Houston County High senior wants to ‘change the world’

William Moore hasn’t had an easy path in life, but he’s still reaching his goals.

The Houston County High School senior, set to graduate Saturday, was diagnosed at the age of 4 with McCune-Albright syndrome, a disorder that can cause lesions or tumors on bones. In Moore’s case, it left him unable to walk without crutches.

“We told him his legs were sick, but there was nothing wrong with his head,” said his father, Gregory Moore.

William took off with that — and a goal of becoming an engineer — in mind. He’s graduating with a 3.93 GPA and will attend Georgia Tech this fall to study mechanical engineering.

With that degree, he wants to pursue a career in robotics.

“I like how with robotics, it’s a way to be really creative, really create something,” he said. “There’s endless possibilities with robotics.”

Moore hasn’t focused just on academic endeavors, though. He’s also a part of the Houston County Sharks wheelchair athletics team, which regularly wins state titles, and he won four gold medals recently in wheelchair track and field.

He said that has been a “fulfilling experience” during his high school days.

“I would say it helps me as far as having a way to be active,” he said. “It relieves stress as well as helps you have an overall lifestyle.”

That progress toward a more well-rounded existence is one of the main reasons Gregory Moore described the Sharks as a “lifesaver” for his son.

“He got a chance to get out there and compete and be aggressive and be a young man who could ... fight for his team,” the father said.

With his Sharks career in the past, Moore now turns his attention to Georgia Tech and beyond. He has his sights set on owning his own robotics company, with innovation as the main focus of that endeavor.

He said it would be nice to help people with challenges like his own, but he mainly wants to “create something that will help somebody” down the road.

“I want to create something that will ... change the world,” he said.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Houston County High senior wants to ‘change the world’."