WKU News

Serving others is Lindsey Sargent’s calling, and it was her little sister’s autism diagnosis that sparked her interest in the medical field and inspired her to pursue pre-med coursework at WKU.

“My younger sister, Jessica, has been a huge inspiration for me to pursue a premedical degree in Biology. She has autism, and through the diagnosis and treatment by her healthcare team, she has advanced far beyond what we thought was possible,” said Sargent. “Because of her, I want to become a physician and help others like her.”

Sargent, a senior from Lexington who graduates this December with a degree in Biology, a concentration in Pre-Medicine Advisement and a minor in Neuroscience, came to WKU to fulfill that mission of service to others.

“I hope to leave a legacy of finding community and serving those around me. I have dedicated my time to not only pursuing academics but pushing myself out of my comfort zone. The Christian community I found at the Baptist Campus Ministry (BCM) has been my rock through all the ups and downs of undergrad, and the pre-med community has encouraged me in all my classes. I hope that others see the importance of finding where you can use your gifts for good and pouring their time into those organizations.” 

It is Sargent’s commitment to service that makes her stand out in a crowd. 

Sargent is WKU’s fall 2025 recipient of the Ogden Foundation Scholar Award, WKU’s top undergraduate award.

WKU’s highest undergraduate honor is selected by a faculty committee and presented each semester to one graduating senior who has demonstrated exceptional academic achievement in addition to outstanding university and civic engagement. 

In a letter of recommendation for the Ogden Foundation Scholar Award, Dr. Lei Li, Assistant Professor in the WKU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, wrote about Sargent’s desire to help others. Dr. Li recalled Sargent’s work as an undergraduate teaching assistant in his Organic Chemistry lab. 

“In the lab, Lindsey doesn’t hesitate to help her students. She goes above and beyond her duties and offers suggestions for lab manuals when appropriate,” Dr. Li wrote. “At the end of that semester, she came to my office and talked about her thoughts on the lab course and provided meaningful suggestions on improving the learning experience of students in the lab. It has been proven that the students’ satisfaction with this lab improved after I adopted these suggestions from her and revised the lab manual. Her professionalism is commendable, and my colleagues and I are proud to have her as one of our best undergraduate teaching assistants.”

The coursework in Sargent’s undergraduate program was instrumental in preparing her for the MCAT, the entrance exam for medical schools. 

“The skills I had learned in general chemistry, organic, biology, biochemistry, physics and even psychology helped me to tackle test questions and prepare for this exam. I believe the preparation from my professors at WKU set me up for success on this exam and helped me get accepted in medical school.”

While studying at WKU, Sargent wanted to get a jumpstart on acquiring experience in the medical field. She decided to pursue certification as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). 

“This meant taking an online course on top of 16 hours on campus, as well as traveling home every other weekend for lab days. That semester was extremely hard as I tried to balance my academics and personal life, but I was able to make it out the other side stronger and better prepared for my career,” Sargent recalled. 

Since obtaining her certification, Sargent spent the last two summers as an EMT-B at the Ark Encounter in Williamstown.

WKU’s beautiful campus and friendly Honors College staff brought Sargent to the Hill, but it was the community she found that made her college experience especially enjoyable.

“The best part of my WKU experience has been the community of friends I have been able to make. Moving away from where I grew up, I did not know many people when I first arrived on campus. The Honors College, Baptist Campus Ministry and Ogden College have provided me with friendships that will last a lifetime. I found my roommates through the Honors Living Learning Community and have made lifelong friendships. Every week, I go to the worship service at the BCM and connect with friends and recharge for the rest of the week ahead. My time at WKU would not have been the same without the people I have met along the way and the community I found,” said Sargent.

Student organizations, such as the Baptist Campus Ministry, are where Sargent found her best friends on the Hill.

“The Baptist Campus Ministry has been one of the most impactful organizations for me during my time on WKU’s campus. I started going to the BCM the first week of freshman year and felt perfectly at home,” Sargent said. “I quickly joined the worship band as a vocalist and got involved in Bible studies. My sophomore year, I was on the leadership team as a women’s ministry leader where I helped plan monthly fellowship events. My junior and senior years, I have served as a worship team leader, overseeing the bands for each week’s worship service and coordinating with other leaders for the flow of the night. It has been my home away from home and my greatest sense of community during my time at Western.”

Another organization Sargent was involved in at WKU was the Global Medical Brigades. She served as both secretary and vice president of the WKU chapter.

Each year the organization planned a trip to a third world country to serve underserved populations with medical clinics. They gathered donations to stock the clinics throughout the school year and fundraised to travel overseas. She participated in the trip to Greece and Belize, and she helped with the planning process for Guatemala. Once overseas, they shadowed physicians and pharmacists as they cared for the refugees in Athens, Greece, and indigenous peoples in Belize. In addition, they hosted educational lectures with children, explaining mental health and dental hygiene.

“Global Brigades has opened my eyes to the medical needs around the world and inspired me to serve underserved populations in the States as a physician,” Sargent said.

At WKU, Sargent also found time to serve in Living Hope Baptist Church’s children’s ministry, specifically helping with children with autism.

“I was paired with children to help them adjust during Sunday School and interact with the other children,” Sargent said.

Sargent had the opportunity to work with Top Crops, a nonprofit group which provides space for adults with special needs to learn life skills and build community, during her freshman year. As an intern, Sargent helped the gardeners each week with tending to the garden and selling produce at the local farmer’s market. 

“I built friendships with these adults that went beyond the garden, which reinforced my desire to work with this population in the future as a physician specializing in developmental disorders. I loved seeing how happy they were when they successfully sold herbs or counted out change,” Sargent explained. “They showed me how to find the joy in little things, impacting me more than I did helping at the vegetable stall.”

As Sargent’s time at WKU comes to an end, she looks forward to celebrating her graduation and finalizing next steps. Graduation parties, wedding bells and more late-night study sessions are in her future. After graduation, she plans to continue serving as an EMT and hopes to also pursue work as an emergency room technician. In addition, she is engaged to be married in the spring and plans to attend medical school in the fall at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. 

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For information on a degree in Biology, visit https://www.wku.edu/biology/.  

#WKUGrad series: For more stories on graduating students in the #WKUGrad series, visit https://www.wku.edu/news/articles/index.php?view=default&categoryid=799&multinewsid=187

-WKU-

Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.