Standing at a solid five feet tall, Abby is one of the funniest, kindest, and most hard working people I know. I had the joy of meeting her way back during the summer before eighth grade when we were just 13 on a camping trip. She loves to tell that story of how my family and I were playing volleyball in the pool and her dad decided to randomly join us and the rest is history. We didn’t live anywhere near each other, so eventually we stopped talking as much, but then one day she posted a picture about getting into App and we like to think that was basically fate telling us we were meant to be friends forever.
Abby is a senior accounting major and a member of several different organizations on campus such as Walker Fellows where she serves on the Peer Mentor Committee as a Mentor. She also is a student worker in the BB&T Student Leadership Center on campus. When asked what she would most like to be remembered by, she answered with her work ethic. I found this really interesting because ever since freshman year that has been a quality in her that I have always admired. She works extremely hard to pay her way through college, while maintaining close relationships with her friends and her boyfriend of almost four years, John. That hard work and drive has helped her secure a job after graduation at Bank of America where she will be in the FMAP (finance management analysis program).
Aside from school, she loves simple things like drinking way too much coffee, eating at Proper at least 3 times a week, spending time with her family, and being outdoors.
Geology class sophomore year, measuring stream velocity. She says this was the hardest class of her college career, and strongly recommends to not take it.
This was taken in El Cidral, Dominican Republic during her sophomore year for a service trip with an organization called Service For Peace. Abby bravely went on this trip not knowing anyone or being able to speak any Spanish. She credits this journey for pushing her out of her comfort zone and helping her discover her passion for traveling and helping others. Showering in a river and dealing with wild tarantulas will do that for you.
Abby and her grandpa in Pine Island, Florida, after realizing her potential in deep-sea fishing. At least she has a fallback plan if this whole college thing doesn’t work out.
Abby has wanted to go to App State since she was in fourth grade because of her teacher who also attended this school. She first fell in love with the mountains on trips to Boone with her parents when she was younger. Her advice to freshmen and other students in general: 1. Form relationships with your professors because they decide your grades and can serve as great resources later on 2. Get involved with clubs and activities on campus, but not more than you can reasonably handle. It’s okay to choose school over extracurricular’s 3. Find what you’re passionate about and go with it. Don’t worry how hard it might seem or what your future salary will be, “just do you” 4. Do things that make you happy, it’s okay (and even important) to take a break from school sometimes.
Abby Young may be small but she’s off to do big things!!
P.S. feel free to add her on LinkedIn (she told me to add that).