.”

Sarah’s parents fled Nicaragua as teenagers to build new lives in the United States. Now Sarah’s aim is “to dedicate my life to understanding our story and the conditions that compel refugees to leave home.” As her future unfolds, Sarah says her mother remains her main source of courage and inspiration. “My story is a continuation of hers. And there is still so much of that story to write.”

We build the path, so they can change the world