Humans of ACC is a series of Q&A presentations about students, faculty and staff.

Today’s focus is on Sara Irick, student and Library & Learning Commons student worker.

Arapahoe Pinnacle: What is your favorite thing about working in the ACC Library and Learning Commons?

Sarah Irick: Outside of the obvious perks of having books around you all day – and awesome librarians to help you get your research papers started – I love the fact that I can interact with so many of my fellow students on a daily basis. It has been great to get to know so many people. People are much more relaxed in the library (except around finals) than they sometimes are in class, so I get to know people on a more personal level.

AP: What are you planning on pursuing after ACC?

SI: I plan on becoming an equine-assisted psychotherapist. It’s a big mouthful for saying that I want to be a therapist who uses horses to supplement my clients’ therapy. It is an awesome field that has really been growing of late. There is a lot that therapists have to do to get the right credentials to do this profession, but the next step is to get my M.A. in Psychology or Counseling. It will be very exciting to transfer to a four-year university to complete my studies.

AP: What are your passions outside of work and school?

SI: I actually have two big passions: writing fiction in my spare time (I would love to become published someday – we’ll see!) and spending time with my horse. Although a lot of people think I’m well-off since I have a horse, I can assure you that it is only due to some major budgeting (and walking away from a lot of cute clothes and good books). Journey is my five-year old mustang (wild horse). For a senior project in high school, I adopted and trained him. Of course, after working with him for over a year, I couldn’t very well give him away, so he’s been with me ever since. I also ride with my parents, who have mustangs of their own that we have trained as a family.

AP: Most importantly, if you could have a tea at Espresso Yourself with any fictional character, who would it be and why?

SI: I have to say that would be a lot of fun to be able to do. It’s a tough call, but I think I’d really enjoy sitting down with Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte’s novel might just be my favorite book of all time, primarily because of the complexity of Jane’s character.

SI [continuing]: As a psychology student, I think it would be really interesting to ask her how she coped with so many traumatic events throughout her life, and how she still managed to view the world with so little cynicism. But I also would love to hear more about her emotions throughout the book, and see what type of person she would be if she were a real person. We usually only see one aspect of a person in novels. Wouldn’t it be fascinating to hear about the things that Bronte didn’t have the space to write about? There are so many good characters out there though – I wouldn’t mind meeting any of them.