Snow was falling outside as I walked into the BYU Indoor Practice Facility on an early winter morning. It was just before 7 a.m., and Abby Degn and the rest of the BYU Women’s Lacrosse team were already hard at work practicing for their upcoming game.
Degn was all smiles and welcomed me in as I took pictures of her team. She worked and laughed with her teammates throughout the practice and it made me wonder what makes her wake up this early on such a cold day.
Her younger sister, Bella Degn, describes what others see in her.
“She has such a genuine personality that really attracts other people. Other people feel really comfortable around her and see her as a really easy person to work with,” Bella Degn said.
Abby Degn is a member of the BYU Women’s Lacrosse club team, as well as a student in the public relations program. It’s a busy schedule, but Abby Degn finds time — and her sister knows why.
“Abby is super optimistic,” Bella Degn said. “Not only is she optimistic, she is a go-getter, and so she’s super good at setting goals and achieving them.”
When Abby Degn first came to BYU, she was interested in elementary education. After her freshman year at BYU, she served in the Washington D.C. North mission. But after returning to BYU, Abby Degn found a love for public relations.
“I really enjoyed my Intro to PR class with Professor Knighton,” Abby Degn said. “He just had an energy about it and he wanted us to succeed.”
Abby Degn said she appreciates how values from her gospel upbringing connect to PR.
“Learning here at BYU, there is that mix of religion and education,” Abby Degn said. She enjoys hearing from her professors about how they are able to incorporate Christlike values with other values that are important in their respective career fields.
BYU President C. Shane Reese emphasized the unique spiritual nature of BYU in his inaugural speech in 2023.
“Bolstered by gospel methodology, we frame these experiences by our conviction that each student is a child of God who can be bound to Christ as a child of the covenant,” Reese said.
Abby Degn mentioned her gratitude for the support and community she has felt at BYU. Her teachers and TAs have done their best to set her up for success. She has felt this as an athlete as well.
During last year's lacrosse season, Abby Degn blew out her knee. She felt a lot of support from coaches and teammates as she recovered and went through physical therapy.
“I really felt supported,” Abby Degn said. “I think it would have been really hard if I was just by myself doing it and not having team support and people reaching out.”
Abby Degn was praised by her roommate Liberty Vincent, who talked about Abby Degn's strength.
“She’s very good at adapting to her surroundings and the challenges she has to take on,” Vincent said.
Vincent went on to say how Abby Degn wakes up at 5 a.m. to get ready for her early morning lacrosse practices, finds time to study for PR and adapts her schedule to make time for her friends and roommates.
“A major takeaway from BYU is that God wants us to succeed,” Abby Degn said. “We have so many resources to help us to get where we want to go.”
Abby Degn reflected on how she has grown during her time at BYU as she worked to push past her limits.
“I feel like now I can really appreciate the hard work that I put in,” Abby Degn said.
