Three-sport athlete and scholar is now in her final year of residency in Pennsylvania
She skipped a grade in school so she was always the youngest person in her class.
When she played varsity soccer at Skyview High School as a freshman, she was still 13 years old early on that season.
By that standard, Dr. Sarah Harvey would be considered an overachiever.
By her standards? Probably not. She has always been goal oriented, always sprinting to the next challenge.
Based on her own lofty expectations, she has not really exceeded those expectations.
Still, her achievements are worthy of celebration.
As Sarah Click, she was a three-sport athlete all four years at Skyview. She had a career night in front of one of the largest crowds to ever watch a girls basketball game in Clark County. She was a state placer in tennis, and excelled in that sport in college, as well.
The local sports scene knew of her for all those skills. Turns out, she was even better as a student — Skyview High School Class of 2007.
“I loved playing sports, but I also was really into my school. I loved math and science. I pursued a degree in biology. I was always inclined toward something in the science realm,” Harvey said.
Initially, she figured she would go into the research field. In college, though, she figured she wanted more interaction with people. She wanted to go into the practice of medicine.
Today, she is in her final year of residency in the anesthesiology program at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Two years ago, she married Justin Harvey, who she met when he was visiting the Northwest when Sarah was in college. They welcomed their first child in December, a baby boy named Calvin.
Time management is a necessity in their lives.
“I did athletics the majority of my adolescence and young adulthood. I will always be a proponent for how they teach you sacrifice, teamwork, perseverance, and general life skills,” Harvey said. “And managing a busy schedule.
“I think a lot of who I am today, in terms of those types of qualities, come from my experience as a student athlete in high school and college,” she said.
In tennis, she and doubles partner Abby Olbrich finished fourth in state during Sarah’s senior season. Sarah went to Linfield College and earned academic All-American status there.
In basketball, Sarah made five 3-pointers in the district championship game. Prairie would prevail in double-overtime, with a standing room only crowd in the gym. Sarah was not known for her outside shot, but on that night, she was in a zone.
“That was a miracle performance by me that never happened before,” she said. “Something in the stars aligned that night.”
Even today, she says that when she shoots around, the ball rarely goes in the hoop.
Well, to be fair, she has more pressing issues.
From Linfield, she moved to Seattle to work in a lab for a year before medical school. She attended Oregon Health and Science University from 2013 until graduation in 2017.
Officially a doctor.
Harvey called it a mixture of reactions when she first heard a patient call her doctor. After all, a doctor is an intern somewhere when it happens.
“That first time? You’re proud. You’ve made it. A benchmark in your life,” she said.
Also …
“A healthy humility in recognition of the fact you have so much to learn.”
After her residency, she and her husband will look at their options. They will keep an open mind as to where they will call home.
Maybe even a return to the Northwest?
“I was fortunate to grow up where I did,” Harvey said. “I would never take back my experience at Skyview.”
Competition will remain part of Sarah Havey’s life, too. She has taken up running and biking, and the sport she played in college is sure to make a comeback someday.
“I do have my tennis racquets and shoes,” she said.
She has not played lately but she promises to return to the court when life is a little less hectic.
A new mom and in residency, Dr. Sarah Harvey is certainly busy … busy doing everything she set out to do back in high school.
