Sean Moore

In College I joined a national service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, which allowed me to attain my goal of reverence through service; I joined the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad and became an EMT as a way of finding adventure through service; and I got a summer job with the National Student Leadership Conference that let me travel and serve the next generation. Everything seemed good, but I struggled to find a passion that would engage me academically.

An Industrial and Systems Engineering Major (ISE), I got a job with Honeywell in the quality assurance lab of their Performance Polymers Division. Essentially, I was an efficiency expert in a plant that had been reduced from 300 employees to around 30. Most of the real efficiency work had already been done, but I got to standardize the lab, take a six sigma greenbelt course, and create a set of standard operating procedures. In spite of the positve experience I was gaining was a looming forecast that one day as a licensed ISE, I would be doing the real work of cost benefit analysis and outsourcing; eliminating waste from the bottom to increase profits at the top.

I joined AmeriCorps in 2008 to spend a year destitute serving those less fortunate. It was the dream of any privileged, middleclass, lifetime student. What's more I was working in New Orleans. I got a job for a local based non-profit that focused on youth empowering community. The experience and the people would forever enrich my life, but the most valuable lesson I gained was that real change, real service cannot be done with a revolving cast, it requires commitment to place.

When I returned to school I transfered to the Interdisciplinary Studies Department. Like most I let the stigma and initial confusion bias the integrity of the degree, but soon I was learning about things that never get addressed in the math and science based disciplines like environmental externalities, consumer trends, and even happiness. It began to occur to me why I never found a passion; I was too busy looking for success. So for my final year, for my capstone project, I decided to apply my previous education and experience toward serving the future of my hometown.

Once in search of a lucrative career, now I seek a career committed to my community. Once dedicated to personal gain now I seek more altruistic actions leaving me fulfilled mind, body, and soul.