Republished with permission of the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram
By Ben Reuter
Leader-Telegram
Throughout Abbey Davis’ time at UW-Stout, her mind was in two different places.
In Menomonie, she worked toward her undergraduate degree in business administration — with a minor in project management. When she wasn’t studying or working two jobs, she would be back home in Stillwater, Minn., where her mother was fighting cancer.
Davis was one of 1,146 undergraduates and 233 graduate students who received degrees in three ceremonies Saturday, May 5, from UW-Stout.
About a year ago, her mother, Janelle, was diagnosed with brain cancer. Davis would spend the next 12 months traveling back and forth from Menomonie to Stillwater to provide care.
“It’s not something every 20-year-old wants to go through,” she said.
Over the course of the past year she grew closer to her mother and began taking on her mom’s responsibilities. Before becoming ill, Davis said her mother ran the family — which also includes her father, two sisters and a brother.
“I almost became my mom for the family,” Davis said.
The process wasn’t easy. In August, she contemplated not returning to UW-Stout in order to spend time with her mother.
“It was hard coming home on weekends because a week would pass and there would be more loss of functions,” Davis said.
She ultimately made the choice to return to school. In February, her mother died.
Mark Fenton, professor of international business and management, said Davis had to have made at least 100 trips home through her final year. He said it could not have been easy for her. He added that it’s beyond him how she was able to balance school, working two jobs and supporting her family.
“I’m very proud of the work she has done,” he said.
Growing up, Davis said it was tough financially.
Davis was in middle school at the time the U.S. economy dove into the Great Recession. It was at that time Davis started to think about her future.
“I really wanted to pick something that I could get a job in whether the economy was good or bad,” she said.
This led her to completing a degree in business in three years — two were completed at UW-Stout and the first at the University Northwestern-St. Paul.
Before entering college, she took classes that were similar to Advanced Placement courses in high school, allowing her to enter college with about 50 credits.
Davis graduated with nearly a 4.0 grade-point average. She has already landed a full-time job as a compensation analyst with Minnesota-based Patterson Cos.
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Photo
Abbey Davis outside Bowman Hall / Eau Claire Leader-Telegram photo by Dan Reiland
