Graduate Spotlight - Abbee Brown
Abbee Brown
Accounting, Business Management, Entrepreneurship, and Human Resources, December 2019
“Honestly, I don't think I could have done this without being a mom. While it was obviously difficult to juggle it all, it is very rewarding to show my girls that it can be done.”
What gets Abbee Brown out of bed? Morning chores with the goats and chickens. “I really love my goats and chickens,” she says, “but day to day, I do everything for my kids.”
When Abbee started at Mid-State, she was engaged to be married, with two-year-old twin daughters. While pursuing her Business Management and Accounting degrees, she worked full-time while enrolling at least 3/4 time at Mid-State, even as life brought more big changes including marriage and a third child. “Everyone always asked me ‘How do you do it? Working, kids, school, chores?’” she says. “I always responded with ‘I just do it.’"
In some ways it was this simple for Abbee—her mind was set on graduating. “Honestly, I don't think I could have done this without being a mom,” she says. “While it was obviously difficult to juggle it all, it is very rewarding to show my girls that it can be done.”
Abbee spent one semester in the Respiratory Therapist program before switching to Business Management where she found she loved all of her classes, eventually adding the Accounting program after just one class in the subject. “Payroll, bookkeeping, general ledgers… some things may seem the same, but the details are always different, and it requires digging to get those details right,” she says, admitting she loves a challenge and the feeling of accomplishment that comes with conquering it.
And conquering it went far beyond one accounting class. Abbee maintained her honors ranking throughout her time at Mid-State, making the Dean's List nearly every semester since the fall of 2015. This December she will graduate with a 3.82 in Accounting and 3.76 overall.
“I want to thank my husband, Scott, who stood by me and encouraged me to keep going when I wanted to quit,” she says in the days leading up to graduation. “Even when family situations popped up and things became financially difficult, he pushed me to stay with it.” She also thanks her daughters, twins Lezlee and Florah, and her youngest, Paula-Jean, for sharing their mommy time.
Next for Abbee is enrolling at Lakeland University to pursue her bachelor’s degree in accounting, which she’ll have in as little as 18 months if all goes to plan. Meantime, she will continue working for Mid-State Accounting LLC in a position she originally secured thanks to the skills she gained from her first Mid-State payroll class.
