Senior Abigail Wells has kept her calendar full these past four years, balancing leadership positions in various RSO’s and managing her own nonprofit organization on the side.
Majoring in public administration and health promotion, Wells found a passion for public health policy through her own experiences after being diagnosed with cancer as a teenager.
Wells was diagnosed with cancer during her freshman year of high school.
“I got a bone injury on my ankle running track, the doctors told me that it was something serious and diagnosed me with a type of bone cancer,” Wells said.
A few weeks later, Wells began aggressive chemotherapy along with a surgery that amputated her left lower leg.
After the treatments, she was declared cancer free with a low likelihood of the cancer coming back.
“A lot of people think cancer ends whenever you are declared cancer free and get your last chemotherapy,” Wells said. “But really it’s just one stage of it. Another stage is living with the side effects of chemotherapy.”
Due to the aggressive chemotherapy she experienced, Wells was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a disease that causes the heart to have a harder time pumping blood to the rest of the body.
Despite these challenges, Wells’ still tries to stay as active as she was before.
“While I’m not in any sports, I still try to be active. I did the adaptive CrossFit games, all those types of things,” Wells said.
Wells’ interest in sports is what led her to start her nonprofit organization, Natural State Adaptive Sports.
The nonprofit helps give accessories and equipment that allows people with disabilities to have an equitable opportunity to participate in sports programs.
“When my leg was amputated, I wanted to run track again, but I didn’t see any adaptive sports opportunities or locations near me,” Wells said.
Wells started her nonprofit in high school, and through her public administration classes, she has learned more about how to manage it.
“I haven’t had much time to manage my nonprofit, so the main thing is learning how to tweak it so it will stand on its own,” Wells said.
One thing Wells has done with her nonprofit recently is advise the new Conway Community Center on where they can purchase adaptive equipment.
Despite her already busy schedule, Wells manages to make time for six other leadership positions on campus.
Wells is part of Bears Adapt, Public Administration club, Political Science Honors Society, Bears at the Ballot and is the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Representative in the Student Government Association.
Not only is she a member of these organizations, but she is also the president of both Bears Adapt and Bears at the Ballot.
Wells said she juggles all these commitments by being “accountable” to herself.
“It’s about discipline,” Wells said, “I mean I wake up at 5:30 a.m. every morning and go to bed at 9 p.m., so I have to say no to things that mess with that schedule.”
Wells hopes to use all these experiences to go to law school after college and work in health law.
“I would love to address legislation, even though I know lawyers are more specific. So, I would love to go into legislation eventually and address the inequities in the healthcare system,” Wells said.
While Wells wants to eventually become a legislator, she would be happy working as a patient advocate for a hospital or even the CDC.
“Not everyone has the same opportunities that I did as a kid, and I want to use my experiences to help people,” Wells said.
Wells credits all professors in the public administration department as well as Dr. Leslie Graybeal for her successes at UCA.
“I think UCA is what you make out of it. I know that sounds super basic and people probably have said that a lot, but it’s a small-big campus where you are able to get out of your box and it does not seem so scary,” Wells said.
“I feel like I do as much as I can every semester, I’m always doing something extra. I think that’s what every student should do, so they can look back on their experience and think they made the most of it,” Wells said.
