Hope for A CEO-Student

April 2024

When Sarah Schmitz first came to Ensign College for a campus tour, she felt the Spirit strongly. She says, “The second I walked onto campus, I knew that this was the place for me.” 

Schmitz is a nontraditional student at Ensign College. She is the CEO of her family-run business, The Funeral Service Collective. Her dad is the founder, and her brother—who also attends Ensign College— is the COO. 

In addition to working full-time for her family business, Schmitz fulfills her full-time school responsibilities. On top of all that, she works full-time at Ensign College as the manager for campus tours— the very thing that got her interested in attending Ensign College. She is the first full-time student to hold a position as a full-time employee at Ensign College. 

Early on in her time at the college, Schmitz was granted the Hope Scholarship. This scholarship paid her tuition so that she was able to focus more intently on her schooling. The Hope Scholarship is given to students who are US citizens and show tremendous leadership skills. 

Schmitz says, “There are a lot of domestic students, who have a lot of different backgrounds. I think it is cool that the Hope Scholarship is a domestic scholarship where those students can show that they deserve to be here at Ensign College.” She explains that when she was awarded the scholarship, she felt “it was such an honor.” She is grateful to the donors who made it possible for her to have financial peace and hope. 

Education is key to individuals achieving their goals, and it enables them to help others achieve their goals as well. Schmitz has seen personally how much scholarships help students at Ensign College to do this. She says, “Thank you for helping any international student and any domestic student. Getting an education is crucial in our earthly lives.” 

Schmitz will be graduating from Ensign College in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in business management and with minors in business communication and in social media and content creation. She looks forward to using the knowledge she gained while at Ensign in her role as CEO in the family business.