Lindsay Moore - International Vice President Division IV:
Passion for Helping Children Led to Community College
Phi Theta Kappa International Vice President-Division IV Lindsay Moore has always had a passion for a healthy lifestyle - and for helping children - and she has found several ways to put those passions together.
"My mom has also been instrumental in promoting a healthy, well-rounded lifestyle," Lindsay said of her mother, who serves as the sports coordinator for their hometown. Lindsay, who served as captain of her high school basketball team, coaches the fifth and sixth grade basketball teams as a part of the program in addition to coaching basketball camps for children ages 5-15.
"Sports closes the loop on a healthy lifestyle," she said. "It's all interrelated." Lindsay also works part-time at the front desk of a local fitness club.
She said she enjoys watching the children as they play basketball. "There's something about children - they have such a spark and love for life - they know how to have a good time."
Her passion for health, children and even her dreams of being a doctor someday go back almost as long as she can remember. "I remember being in kindergarten and loving working with preschool kids," she said. "Right before International Convention I found my kindergarten yearbook. In the section titled 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' my answer was 'a doctor for astronauts or a doctor for children with cancer.'"
Lindsay explained that her preschool teacher had died of cancer. "I remember as a child thinking that cancer was something I didn't ever want anyone to have ever again."
Medicine seemed a natural career choice for her. "I was a real science geek - that was always my favorite subject," Lindsay said, but her academic path has not been an easy one. High school proved to be a difficult experience for her.
In fact the 1995 movie Dangerous Minds, starring Michelle Pfeiffer as a Marine officer who leaves her military career behind to become an inner-city English teacher, was based on a true story about an educator from Lindsay's high school.
"My high school English teacher told me I would never go to college," she said. "The very next day I walked into my counselor's office and asked about dual enrollment at Caņada. She encouraged me to go." Athough she was only 15 years old at the time, Lindsay loved - and thrived in - the community college environment.
Phi Theta Kappa provided Lindsay with the opportunity to meet other scholars with similar dreams, goals and ambitions. "I knew Phi Theta Kappa's service program would be a great fit with what I wanted to do with cancer research," Lindsay said. "Attending a commuter campus, I sit in labs all day, so we don't have a lot of opportunity for interaction. Phi Theta Kappa provides an opportunity to pursue those passions."
Lindsay has enjoyed her volunteer work with the American Cancer Society and a local children's hospital, and also volunteers for the Make a Wish Foundation and the Special Olympics. "I helped with track and field and bowling," Lindsay said. "It's amazing how much these children can learn in such a short period of time."
"I got to go to a Giants game with children from the Make a Wish Foundation, something that we all take for granted," Lindsay said. "To see the light in their eyes, it's like they are regular kids again. With life-threatening illness, they never take anything for granted, you feel you are making an impact in these kids' lives."
She also had the opportunity to speak at state charitable functions when she was selected as Miss Congeniality in the Miss California pageant.
Lindsay loves to travel, and said that she would enjoy studying abroad for a year and perhaps practice medicine in a developing country with an organization like Doctors Without Borders or the American Red Cross.
As for now during her term as International Vice President-Division IV of Phi Theta Kappa, Lindsay is hoping to leave her own mark. "If there is anything I could take with me I want to feel that I've made the Society better for the next generation of scholars. Phi Theta Kappa has had such an influence on my life," Lindsay said. "I know my community college experience isn't typical, so helping others realize what they can accomplish in Phi Theta Kappa would be wonderful."
