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Life is a God-given gift.

 

Abbie Jane Harper embraced her gift of life. Born April 16, 1990, Abbie pursued everything with joy, a competitive spirit, and an intense drive. Abbie possessed a sharp intellect, remarkable fortitude, and an innate desire to strive for excellence in all areas of her life.

 

Abbie was a Christian and was striving to live a life that glorified God. Her dreams and passions of becoming an attorney to work in the field of public interest helping others were inspired by her faith, her family, her education, and her experiences that resulted from those educational opportunities.

 

Abbie grew up in Maryville, Tennessee and attended Maryville City Schools where she graduated from Maryville High School in the top of her class in 2008. Because of her competitive spirit and love of sports, she played softball, basketball, and volleyball and lettered in all three. She was named "Most Athletic" her senior year of high school. After graduation, she eagerly left her Southern home to experience college at Miami University of Ohio where she majored in Journalism and Political Science. During her tenure at Miami, she spent a month in Costa Rica with other students in pursuit of knowledge pertaining to the country's multitude of tropical ecosystems. In her own words, she came home "with a fresh perspective; I'd had an infinitesimal dose of third-world poverty, and I'd seen what so much of the world suffers with on a daily basis. Southern roots, a northern stalk, and now, third world branches."

 

After graduating Magna Cum Laude from Miami of Ohio in 2012, she attended The University of Chicago Law School. After her first year of Law School, she enthusiastically jumped on a plane to Johannesburg, South Africa for an internship with CALS-Center for Applied Legal Studies. Her summer of 2013 was spent working alongside attorneys on the Marikana massacre, the single most deadly force since Apartheid. In addition, she spent hours after work and on weekends taking in the culture of surrounding communities in Soweto, Pretoria, Grahamstown and Cape Town. Abbie came home with renewed enthusiasm and definitive ideas about her future in law. "Now I'm thinking litigation and even considering public interest as an alternative to the firm path."

 

Abbie did not get to fulfill all her dreams here on earth as her life was abruptly taken from her on November 14, 2013. Through her life and death, she has undoubtedly transformed lives.  She showed all those that knew her (and many that did not) that a life rooted in eternal hope is a life that can make a difference. With this scholarship in her name, our hope is that God uses those individuals who receive it to bring about hope and goodness to others through the educational opportunities afforded them.

 

Ken and Leyanne Harper

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom." - James 3:13

Abbie Jane Harper

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