Major: Psychology
Returning from the Husker Athletics Life Skills’ NoFilter service trip to Panama, Lindsey sees the world a bit differently than she did before.
Which, she says, is the whole point.
“The theme of the trip is open your mind, change your view, leave your mark — I think that perfectly describes it.”
The NoFilter trip brings a group of 20 Husker athletes to live and work with an indigenous community on the island of Bastimentos off the coast of Panama, helping the community with a rotating set of projects. This year, Huskers spent a week repairing and repainting the library, helping preschool students with their English, repairing the preschool and constructing a playground.
“To be fully immersed in the local culture was just incredible," she said. "They were so generous towards us and were so grateful that we were there.”
And while working with the local children, restoring community resources and exploring the beautiful Panamanian archipelago were among the many highlights for Lindsey, the chance to try something new — and a little scary — proved very rewarding.
“Putting myself in this new experience with people I don’t know was a big step, so I’m really proud of myself,” she said.
A student-athlete on the Nebraska Women's Golf team, the trip allowed Lindsey to build powerful, lasting relationships with Husker athletes across all sports that she previously only knew in passing.
“We talked so much about how we can go so many years of seeing each other at the training table every day but not know anyone’s name," she said. "Now, it feels like we’re family. Our labels of different sports dissolved so quickly because we realized we’re just all the same.”
Dissolving labels and breaking barriers also extended toward the relationships Lindsey and her fellow athletes built with people in the community, especially among the young kids they worked with.
“Even with a language barrier, it was incredible how well we were able to interact and communicate just through pure human connection," she said. "The bonds that we were able to build over the week were amazing.”
