Racing toward the next giant leap
Name: Abigail Bothwell
Hometown: Denver/Lyons, CO
Major & concentration: Agricultural Economics-Public Policy prelaw; Sustainable Food and Farming Systems minor
Why did you come to Purdue: Touring Purdue, I fell in love with how close-knit the agriculture community was and how personable the advisors and professors were. Coming from a small high school and out of state, the community was one of the biggest factors in choosing a school, and Purdue College of Agriculture has such an amazing community!
Favorite Purdue tradition: I might be biased, but my favorite Purdue tradition would be Purdue Grand Prix, but if I were to pick another one of my favorite traditions, it would be the fountain run!
Top three influences at Purdue:
- Purdue Grand Prix Foundation
- Purdue Sigma Alpha and all the amazing women across the organization
- The study abroad programs I participated in and the amazing people I met through
them! - The amazing advisors, especially LeeAnn Williams!
- Bungee Jumping in Queenstown, NZ, and honestly, my entire time in NZ.
- Standing on the bridge at the end of Grand Prix races 67 and 68, with the entirety of
the Senior board who became family! - Seeing Noah Khan in Eliot
- Midnight Pancake breakfast every year for Grand Prix week/Grand Prix festivities in
general - All the 7 Brew runs or late-night sweet treat runs with my incredible roommates.
Places you have been as a Purdue student:
- Spain and Portugal Maymester
- New Zealand semester abroad
- With sub-trips to Rarotonga, Laos, Australia and Thailand
- Jackson Hole, WY, with the Purdue Ski Club.
- Washington, D.C. - Purdue Sigma Alpha Leadership seminar
Favorite club/organization: Purdue Grand Prix Foundation
Favorite Purdue event: Purdue football games and “the greatest spectacle in college racing”
Favorite place to study: Stewart HSSE Library or Union Hotel
Favorite thing about CoA: I love how, even though we are a large university, the CoA feels small, professors want to see you succeed and will do their best to help you when you need them.
Favorite class: SFS 210: Small Farm Experience and AGEC 410: Agricultural Policy
Favorite professor: LeeAnn Moss
Class you are excited to take your senior year: MGMT 455- Legal Background for Business
Three biggest accomplishments at Purdue:
- One of my biggest accomplishments was packing up and moving across the world for three months to study in New Zealand.
- Another one of my accomplishments is serving on the Senior Board for the Purdue Grand Prix Foundation for the past three years. Being part of “the greatest spectacle in college racing,” one of the longest-standing traditions at Purdue, has been an honor!
- Another one of my accomplishments is receiving an exec position for my sorority, Sigma
Alpha-professional Agriculture sorority! Mentoring new members and watching them
succeed has been an honor!
Something about you that is not listed on your resume: I can unicycle, and I am a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur!
Future plans: After Graduation, I plan to take a gap year to backpack through Europe and work to save money, after which I hope to attend law school to study environmental law and hopefully work towards a career in the field of water rights for farmers and ranchers out west.
Advice for underclassmen: Take every chance to push your comfort zone; it might be scary, but looking back, those memories end up being the ones you look back on the most!
The biggest takeaway from Purdue: It sounds cliché, but you will get what you put into your experience at Purdue. It’s your job to reach for the stars and push your comfort zone because it pays off in the end.
