Sophomore Abby Baye came to La Salle from St. John the Baptist because she “heard about the amazing education and environment that is here at La Salle,” she said.

At the moment, Baye’s favorite class is Spanish with Spanish teacher Mrs. Karen Kessler. While the main objective of the class is to learn Spanish, “sometimes we like goof around, play Kahoots, play Quizlets,” she said.  

Outside of her classes, Baye is involved in the community as a member of the Black Student Union (BSU) and is a student ambassador.  

So far, Baye’s greatest achievement at La Salle has been making it through her freshman year. “It was so hard,” she said. 

While Baye has never played any sports for La Salle, she loves to swim. Baye started swimming for a club team in the fourth grade and participated on a competitive team for four years before quitting around the seventh grade. “It was very relaxing to swim,” she said. 

Although Baye quit swimming a few years ago, “I was at the top of my swim team,” she said. Baye was taking advanced swim training sessions for her team and made it to the most advanced level. When she was 12, her coach asked her to compete nationally and work towards going to the Olympics once she was of age. Even though Baye’s parents were very happy for her, Baye turned down this rare opportunity for various reasons. Baye hasn’t swam competitively since, but “I do plan on swimming at La Salle, maybe, this year,” she said.

Baye remembers her childhood fondly and cherishes many memories from when she was younger. “My favorite childhood memory was all of our annual holiday traditions,” she said. “For instance, we would go to my aunt’s house for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Fourth of July, and we would host New Years.” 

Baye also appreciates traditions that originated from Ethiopia. “I’m passionate about my ethnicity [and] my culture,” she said. “We have so many different cultures that are fun to be a part of.”

Baye had the opportunity to visit Ethiopia when she was four. “It was so long ago, but it was so memorable that I still remember,” she said. Her favorite part of this vacation was the great food and going shopping in the huge shopping malls. “I shopped a lot, I ate a lot, I got my hair done, I was spoiled,” she said.  

Baye’s recent goals include attempting to get through high school with a 4.0 GPA, which she says is something that she is getting closer to. She also hopes to keep “positive vibes [and] positive energy,” she said. 

As far as giving words of wisdom to the freshman class, “Don’t let yourself get caught up in drama,” Baye said. 

Regarding finding and giving inspiration, someone that Baye has always looked up to is Michelle Obama. “She’s just such a powerful woman and stands for what’s right, so I aspire to be more like her,” she said. Baye also says that her favorite celebrity is Kevin Hart because he’s funny and relatable. Her current favorite song is Swalla by Jason Derulo. “It gets me up and moving,” she said. “It makes me happy.”

Excited for what is in store for the future, Baye’s goals looking beyond high school are to attend New York University to hopefully become a lawyer.