Lindsay Werner Shares Journey Through Dance and Future in Nursing

Lindsay Werner is a sophomore nursing major at Kent State University who is a member of the Golden Flashes dance team. Werner is a native of St. Marys, Pennsylvania and is a 2020 graduate of Elk County Catholic High School.

(Photos from the Kent State Dance Team)

Despite a non-traditional 2020-21 first college school year, Werner and her teammates were able to perform at a few football games in the spring of 2021. She and the rest of her teammates have carried this over into a more normal 2021-22 school year so far, as the squad has been able to perform at various home sporting events so far this school year.

“I felt like Kent State was the right fit for me because it is the perfect sized campus,” said Werner. “It is fairly big and populated, but not overwhelming at the same time. It has a great nursing program and dance team which were the main attracting factors to me. The campus is also beautiful and felt like home to me the first time I had toured it.”

Werner is hopeful past her days as a Golden Flash, she can become a travel nurse with a focus in pediatric oncology.

In order to make the Golden Flashes team, she had to audition on Zoom due to COVID-19 playing a factor to the end of her high school and beginning of her college career. Despite this challenge, she earned the opportunity thanks to a fast background she received in the sport since the age of four.

As a pre-schooler, she began her time in dance at April’s School of Dance in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. She would go on to also join the Dynamic Dance Competition Company (DDCC), a sister company to April’s School centered around competitive dance. There, her and her team were crowned national champions for group competition twice, while her and her duet partner, Abigail Mosier, were crowned national champions for their routine. Dance has also allowed Werner to earn various scholarships and to be named an All-Star team member for Hall of Fame Dance Challenge.

To think that her dance career only started because her mother thought she would look cute in a tutu is something her and her family laugh about looking back on because the sport has done so much to change her life. It has allowed her to travel, meet numerous impactful people, and she was even featured on ESPN with her teammates during the Kent State vs. Buffalo football game this year.

“I hated it for the first year,” Werner said. “Eventually, I fell in love with the sport. The rest is history.”

Something she will look forward to as her dance career continues is the hopeful opportunity to dance at nationals in Daytona Beach, Florida. But for now, she is focused on the rest of the Golden Flashes football and basketball seasons while preparing for another round of final examinations in the coming weeks.

Good luck to you as you continue your time in dance and work towards becoming a nurse, Lindsay! Thank you for the chance to highlight your journey to date 💃👩‍⚕️