18-year-old shares her beliefs in college graduation speech

Sarah Pace knows what it's like to stand out in a crowd.

She's one of 15 biological children in her family.

She graduated from high school at age 16.

She finished classes at Claflin University at 18 and graduated in May as co-valedictorian with a 4.0 grade average.

And Pace, a member of the Lake Murray Ward in the West Columbia South Carolina Stake, quoted LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson in her graduation speech.

At Claflin, a historically black college of about 1,700 students in Orangeburg, S.C., Pace majored in sociology and minored in Spanish and gerontology.

So why did she choose Claflin? Her father, Donald Gene Pace, teaches Spanish, history and political science at the school, which is about an hour away from their home in Lexington, S.C. There was really no other choice, she said, and the scholarships she was awarded made it economical.

"I think I paid for one book," she said.

"I really liked the teachers — they're my friends. The sociology classes taught me how to think."

Most of the students knew her father and liked him, she said. On campus, "everyone was really, really, really, really nice." And because she was used to being a minority as a Mormon, being one of the few white students at the school wasn't an issue for her.

"I liked telling people about the church," she said, "and that's the funnest thing ever." She had many chances to talk to other students about her religion, and one of those opportunities came at graduation.

__IMAGE1__"I was just excited about my giving a graduation speech, because I had been praying I would be able to share the gospel with thousands of people," she said. "This was my chance, so I tried in every way to tell about the church in my speech. That was the only reason I cared about it. I don't care for attention unless it helps the church — then I'm excited."

After telling fellow graduates she is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she said, "I quote one of my heroes, Thomas S. Monson, in my challenge to the graduating class to 'be the one to make a stand for right, even if you stand alone. Have the moral courage to be a light for others to follow. There is no friendship more valuable than your own clear conscience.'"

Pace, now 19, credits her family for her success.

Her father, who is from Salt Lake City, and her mother, Deone, who is from Payette, Idaho, met in a Book of Mormon class at BYU. Telling people where her parents met gave Pace one more opportunity to talk about the church.

Pace, who falls ninth among the siblings — eight boys and seven girls — said she loves the size of her family. "They're all my favorite people."

One of the highlights of her college years was a monthlong university trip to Ecuador, where she lived with an elderly woman. While in Ecuador, she attended an LDS ward in Quito.

She hopes her fluency in Spanish will help her in her work. She worked a few months at an assisted-care center and just started a new job at Palmetto Health Richland Hospital in Columbia, S.C., a 20-minute commute.

But a long working career is not at the top of Pace's list of goals.

"I'm just not motivated by money in the slightest," she said. "I like helping people. … Working (at a job) in general is not satisfying. I'm looking forward to being a mom."

Pace plans to get married at some point and have children, but says, "I'm still young, so I'm not desperate to be married."

For now, she's content to work at the hospital, live at home — "I'm not interested in living alone. I think that would be lonely" — and serve in her callings as a family history consultant and visiting teacher supervisor.

Michael W. Shurtleff, director of the Columbia LDS Institute of Religion and first counselor in the West Columbia South Carolina Stake, says Pace stands out as a good example.

"She's a remarkable young lady, considering her age," President Shurtleff said. "You would never know she was as young as she is because of the maturity she has — both in things of school and the world but also the gospel. She really has been a great student, a great strength to our program here.

"I love her talk she gave, her valedictorian talk. … She knows what it's like to be a minority. … People really do respect her."

Pace hopes other students will enjoy their college experience and not complain about their classes.

Her advice: "Have a good attitude about school and learn as much as you can."

E-mail: rwalsh@desnews.com