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SARAH CRISER CLASS V FELLOW "It's called a fellowship, but in reality, it's life. Responsibility, thoughtfulness and drive are factored into every decision we make - all with the understanding that we are impacting lives beyond our own. There is no such thing as relative integrity."

FELLOW SPOTLIGHT: TERIN BARBAS, CLASS V

It's ironic that the dream - okay, the nightmare - that most impacted Terin Barbas's life was about not having enough space. Because Terin has always shown an extraordinary ability to simultaneously juggle a multitude of challenges.

So she's a multitasker? Technically, sure, but most people can handle a few things at the same time. It's the depth and complexity of the things that makes all the difference. And this is what Terin, a Class V Florida Fellow, is handling just in 2010:

• She's completing her law degree at Florida State University, where she's in the top 6 percent of her class.

• At the same time, she's also completing an M.B.A. at FSU, where she boasts a 3.87 GPA.

• She's fulfilling all of her Fellows responsibilities including her placement with the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, where she does legal work related to pending litigation, policy development and political analysis.

• On a personal level, she's planning for another little thing: her wedding, this summer.

We're honestly not sure how she found time to talk with us for this spotlight. But we had to know: How does anyone find time to do so much, so well? "I just schedule out everything I do, in half-hour increments, all day, every day," Terin explained. "I always have my planner, always have my notebook." Sure, but some of us own every product DayRunner and FranklinCovey have ever produced, and we still would struggle with even a fraction of what Terin, a third-generation Tampa native, handles every day.

Credit her parents for inspiring at least a portion of Terin's remarkable work ethic. Her mother, Schezy, a native of Panama, worked with the Red Cross for 25 years. (Terin and her family speak and write fluent Spanish in addition to English.) Now Schezy is with the Office of Development and University Relations at the University of Tampa. Other family members work in the public sector: Terin's father Stephen, a Tampa trial attorney, also does work for the city administration, and her uncle Rex is a Circuit Court Judge, presiding over juvenile dependency court.

Terin, in fact, intends to eventually become a judge, and you wouldn't want to bet against her accomplishing anything she targets. Unless she changes her mind, you might as well start practicing calling her "Your Honor."

That wasn't always the plan; Terin had to make some adjustments along the way. After graduating from the Academy of Holy Names in Tampa, she attended the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

As usual, she wasted no time filling up her schedule, working on a major in marketing and a minor in gender studies while also fulfilling the requirements of a Division I athlete, as a member of the Fighting Irish Cheerleading Squad.

Terin's ability to handle a massive workload and still excel was on full display. She and her fellow cheerleaders traveled a lot with the Irish sports squads, including the football, basketball and soccer teams, yet she found time to keep up her schoolwork. (She eventually graduated with a 3.78 GPA in marketing and a 4.0 GPA in gender studies.) Being quite petite at 5 feet tall, Terin functioned as the peak (known as the "flyer") of a six-person pyramid. But she was injured her sophomore year when a teammate's shoulder drove into her back during a dismount.

She had the option to stay with the team, but chose not to: "I'm not the type to sit on the sidelines." Instead, she took a year to study abroad in London and Australia, and found time to also visit New Zealand and areas in Southeast Asia. When Terin returned to the States, undaunted by her injury, she also returned to the cheerleading program and even was named a captain.

During college, Terin also worked for a short time as a substitute public school teacher in a small city outside South Bend. It was an intense experience for someone who came from an all-girls private school in Tampa.

"It was really eye-opening for me," said Terin, who was shocked at how far behind some of the students were. For example: "You're there, teaching seniors how to do fractions for the first time. It's just mind-boggling that seniors hadn't been taught how to do that."

(It wasn't the only challenge that Terin faced. Though she was 21 at the time, her youthful looks and small stature ensured that virtually everyone, from students to staff, initially assumed she was a student.)

It also was at Notre Dame where Terin had the aforementioned life-altering nightmare. Because she had an interest in marketing, she accepted a brand management internship with Coca-Cola between her junior and senior years. She loved the gig, but found she was stressing out about things that shouldn't matter so much.

It all culminated when she had a nightmare about, of all things, Mountain Dew.

"I had a dream that I was in huge trouble with my boss because Mountain Dew had taken over some of my (product's) shelf space," Terin explained. "You know how products in stores compete to get the best shelf space? That was my nightmare."

That was when she knew something had to change: "It was a reality check: I'm having nightmares about Mountain Dew."

Deciding brand marketing wasn't for her, Terin began to follow in the footsteps of her father and uncle, and apply to law schools.

"I always knew I wanted to go back to Tampa," Terin said. "I'd been offered jobs in the Midwest, but I didn't want to end up there. I talked to judges in the area, and they said if you want to work in Tampa, you need to go to (the University of) Florida or Florida State."

She chose FSU, where she started law school that fall. Terin is thrilled with her choice for another reason: She met a great study partner, and they helped each other through that first year. His name is Jacob Cremer, a member of the 2008-09 class of Florida Fellows (Class IV).

Terin calls him Jake, but these days, she also calls him by another name: fiance. They'll be married in Tampa in August, coinciding with Terin's parents' 30th anniversary. Terin was thoroughly familiar with the Fellows program from Jacob's experience. But when she was offered a fellowship for Class V, she wasn't immediately sold.

"I wasn't sure whether I was going to do it, because in this year of law school, you have to be doing some sort of legal work," Terin explained. "I made it really clear to Kelli (Gebbia, the program's Executive Director) that I wanted to work with an agency's legal staff. And Kelli came through, as she always does."

Terin was placed with the legal staff for the state's Agency for Persons with Disabilities, which has turned out to perfectly balance her interests in legal work and helping others. The placement also has been a big boon for the agency, which has dealt with an increasing number of legal issues the past few years.

In her role with APD, Terin said, she has worked closely with the agency's General Counsel and had her own case load to work on through adjudication. She also has represented APD in agreements with other state agencies.

"It's been interesting, because I came in not very knowledgeable with government at all," Terin said. "Seriously, I had to Google everything people were talking about. But with (state government), nothing really makes sense until you're actually in it. Now I'm really learning how it works."

While Terin and Jacob areen't sure where they'll ultimately end up,, they'll be calling Tallahassee home for the next few years. They've each accepted positions with law firms in the state capital, Terin as a legal clerk (she plans to take the Florida Bar exam in February 2011).

It's been a lot to handle, considering Terin also has been completing her MBA studies. But she said juggling law and business studies comes easily to her, since the disciplines work different sets of mental "muscles."

It's not a matter of being brilliant, she said.

"I've always been a strong student, and I've always been a hard worker," Terin said. "What you need is hard work and passion. You have to do what you need to do to get it done."

Click here to view the previous featured Fellow.