When Than Moore ’12 was still in high school, he visited the Hill while his brother was touring the College, and something clicked. “I just kind of fell in love with it when I first saw it,” he said. He knew that Colby was a place he could thrive.

Four years later, he has proved himself right.

The pre-med math and biology major from Bedford, NH has a list activities a mile long. He’s fully immersed himself in many aspects of the community. He’s a dedicated member of the tennis team, a singer in the Blue Lights a cappella group (he soloed on “Bless the Broken Road” last semester) and a member of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Than has welcomed two classes to the College as a Colby Outdoor Orientation Trip (COOT) leader, helping first-year students to find a place for themselves at college, and he is a member of the COOT Committee. He is also an unofficial member of Colby Emergency Response (CER) as he’s working to complete his emergency medical technician training exam.

Beyond the more student-centered activities, Than found himself spending a summer at Colby doing research with two professors and a handful of other students on the Belgrade Lakes Sustainability Project, which, according to the project’s website, seeks to “understand the impact of landscape and lake-ecosystem changes with the development of central Maine.”

“That was a blast. We were out on the water most days, sampling, doing some chemistry in the lab,” he said.

He loves spending time on the water and grew up spending his summers boating, water skiing and sailing on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. “Actually, one of my big endeavors was last JanPlan, [when] I built a 15 foot, cedar-strip rowboat. It’s kind of been my little baby,” he said. He finished it over the summer and put it in the water for the Fourth of July and “it floats,” he said. “Oh man, it was a great feeling.” Eventually he hopes to build his own sailboat.

“I kind of turned our garage at home into a wood workshop,” he said, but he kept it neat, and his family and friends loved lending a helping hand.

Although Than enjoys being outdoors and is interested in giving back to the environment in his everyday activities, he said he sees a different career path for himself. “I’m more of a medicine guy, if you will—more interested in the hospital scene and inside the human body.” His interests have led him toward what he calls “the fast-track of med school”—physician’s assistant (PA) graduate school, a two-year program before sending him off into the real world of medicine. PA school allows its students to specialize early, and as of now, Than hopes to focus in on orthopedics, he said.

As he feels so deeply connected to New England, Than plans to stay in the area. “I’ve always stayed local. My family’s never been one to travel far….I love the area. I love Maine. I’ve had such a great experience with the people from New England.”

Even so, “I would like to get an experience just to see what’s out there,” he said, because he’s seen how influential spending time abroad has been on some of his peers. Although Than did not study abroad, he’d intended to go this past January but ended up with a concussion that kept him state-side.

Nonetheless, he sees some opportunity for travel in his near future. Even if he doesn’t travel after graduating in May, he’ll have the chance to do so as part of training to be a physician’s assistant, as the different programs that he has applied to offer training rotations across the country.

Back on the Hill, “It’s hard to pinpoint one thing [as a favorite] as opposed to another, but I think my favorite thing is just being around the people here because that’s what makes Colby so great,” he said. “And just getting active and involved. Just showing your face everywhere,” he said.

Than loves what he does and the people and places he knows so intimately. “Us Colby kids, we’re going to make it,” he said with a warm smile and shrug of confidence.