Bryan Lazarus, Duke

"I first became close with Lindsay through our time spent together abroad, in Brisbane, Australia. In our main group of friends there were 4 girls and 4 guys. Some of us knew each other, but as you’d expect, Lindsay was the only one of the 8 who knew and was friends with the whole group already. She really brought us all together from the get-go, forging a friendship that provided us and will continue to provide us with infinite memories and experiences.

A few of my favorite memories abroad with Lindsay:

· The 4 guys, Doug, Mike, Toby and I had planned to find a house to live in when we got to Australia. After our temporary housing ran up we had still not found a place to live. Without hesitation, Lindsay and her roommates offered to let us take over their living rooms to sleep for an additional week. Never once did the girls complain and I think they actually enjoyed (maybe) our constant presence.

· When we did finally find a house, it was pretty far from the University and the girls’ apartments. Nevertheless, Lindsay was a constant staple at our house, often coming on her own, taking the bus over and then venturing through what she considered the super scary haunted woods.

· Like myself, Lindsay had an extreme obsession with Harry Potter and the 7^th and final book was to be released in the early weeks of our time spent abroad. When I agreed to a race with Lindsay to complete the book, I clearly had no idea what I was getting myself into. I made sure to order mine online to have it arrive the morning following the release. This of course was not good enough for Lindsay. She made sure to wait on line at Midnight the night of the release at a bookstore in the city. An hour after I received my book the next morning, I excitedly told Lindsay I had finished the first chapter. She then informed me that she read the first half of the 607 page book the night before and had only 100 pages left in the entire book. Even after she was done with the book, she would often sit next to me and read over my shoulder, or constantly ask me what part I was up to, almost living vicariously through me as I got to read the book for the first time.

· My mother and grandparents came to Australia to visit and took our group of 8 out for dinner one night. After the dinner, my mother immediately singled Lindsay out, commenting on just how warm, friendly and fun she was. The years following our trip both my mother and grandparents would always ask about Lindsay, what she was up to and how she was doing.

· Not surprisingly, Lindsay was always the one to make new friends. Whether they were American or Australian, Lindsay was always introducing us to her newest friends she had met on campus, in class, or even just at the mall. In Fiji particularly, thanks to Lindsay we developed an extremely close friendship with another group of Americans that we still keep in contact with today.

Without a doubt though, my favorite memory of Lindsay is one that I recall some part of nearly every day. Lindsay had been all bummed out because she wasn’t able to go on the girls’ planned trip to Cairns, the home of the Great Barrier Reef, because it was the same weekend that her parents were coming to visit. When the 4 guys planned the same trip a later weekend, Lindsay immediately jumped on board. I can’t think of many girls that would have been willing to travel with any 4 guys, let alone the 4 of us for 5 days but Lindsay was there without hesitation. She lived in the same hostel room, putting up with all of our fighting, yelling, burping, and the many other endearing qualities and tendencies that most college guys have. On top of that, she was the center of the fun the entire trip. Whether, it was snorkeling, white-water rafting, or just going to dinner with the guys, Lindsay was always leading the way with a smile on her face. When we had woken up at 8 AM after a late night, but still missed our bus for an all-day jungle excursion, Lindsay refused to allow any of us to get down. Instead of going back to bed, we went to a local diner to have some breakfast and when Lindsay saw a Scrabble board lying around, she insisted we play. Never in my life did I think that a Scrabble game, especially one played at 8:30 in the morning could be so fun or something that I would remember most from all the things I did abroad, but Lindsay made that happen. Afterwards, Lindsay immediately insisted on booking a new excursion for the following day since we had missed this one. She and I booked a day of RVing through the woods and professional courses. That day was another I will never forget and one my greatest memories in Australia. Like everything she did, Lindsay pushed the pedal of RV as hard and she could and rode full speed, without apprehension over every hill and jump on the course, always landing on her feet and encouraged me to do the same."