Abigail Mauldin
Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics
Mauldin changed her major as a freshman and found the perfect fit in FACS
- Hometown
Reidsville, Ga.
- Major
Financial Planning and Spanish
- Activities/Honors
Activities
- UGA Club Cross country treasurer and social coordinator for all four years of college,
- Freshley Small group leader (2020-2021)
- UGA Club Climbing volunteer
- Breaking the Shackles volunteer
- Athens Casa de Amistad ESL volunteer
Honors
- Gilman scholarship recipient
- Overland Summer Open Arms fellowship
- FACS Creative Planning recipient
- Zell Miller Scholarship recipient
- Why I chose my major
After changing my major from Plant Biology as a freshman, I wanted to find something that fit my goals more. I knew that I wanted a major that could make a difference as well as provide me with real life skills. I spent quite some time in the exploratory center and expressed to my advisor, Shiloh Wilson, that I had a newfound interest in self-help books centering around personal finance. She connected me with Christie Sanders, and I was shocked to find a major that teaches aspects of money management and life skills as well as radical understanding and empathy for your clients and the people you work with. This major, in combination with my Spanish degree, feel like the perfect blend to provide financial service without barriers to real people and families.
- What I like most about FACS
The people! First, the professors in this program are top-notch because they actually walk the walk. I would like to shout out Dr. Michael Thomas in particular because he was the first professor that I had the pleasure of having a class with whohad a fire in his eyes when he talked about how the subject matter of our class, Personal finance, could change not only our lives but the lives of our future partners, family and clients. He also expressed his own service projects to us and revealed to me that you can be more than one thing and create your own path of service. As someone who was long interested in social work, this truly made me feel like I had found the right place. I regularly see my past professors, and they stop walking or whatever they were doing to talk to me and remain invested in my success. My friends are always shocked when this happens and the professor remembers so many details and remark how their major does not have connection like we do in FACS.
Secondly, I want to remark on the lovely humans I have met in this program. You can tell that everyone in financial planning truly wants to be a help to others in the future, and we really watch out for one another. Plus, any time you meet another person in any FACS major, it feels like an instant bond over how much we love the school.
- Post-graduation plans
I plan to take a gap year or two and work on getting my TESOL certification and do a cross country bike trip, some seasonal work, and apply for NALCAP to teach English in Spain in the fall. After some time off working around and traveling, I plan to return to school to pursue a master's and possibly a doctorate in hopes of becoming a Spanish literature/Hispanic Studies professor one day!
