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Sarah Love
Sarah Love
01:27

Sarah Love

Georgia Department of Natural Resources

Stockbridge, GA USA

"History reflects the successes of those that have always been in power. If we can teach people about the historic contributions that disenfranchised people have made to our own culture, then people that accept that knowledge and learn about it, will treat people better [in the future]."

Career Roadmap

Sarah's work combines: Science, Education, and Upholding a Cause and Belief

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Day In The Life

Archaeology Outreach Coordinator

I specialize in promoting Georgia's history and culture through public engagement and education.

My Day to Day

I work for the historic preservation division with the goal of working with local communities to empower them to interpret and protect their cultural resources. This means hosting a lot of outreach events and community days to introduce people to the cultural artifacts in their communities. There is also a lot of local travel involved visiting different sites.

Skills & Education

Advice for getting started

I struggled to try to figure out the area of archaeology that interested me enough to focus on, but nothing resonated with me. I got really scared that my passion wasn't enough to be a career. What I found helpful was to look at my field outside of the box and explore archaeology outside of the classroom.

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Anthropology, General

    Georgia State University

  • Graduate Degree

    Anthropology, General

    Georgia State University

  • Graduate Degree

    Historic Preservation and Conservation, General

    Georgia State University

Life & Career Milestones

My path in life has been direct

  • 1.

    Born and raised in Georgia.

  • 2.

    Grew up on five acres of land, so she was always outside playing and exploring the various abandoned historical houses in her community.

  • 3.

    Says she always had an interest in history and knew she wanted to be an archaeologist from a young age.

  • 4.

    Attended Georgia State University, where she received her bachelor's degree in archaeology and pursued concurrent master’s degrees in anthropology and historic preservation.

  • 5.

    While in college, she traveled a lot and worked at various dig sites, but she struggled to find a focus within the field of archaeology: ”I felt like a bad archaeologist, nothing resonated with me."

  • 6.

    She realized that her interest was in ensuring that we aren’t “doing archaeology for the sake of archaeology,” but that people are able to have access to historical resources and learn from them.

  • 7.

    She decided to return to Georgia to help her community by combining her passion for social issues with the study of archaeology and historic preservation.

  • 8.

    Says her favorite archaeological site in Georgia is one of the Rosenwald Schools from the 1920s, which is one of a series of schools built for African-American students in rural communities.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Myself:

    Maybe my heart really isn't in archaeology.

  • How I responded:

    I struggled to try to figure out the area of archaeology that interested me enough to focus on, but nothing resonated with me. I got really scared that my passion wasn't enough to be a career. What I found helpful was to look at my field outside of the box and explore archaeology outside of the classroom.

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

Click to expand

  • I spent a lot of money doing study abroad programs to figure out what area of archaeology I was interested in.