Moore-Thomas poised to finish what she started 19 years ago

While her 16-year-old daughter delivers a band performance and her 12-year-old son plays in a basketball tournament, Jennifer Moore-Thomas, senior administrative assistant in Rice Library, will have her own moment in the spotlight Saturday, April 27-one that involves a boxy, black cap and long, flowy gown.

"I'm hoping that by me walking across the stage they can see, 'Ok, Mom did it. That means I can, too,'" says Moore-Thomas, whose journey to commencement began almost two decades ago.

"I did one semester [after high school in 2000], decided I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do… and so I didn't go back," she explains.

Instead, she found a job, got married, had two kids and stayed home to take care of them.

But in 2011, USI came calling again-with a temporary-turned-full-time position in the library. A few years later, Moore-Thomas decided to finish what she'd started with help from USI's tuition reimbursement program and found her passion while taking her first nutrition course. "I ended up kind of falling in love with it," she says. "I love food, I love cooking, and you have this medical aspect where your diet can be your medicine." 

After "immensely" changing her cooking style based on what she learned in class and spending countless basketball and softball games cheering on her kids while finishing homework and studying flash cards in the stands, Moore-Thomas is now just a few exams away from earning her bachelor's degree in food and nutrition dietetics; she even tacked on a minor in psychology.

The thought of graduation is overwhelming.

Doing it a month after having her third baby? That's reality. Her youngest son, Jack, was born on March 19.

"I have my computer on one side of me and the baby on the other a lot," she says as Jack naps. "I'm not a procrastinator. Getting things done right at the deadline or two hours before the deadline is not usually my thing, but lately that's been my thing."

It may not be the pace she's used to, but despite a packed home life, Moore-Thomas was determined to avoid pushing back her graduation date. "I know that when I want something, I'm going to actually make it happen," she says. "I had everybody kind of rally behind me in my family and say, 'Ok, you want to get done, we're going to get done.'"

Once she does, she won't relax for long. Graduate school begins less than two weeks after her last final. "I'm an insane person," she jokes.

After an eight-month internship next year, Moore-Thomas will finish her Master of Science in nutrition with the goal of becoming a registered dietician in Evansville. She wants to work at a hospital or outpatient clinic and teach patients how to use food to improve their health. She's even considering the possibility of returning to USI a third time, as an adjunct instructor.

"It's kind of nice to think that maybe one day I could potentially give some of the information and knowledge back to newer students," she says. "The USI community has been amazing."