TEMPE, Ariz. — The average undergrad graduates with 120 credits. However, one Arizona State University student is going above and beyond that, even when the odds were against her.
After being diagnosed with a rare nerve condition, Sydney Abel has continued to push through every challenge she's faced.
“I see it as it is,” she said. “I know it will be harder for me in some circumstances, I know I’ll have issues others wont, but it’s a gift.”
Sydney Abel is currently a fourth-year senior at ASU. Her mom was a Sundevil so going to ASU was something she knew she wanted from the start. Abel though set her own path, one unlike any other.
“So I entered as a photography major,” she said. “My first year at ASU, the spring semester, I decided I wanted to be a triple major. I knew from the beginning I wanted to add business to my education because I’ve always been passionate about business.”
So, she went to her academic advisor who told her she should focus on the one major. Abel would prove her wrong.
“I said I wanted to add a degree in Entrepreneurship and she said lets try a certificate, I don’t think you can do two degrees,” she recalled. “So I then added a degree outside of the advice of my advisor and then after that I was like I kind of like Business Law too.”
This May, she will graduate with a 4.13 GPA with degrees in Business (Law), Business Entrepreneurship, Sports Business, and Art (Photography). She will also have a minor in Real Estate. The accomplishment though is more than just what’s written on a piece of paper, because she says she’s also finishing her undergrad with confidence knowing she did it.
“I’m going to have 247 credits completed, last year I took 27 classes in one year and I never received a score less than an A,” she said. “It’ll be a monumental moment for my own personal gratification.”
It’s truly a feat. However, take the degrees away, and Abel’s graduation is still one worth noting.
“I didn’t want to give up on my dreams because my body wasn’t as able as it could be,” she said.
During Abel’s first class as a college student, she felt light-headed and passed out. She was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Since that day, she’s continued to pass out multiple times a day.
“At the height of it, it was causing me to pass out 15+ times a day,” she said. “I had never passed out before coming to college. I was a dancer my entire life and an active kid.”
It wasn’t until her sophomore year that she finally got a diagnosis, an autonomic nerve disorder called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).
“I went on the internet and read about people dropping out of school and going on disability,” she said. “My initial thought was I hope I can continue triple majoring because my health was getting worse. It was a really scary moment when I found out I could be passing out for the rest of my life at the frequency I was passing out. It was a scary moment."
However, she persevered.
“I just never wanted to be defined by it,” she said.
Abel says she’s learned to manage it, but still passes out about 1-3 times per day. It’s not ideal but says the disorder has shown her how strong she can be.
“It’s been very stressful,” she said. “But it’s been a lot and I do think it’s helped me grow as a person. I can achieve pretty much anything and I have the confidence and ambitions I never thought I had. It’s going to make me a better academic in the future, a better person in the future, and it’s going to make me a harder worker after all of this.”
Abel was recently accepted into the Ph.D. program for the business school on ASU’s campus. She’s considered to be one of the only undergrads to be accepted into the school without a Master’s first. Abel says she’s honored by that and can’t wait to start. Right now though, she’s focused on graduation.
“I cannot wait to say I did it,” she said. “And I did it with a disability and I did it well. Everyone around you will try to say you can’t do it, but you have to find what you’re passionate about, what you like doing, and what makes you get up each day. Your disability will never limit you from that. It’ll cause you disadvantages and you’ll have harder days, but you can do it.”
And ask her what she’ll be thinking about as she accepts her diplomas?
“I honestly am glad there’s representation of someone with a cane,” she said. “I’ll be proud of myself for being able to look at the face of adversity and say I can still achieve something.”
WE ❤ ARIZONA
Explore amAZing people, places and things across our state on our 12News YouTube playlist here.