We Are Knox...

Leah Heister keeps busy.

She plays for the Prairie Fire women's soccer team in the fall. She competes
for the indoor track and field team in the winter and for the outdoor track team in the spring. She's done so throughout her career at Knox.

And the 12-time varsity letter winner also finds things to do outside the athletic realm.

Heister, majoring in political science with a minor in international business, is the Knox Senior Class president; the president of her sorority Delta Delta Delta; the membership chair of Mortar Board; a member of Order of Omega, a Greek honor society; a Knox Ambassador; a Student Senate observer to the Board of Trustees and to faculty meetings; a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, a political science honor society; and one of the music chairs of Union Board.

The list goes on and on.

"I like to participate in a number of activities," says Heister. "I think it is very important to surround yourself with people who can teach you different things and help you become more well-rounded.

"It's also a lot of fun. If I wasn't having fun, I wouldn't be doing it," she adds.

Born in Urbana, Illinois, Heister also lived in Utah before finishing her high school career in Bristol, Connecticut.

At Knox, Heister is an all-around success. She finished her four-year soccer career with 15 goals and seven assists. In track, Heister participates in relays, hurdles, and sand jumps. She also competed in the heptathlon as a sophomore, becoming just the second Knox female to ever complete the seven events.

In the classroom, the nine-time academic all-conference selection won the Moller Cup, awarded to the female achieving the highest scholastic average while earning letters in two sports at Knox.

After taking a year off after graduation, Heister plans to begin law school. She ultimately hopes to serve as legal counsel for a not-for-profit organization.

"I have been committed to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and their philanthropic efforts throughout high school and college. I'd love to work for an organization like that. An organization where I really feel like I'm giving back," she says.

Besides her work with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through Tri-Delta, Heister is helping start Up 'til Dawn, a collegiate fundraising effort benefiting St. Jude's.

She knows wherever she ends up, she will look back fondly at her time at Knox, particularly her experience with Prairie Fire athletics.

"Athletics have taught me so much at Knox," Heister says. "It's not just about what you learn on the field. Off the field I've learned how to be a better person, how to be a leader. It's also a really great way to supplement your education. You learn so many things you can apply to life in general," she adds. "It's a positive way to spend time with other people and make friends you'll have the rest of your life."

Editor's Note: Heister now works as an event marketing representative at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital.