COM Outlook Summer/Fall 2019

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 33 Moody, who was raised on a farm in Texarkana, Arkansas, opened a successful ballet school in her hometown at age 20 before getting married and having three sons. Although she loved being an entrepreneur, wife, and mother, Moody also harbored a dream of becoming a physician. Fast forward to 1995. Moody and her family are living in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where she runs a ballet school and takes part-time liberal arts courses at the University of Oklahoma. Life seems ideal until April 19, when an anti-government militant detonates a truck filled with explosives outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Amid the wreckage, 168 people lie dead and hundreds more are injured. Moody responds by calling the local hospital to volunteer her services. “That day was a huge turning point for me,” Moody recalled. “When I called the local hospital and asked if I could come and help, the woman who answered the phone asked if I had any medical training. When I told her I didn’t, she said, ‘Stay away, you’ll just be in the way’ and hung up.” Feeling helpless, Moody made a major life decision. “After the woman hung up on me, I said, ‘Okay, it’s time I get my medical training.’ I was so shaken by the event, and by my feeling of being unprepared to help, that I closed my ballet school and went back to school full time to prepare for medical school,” she said. Moody threw herself into her premed coursework at the University of Oklahoma Honors College and graduated cum laude in 1999. Her goal of becoming a physician may have seemed more secure, but additional obstacles lay ahead after she headed south and completed postbaccalaureate coursework at the University of Florida. BUILDING A NEW LIFE IN FLORIDA When Moody interviewed for a spot at NSU’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (KPCOM), she felt an immediate kinship with the people and the university. “I was so excited by the beautiful campus, the palm trees, and the nice people. It felt right the moment I walked on campus,” Moody said. “I was a 38-year-old, nontraditional student with a ballet background. I was raising three sons, but it didn’t seem to matter to the college.” When Moody began her KPCOM education in the summer of 2003, it should have been one of the happiest times of her life. Unfortunately, she found herself deal- ing with a difficult divorce while trying to raise three children ranging in age from 11 to 15 at the same time. As a result, Moody understandably struggled to keep pace with the rigorous academic workload. Sometimes, however, when life seems at its lowest ebb, something wonderful occurs. Although she was determined to “never date again,” Moody surprised herself when a classmate asked, “If you ever did date again, what would be your ideal?” “Without hesitation, I said, ‘a 35-year-old Matt Moody.’ “My heart ran away with me every time I saw him in Steele Auditorium or in labs. I called it the ‘Moody reflex,’ ” she said. Although she was a few years older than the object of her affection, the attraction proved mutual. “We had our first date on February 18, 2004, and now, 15 years later, he still makes my heart race,” Moody admitted. Because Moody’s road to fulfillment had been paved with obstacles, it’s not surprising to learn that her path to romantic bliss also contained a potential speed bump. “When we realized we were completely in love, he asked if I was willing to have children with him,” she said. “I already had three sons and was struggling to pass my classes, but I said yes,” she added. “We got engaged and pregnant right away, because I was almost 40. We simply didn’t have time to wait because of my age.” The next few years were a blur of activity as Moody gave birth to daughters Grace, now 13, and Faith, now 11, MOODY’S WORDS OF WISDOM “Be you! The world tries to stick us in boxes, but we each have something unique to offer, and if we hide that to try to ‘fit in,’ it is a disservice to the world.” “Kindness is not weakness. Kind people are frequently mistaken as weak, but kindness is actually courageous, and kind people are often the strongest.” “I teach my children NOT to listen to the people who predict doom and impossibility of their dreams. The naysayers are only telling you what they can’t do.” “Taking risks exposes us to failure. I have had my share. But I dare again and again, at the risk of embarrass- ment when I fall. I get up, cry, cuss a little, and get back to work.” “I don’t want to teach by telling; I want to teach by doing. Fail, get up, fail, get up. Only then can I connect with others with true understanding.”