Landry Lemoine is often one of the first people prospective families meet when they visit Millsaps College. Lemoine, a senior from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, works in the Office of Admission as a Presidential Ambassador and guides families on campus tours while answering questions about life at Millsaps.
So, one might be shocked to learn that Lemoine previously hated public speaking.
Lemoine’s feelings about public speaking and how he approached life changed during his junior year at Millsaps, thanks to an assignment and encouraging professor.
“Initially, my first thought when looking for a college was to find a place where I could continue my academic and athletic pursuits simultaneously,” Lemoine said.
“For my first two years on campus, I felt content with just pursuing these two endeavors. However, a switch went off in my brain during my junior year, and I found the ‘secret’ that makes Millsaps so great: the people!”
The switch for Lemoine flipped while he was in the philosophy of law course taught by Dr. Patrick Hopkins, director of the neurophilosophy major and the Jennie Carlisle Golding chair in philosophy. Even though the course was outside his major of business administration, Lemoine, whose parents are in the legal and real estate fields, had been interested in law from a young age. “I thought it would be a great class, and it would be my third straight semester of taking my favorite professor,” he said. “However, I didn’t realize the impact this class would have on me when I took it.”
The course presented many challenges for Lemoine. He was used to getting an early start to his day, and this class was at night. The class had difficult material that was theoretical in nature. He also had to give presentations.
“We were divided into groups for a case analysis that we would have to present on. The groups who had gone before us did a great job and set the bar high, and my friend and I both absolutely hated public speaking.”
Lemoine worked with his teammate to create an engaging presentation with handouts, and they hoped their public speaking skills could match. Before the presentation, he spoke with his professor about his reservations with public speaking.
“He gave me the confidence before and during the presentation to keep going,” Lemoine said. “During that presentation, I got a feeling that told me to continue doing things that pushed me and made me feel uncomfortable.”
After that evening in 2021, Lemoine changed his mindset about his experiences at Millsaps and in life. Now, he pursues opportunities for growth and surrounds himself with friends who share this mindset. In addition to his work as a Presidential Ambassador, he is the captain of the Millsaps cross country and track and field teams and involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA).
Lemoine also found growth in 2022 when he studied painting in Spain with Millsaps’ study abroad program.
“I applied to go to Madrid to paint with some friends,” he said. “I genuinely had no idea how to paint going into the trip, and that fact made me incredibly nervous to go because I knew there would be other artists there.”
Yet again, Lemoine received support from the Millsaps community when his professor, Sue Carrie Drummond, encouraged him to give the course a try.
“My professor brought us in a week before the trip, and I knew it was going to be difficult,” he said. “However, she was so helpful and taught me at my level.”
Lemoine spent two weeks painting in Spain with friends and enjoyed activities like renting electric scooters to explore Madrid. “The experiences there helped me learn how to have fun and express myself in different and unique ways.”
Lemoine is already on track to find success after he graduates in May. He works as a real estate agent with HL Raymond Properties on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and plans to return to Millsaps to purse an MBA through the Else School of Management. After his time at Millsaps, he is interested in developing a career in sports agency alongside his real estate career.
“The success I have found at Millsaps has spilled into my relationships, and I truly believe that the people at Millsaps have helped me see that my mission on this Earth is to inspire others to do what they think is impossible and lead with a servant’s heart.”