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By Katlin Sweeney

Editor-in-Chief

With heavy hearts, the CSUSM community has come together to mourn the loss of our beloved alumni and friend, Lauren Wallace Childers.

Childers passed away on Feb. 3, at age 24, from complications of pneumonia. She is survived by her husband Wyatt, parents, Patricia and Randy, sister Lindsey (19) and brother Ryan (19).

Childers was a highly admired member of the Kinesiology department, where she excelled in her academics and made countless friends. She had a passion for exercise physiology, biomechanics and nutrition, a knowledge set that helped her inform her friends about the benefits of health and fitness. Childers later became a trainer to motivate others to prioritize their exercise regimens by creating fun workouts.

“She was a very competitive person, she knew how to be competitive enough to where she was still being somewhat modest about it, but enough to where you knew it was game on,”  said Childers’ best friend, Ali Cullors. “Between Lauren and I we would compete over the silliest of things, like calling ‘my bridge’ whenever the first person saw a bridge, or which one of us could do something the fastest or the longest. It was that competitive drive though that allowed Lauren to excel at so much, whether it was school, sports or life in general. There was always something she felt that she could be or do better. She was the best friend that I could have ever asked for.”

“Lauren’s spirit was contagious. She had a thirst for life,” said fellow CSUSM graduate and childhood friend, Heather Williams. “She never saw the bad in any situation but rather the opportunity for adventure. She was a friend to everyone, she was the truest, kindest and most selfless person I have had the honor to know. Although her life was short, it was influential. She touched the lives of so many with her spark. I wish I could have met her sooner, so I could have admired her for longer.”

While at CSUSM, Childers worked at Kellogg Library, where she would meet her future husband Wyatt. They got married on Jan. 8, 2011 and spent their honeymoon in Hawaii. They became involved with CrossFit, where Childers excelled as a competitor and realized her dream to become a CrossFit coach. Childers’ bond with her husband was a strong and loving marriage that led her parents to refer to them as a “Dream Team.”

“From the moment I met her I knew that Lauren was the friendliest and most welcoming person in my life,” Lauren’s husband, Wyatt Childers said. “She had this way with people that I still don’t understand. Talking to her just made whatever I was going through that much easier. It was evident by the amount of people at the service how many lives she had touched. She was my better half and I thank God everyday for letting me be a part of her short, but meaningful life.”

In addition to her academic and work success, Childers was admired for her kindness and passion for life. She approached every day with a smile and positive attitude, leading by example for the rest of us.

“‘I got a lifetime of knowledge.’ This was one quote that Lauren always said,” Cullors said. “It is from one of our favorite movies, She’s the Man, and whenever there was an opportune time to use this line she would. Lauren truly did have a lifetime of knowledge though. She was a very intelligent, funny and vibrant person. She had gained so much knowledge through school and life experiences and utilized all that she learned to the fullest.”

“Lauren’s zest for life lives on. One look around the room at her celebration of life said it all,” Kinesiology professor, Dr. Laura de Ghetaldi, said. “There was standing room only. There sprinkled in the room were her appropriately dressed CrossFit family, her long time friends, fire fighters, school chums, you name it.”

At her graduation ceremony from CSUSM in 2012, Childers graduated Magna Cum Laude and was awarded seven of the eight possible honor cords a graduate can receive. Her determination, hard work and drive are traits that the Kinesiology department fondly remember her for.

“Lauren was the type of student that you remember,” Kinesiology Department Chair, Dr. Jeff Nessler, said. “Her hard work and talent were certainly noteworthy, but her personality and character are what made her stand out. Of the hundreds of students that have come through our program in recent years, I haven’t forgotten Lauren.”

“[She] embodied to me what higher education is all about,” de Ghetaldi said. “It is about finding yourself, your passions. Lauren not only helped herself to learn but she helped others. She touched so many lives. I remember her receiving her degree from President Haynes and she stopped, looked off of the stage to her Kinesiology family and just beamed, She stood and soaked in all of it. That is exactly what Lauren did with her life. She soaked it all in. Lauren, I shall always save an empty seat in my classrooms just for you.”