AANN recently had the opportunity to interview Sarah Segrest. Segrest is a triathlete. she was born in Vietnam and adopted by an American family when she was about 6 mouth old. she majored in nuclear engineering at first, but switched to marketing three years later. she is the first Vietnamese to win a Texas state championship.
Hope to meet the challenge is the major reason that Sarah decided to do the triathlon.
“I really want to challenge myself, both physically and mentally,” Segrest said, “i don’t think you are ever too old to do something cool with you life.”This is why Segrest can achieve success in the triathlon even though she started so late.
She is a firm believer that” you don’t have to stop dreaming, the world will tell you that you need to have a job or you need to have this career. but life isn’t like that, you only have one life to live and you have to live it to the fullest.”
Segrest thinks determination is the reason that she can grow so quickly in the sport. Her parents always told her that “if you work hard, then you’ll see results.” She took this with her through journey and practiced it. She trained in the morning before work and after work, but even though the training was very hard, she just laughed and joked “you’re prbably thinking, do you have a social life? And honestly, i think my mom has more of a social life than i do now.” She also thinks Asian athletes lack representation. she mentioned “i’m mostly the only asian athlete out there.” this also inspried her to keep going.
However, Family is very important to Sarah. She mentioned she has a little cousin and she wants to be the best role model that she could be for. when asked abouther goals, she answered with a smile: “I want to be a daughter that’s present for my family, and a granddaughter and a good cousin.” Segrest’s family has always been supportive of anything athletic she did.
Segrest also started an organization named collective-Tri with two of her friends, which focuses on help in the community. She hopes the organization can support all athletes, regardless of their age, ethnicities, or experience in sports.
“Never let your past hold you back from doing really cool things, and to always just speak up and be authentic and be yourself.” That is what brought Segrest to where she is today.
Thanks to Jenny Yue for helping revise the article.
