QUINCY — One minute life was cruising along for Sahara Smith, and the next minute it wasn’t.

Sahara was approaching her sixth-grade graduation, a milestone in the Philippines, where her family lived. (At the time the Filipino school system was structured so that kids graduate after what would be sophomore year in the U.S.) But about two weeks before graduation her dad had a heart attack, and he didn’t make it.

It was tough. “You can literally lose anyone,” Sahara said. The worst part was right around that time she had been goofing off a little – not anything bad, but in her opinion not being her best self. “It definitely changed my perspective on a lot of things.”

Her dad’s death changed the family circumstances. The best jobs were in Guam, so her mom went there to work, leaving Sahara and her two brothers with Sahara’s aunt. They all worked together to keep the family going, she said. Her mom “left me in charge of budgeting and everything.”

It was difficult, juggling school and responsibility, but the family pulled through. “Luckily I have good brothers.”

She played badminton and volleyball in school, and was considering the next step as graduation approached. There were and are lots of opportunities in the Philippines, but there was something her dad had wanted for his family.

Her dad was a U.S. military veteran; Sahara’s mom had wanted her kids to experience the Philippines, but her dad had wanted them to experience the U.S. too. The plan was to move to the U.S. at some point, but his death changed all that. Family friends offered to let Sahara live with them in the U.S. and finish up at a U.S. high school.

That too was a tough decision, going so far away from home. But there was Dad’s wish for his kids. “I felt like I should.” She moved in with family friends in Buckley, and enrolled at White River High School.

So – half a world from family, new country, new school, new expectations at home and school. “You can never really be fully comfortable.” She did her homework, learned to play her guitar, started to make a few friends, and one of them made a suggestion. “I got into wrestling.”

She was skeptical – she thought wrestling costumes were a little freaky – but her friend talked her into coming to one practice, just to check it out. One practice was all it took. Wrestling helped with homesickness and making friends, and the team really supported her, she said.

But living with a new family didn’t quite work out. So over the summer family friends from Quincy offered to let Sahara stay with them for her senior year.

At first, she said, she kind of kept her distance – new school again, and she was only going to be in Quincy one year. But her counselor, Christopher Trevino, encouraged her to rethink that, and Quincy teachers and staff supported her and worked to make her feel part of the school.

She was encouraged to go out for the wrestling team; Sahara talked to her White River coach, who encouraged her too. And wrestling was an example of how the staff supported her, she said. “Coach Alex – for the whole wrestling season he supplied my breakfast.” Every school day her food was waiting, even on the days the teacher was absent.

She qualified for regional competition and almost qualified for state. “It was a really, really good wrestling season.” She was encouraged to go out for track, and won the rookie of the year award.

She still misses her dad. “It sucks that my dad isn’t here to see this version of me.”

She will join the U.S. Air Force after graduation, beginning with training as a mechanic. “I’m planning, later on, to learn how to fly.” Her goal is to join a para-rescue team, and eventually pursue a post-military career.

In the meantime the money she earns in the Air Force will help her reach another goal. Her brother, two years younger, wants to come to the U.S. “If I can help my brother’s dream come true – that’s it."