Lenexa native and graduating senior Sahiba Grover honored for contributions to K-State

Kansas State University has named Lenexa native Sahiba Grover, one of its graduating seniors, as a recipient of the Dean of Student Life Outstanding Graduating Senior Award.

Grover, who completed her degree in microbiology, is one of 13 seniors to be honored this spring. She found out the news Thursday while she was at home, since the university is closed to in-person learning.

“I was really shocked, honestly; I wasn’t really expecting it,” she said. “It was kind of surreal. It’s a little difficult being at home, with all this corona stuff. It didn’t really feel real at the moment. I’ve been at home doing school remotely, so it definitely took me 20 or 30 minutes before I was like whoa, I actually got this award and this is kind of amazing.”

Inaugurated in 1999, the award recognizes K-State seniors for their contributions to student life during their time at university.

“Though we have many students who have made a meaningful contribution to improving student life at the university, I am greatly pleased to recognize these 13 seniors identified by others as truly making their mark throughout their time at K-State,” said Thomas Lane, K-State vice president for student life and dean of students. “I thank them for their hard work in making a better K-State for all Wildcats.”

An Edgerley-Franklin Leadership Scholar at K-State, Grover was also a student senator and caucus leader for the K-State College of Arts and Sciences, an intern for student government and a member of the university’s developing scholars program.

In her sophomore year, Grover also helped design a vaccine for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

During her time at K-State, Grover said she found her passion for healthcare and other services in urban communities and hopes to make a career out of helping others.

“One thing they ask when we graduate is think about how you’re going to give back to the community so that you can pay homage to the [Edgerley-Franklin] scholarship,” she said. “So one of my goals has been to practice in more of an urban core setting where they have a lack of healthcare or adequate healthcare.”

With the pandemic impacting spring graduation ceremonies, Grover will instead be honored this fall with other graduating seniors on Dec. 11. In the meantime, she is applying for a physician assistant program this fall. She hopes to specialize in OB-GYN when she completes her program.