Sara Garibaldi first came to New York because her father, an Argentinean career diplomat, was transferred to the Philippines while she was attending high school in Houston, Texas. Confusing? Well, it was confusing to Garibaldi too. Already a senior, she declined to relocate to Manila, opting instead for New York City, where her older sister, Ivanna, was a student at Baruch College. Ivanna loved Baruch, and it was only natural for Sara to follow in her big sister’s footsteps. Baruch is, in fact, something of a family tradition: brother Juan graduated in 2001 and little sister Bettina is currently a sophomore. But, of all the Garibaldi siblings, it is Sara who is the most consummate student. She decided early on that nothing was going to pass her by, and nothing did.
In her freshman year, she took the unusual step of running for president of the Undergraduate Student Government. She won—and served for two years. “It was a way to get to know the school a lot better,” says Garibaldi, who went on to serve as president of the Golden Key International Honor Society and editor of the yearbook. An activist by nature, Garibaldi has marched for breast cancer awareness and for the March of Dimes. She’s served as a teacher’s aide in a local kindergarten class and received the Matthew Goldstein Student Leadership Award—all this, while maintaining a high GPA and playing on the women’s softball team.
“It’s my aspiration in life to be extremely successful at anything I do,” says this dynamic young woman. She would like to go to law school in a year or two as a prelude to an eventual career in entertainment law, and has another goal as well: she wants to get married and have six children and a home with a backyard for family barbecues. “I am really a family person. My siblings are my best friends,” says Garibaldi, whose energy knows no bounds.

—ZB