Saybah Kolee is an incoming First Year student at Syracuse University. Saybah grew up in Voinjama, Liberia with her older brother. Saybah lost both her parents before reaching middle school, and it has not been easy navigating life since then. Saybah has since been supported by her elderly brother and relied on sports and academic scholarships to navigate her secondary education.

Saybah took advantage of all that she could during her studies. She served as the student council’s president in her final year, and also founded a peace club called “VFPMS Messenger of Peace” where she served as a speaker to counsel students with poor academic performances. After graduation, Saybah moved to the nation’s capital to strive for a better life and education. She joined the Liberia Athletic Federation in 2020 and started competing. She was selected to represent Liberia in Sierra Leone at the Mayor’s Marathon final competitions, in Ghanaat the ECOWAS athletic competitions, and in Australia for the world’s cross country athletic championships. She intends to continue her athletic journey in college as a way to contribute to the college athletics community.

Saybah’s interests include quality education, sports, youth development, advocacy, unity and peace. Volunteerism is another field in which Saybah proves to be a well-rounded and colorful person. In2021, she organized an awareness campaign to share her athletic journey as motivation to young women to engage with positivity that helps them realize their full potential. In 2022, she co-founded the non-profit“Hope for Women”, which provides training for women in pastry making, and empower them to create theirown sustainable business. Saybah has a deep understanding of her country’s problems and has the desire to provide solutions. Saybah plans to pursue a degree in Business and Entrepreneurship to foster remedies for some of the toughest social problems facing Liberia. Saybah’s mission is to be a hope to the hopeless. She intends to return to Liberia after her study to establish an NGO that will serve as a bridge between the world and her country; one that will make higher education accessible and for struggling Liberian students, especially first-generation college students like herself.