With an eye on medical school, Sara Motyl ’26 excels in the classroom and in the pool.
COLUMBIA, KY. (05/09/2025) Most college students hope to have their research published at least once in graduate school.
But Lindsey Wilson College student Sara Motyl ’26 has already accomplished that twice as an undergraduate student.
Motyl was recently featured as a co-author on an article that appeared in the research journal Applied Sciences. A biology major from Lodz, Poland, Motyl was part of a research team that tested whether a beverage made with apple pomace, which is waste from the production of apple juice, can help humans better digest certain foods.
It was the second time Motyl’s name appeared on an academic research article. Last year, she was part of a publication that researched applications of the Kamchatka berry. Both articles emerged from the work of a 2023 summer research team at Lodz University of Technology that included Motyl.
“It was a huge opportunity for me,” said Motyl. “I got to see how to create an experiment like this while sitting next to the other researchers. It was great to plan the experiment together and then perform it. It was amazing to learn what professional research looks like and how to create an experiment that is pretty complicated from scratch.”
Motyl said the experiment also “opened my eyes to a lot of new opportunities and taught me how to learn and work with people from different backgrounds and with different levels of qualifications.”
Preparing for medical school
After she graduates from Lindsey Wilson in 2026, Motyl hopes to attend medical school. And she hopes to get a better feel for the medical profession this summer. After she takes the Medical College Admission Test, known as the MCAT and is the examination required for admission to most U.S. medical schools, Motyl plans to shadow an anesthesiologist and cardiologist back in Poland.
Neither of her parents — father, Wojciech, and mother, Ilona — work in the medical profession, but Motyl said she became interested in medicine because of her late godfather and his wife, both of whom were doctors, as well from studying biology before college.
“I really liked learning anatomy and all the systems in the body,” she said.
In addition to being an honors biology major at Lindsey Wilson, Motyl has served as a laboratory assistant as well as a lifeguard. She was named a three-time NAIA All-American swimmer this school year, and she received the program’s Most Dedicated Swimmer of Year award.
A model student-athlete
Lindsey Wison swim coach Alicia Kemnitz said “it’s always exciting to see someone excel in the classroom. But this is above and beyond that.”
“Sara is an example of the type of student-athletes we foster here at Lindsey Wilson,” said Kemnitz. “We look for the ‘student’ first when we recruit a student-athlete, then the ‘athlete’ part. We hope our students will excel in the water and in the classroom. I’ve told her that I’m jealous because I have my doctorate and I haven’t been published.”
Motyl said a key to her success has been the support she’s received in the classroom as well as in the pool.
“I’ve had an amazing time here – the professors are really encouraging and understanding,” she said. “I really like the small-classroom environment because I think we benefit by having better relationships with our professors, and we understand the material better since we have an opportunity to ask more questions.”
And Motyl said her swimming teammates have also influenced her success in the classroom.
“We have a motto on the swim team that we are like a big family, and our coaches are very understanding of us whenever we have intense class schedules,” she said. “I love that even though we are student-athletes, the priority is put on our education I love the fact that we are pushed to do well as a student and as an athlete.”
Lindsey Wilson College student Sara Motyl ’26 is a biology major who has already been part of a research project that has been turned into two research articles for journals.: http://app.readmedia.com/news/attachment/212436/LWC_Sara_Motyl.jpg
Lindsey Wilson College is a vibrant liberal arts college in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson — which will become Lindsey Wilson University on July 1 — has an enrollment of more than 4,000 students, and the college offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The college’s 28 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson College)