19-year-old Chester County native set to become youngest graduate in Neumann University history

ASTON, Pa. (WPVI) -- A 19-year-old from Chester County is gearing up to become the youngest graduate in the history of Neumann University.

Sarah Potter, a Nottingham native, is one of the more than 350 students set to cross the graduation stage on Sunday, May 18.

"Definitely envisioning me walking across the stage has given me all the confidence to keep going," Potter told Action News during an interview on Thursday afternoon.

It has only taken her two years to get her degree, thanks to the college education she received while in high school.

"In Oxford Area High School, they had a program in conjunction with Cecil College in Maryland called 'Early College Academy,'" she explained. "Starting within my freshman year, I started integrating freshman courses into my curriculum through Cecil College."

Over the course of her four years in high school, Potter earned 60 college credits. She graduated from Cecil College with an associate's degree in May 2023 before graduating from Oxford Area High School that June.

Then, Potter set her sights on Neumann University, where she has spent the past two years working toward a degree in social work. She told Action News she is paying for that degree entirely on her own, meaning a stacked schedule of classes, an internship, and work.

Potter said, "I do my internship at Delaware County Children and Youth Services Mondays and Wednesdays. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm here at the university doing classes. And then Friday through Sunday, I work at the Wawa down the street."

Speaking about her 11-hour shifts at Wawa, plus her packed school schedule, she said, "It's pretty nonstop. I would say I don't know any other way to live."

In the midst of a hectic schedule, Potter lost one of her biggest sources of support when her mom died unexpectedly about a year ago.

"It was definitely a struggle because my mom was my biggest advocate for my degree," she said.

When she crosses the stage on May 18 as the youngest graduate in school history, Potter said she will be thinking of her mom and all of the additional support she has received during her time at Neumann.

"To witness this part of her journey, I'm so impressed and I am so proud of her," Potter's social work professor, Devon Ferguson, said. "I have no doubt that she's going to continue to do wonderful things."

This fall, Potter will start a job at Delaware County Children & Youth Services, where she will focus on child welfare.

Speaking about her student, Ferguson added, "She's definitely one of those students that understands the complexity of client situations, whether it's a child, family, or older adult. She can live in that gray and understand that nuance. She has demonstrated that from the first time I had her in class."