Alcohol awareness event to feature Sarah Panzau Evans

In partnership with Eagle Distributing, the Office of Student Life at Texas A&M University-Texarkana will host speaker/educator Sarah Panzau Evans for an alcohol awareness event on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 4 p.m. in Eagle Hall of the University Center.

This event, which is required for all Bringle Lake Village residents, student-athletes and members of fraternities and sororities, will focus on the dangers of alcohol abuse.  Students are asked to bring their student ID cards as attendance will be taken.

As a two-time member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) women’s volleyball All-America team, Sarah knew what it was like to be on top of her game – and on top of the world. But not long after, she nearly lost it all.

Somewhere between life as a competitively driven high-school athlete and the early years of college, she began heading down a destructive path. She found herself hanging out with the wrong crowd, getting more out of drugs and dangerous levels of alcohol than hitting the books and spiking a ball. She was trapped in a pattern of making poor choices that would one day catch up with her.

That day was August 23, 2003. Just before 4:30 a.m. that morning, Sarah’s car – and her life – spun out of control. With a blood-alcohol level nearly four times the legal limit, the 21-year-old decided to drive home drunk, missed a highway exit and rolled her car four times. Without a seat belt, she was ejected through the rear window of her car, her left arm was torn from her body and she was thrown onto the roadway.

She now speaks publicly about the consequences of drinking and driving.