Abbey Miklitsch grew up surrounded by nothing but land, and among the reasons she chose URI was its proximity to the beach. She made the most of her time near the water by minoring in underwater archaeology and earning a scholarship to compete on the women’s varsity rowing team—even though she had never rowed before coming to URI.

“When the coach told me about rowing, I didn’t know much about it,” she admitted. “But when I put boat and water together, it was a no brainer to join the team.”

As part of her double major in psychology and sociology, Abbey conducted weekly research at the Rhode Island Training School-Juvenile Detention Center. She asked a wide variety of questions of juvenile offenders and then analyzed the data. “I learned that a bit of patience and kindness goes a long way,” she said. “It’s easy to get frustrated when you’re working with challenging populations. Some of my most successful days came from me remembering to take the time and sit down and remember to be patient and kind.”

A Dean’s List student every semester, Abbey was also an Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll recipient and a member of URI’s Student-Athletic Advisory Committee, which eventually led to her being named to a similar committee for the A-10. But her service to fellow students didn’t stop there. She was the only student-athlete named to the 17-member National Student Advisory Committee, which held monthly conference calls with the White House to address sexual and domestic violence issues on college campuses.