Abby Foust finished her accounting degree at UMSL with a perfect 4.0 GPA and a certificate from the Pierre Laclede Honors College. She will begin law school at Washington University in St. Louis this fall. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

For Abby Foust, her University of Missouri–St. Louis experience started as a testing ground to explore new areas of study and potential career paths while easing into expanded social interactions as a college student.

By the time she walked across the stage during the College of Business Administration commencement ceremony on May 16 – having earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting, fresh off a prestigious spring internship at Anders CPA – it was clear her time at UMSL had transformed that initial transition stage into a launching pad.

Foust, who graduated summa cum laude with a perfect 4.0 GPA and a certificate from the Pierre Laclede Honors College, will begin law school at Washington University in St. Louis this fall. She not only earned her degree as an UMSL student, but she explored the world with opportunities provided by the university, participating in three study abroad trips in Europe.

Foust said she felt like she got the most out of her UMSL experience.

“Yes, absolutely,” she said. “I didn’t realize this as I was coming into college, but this felt like a safer place to experiment with different careers without a lot of major repercussions, and that’s one of the best ways I learn – by trying something and then realizing it doesn’t work for me. The opportunities at UMSL felt like a really nice, low-stakes way to try things and figure myself out a little bit, figure out what I enjoy, what I’m good at, stuff like that.”

Abby Foust took full advantage of the study abroad opportunities offered by UMSL Global. She studied at the University of Oxford, along with a trip to Germany and one to Belgium and the Netherlands. (Photo courtesy of Abby Foust)

The study abroad opportunities were transformative for Foust. She went to Germany, a trip led by Associate Teaching Professor Christoph Schiessl. She went to the United Kingdom for a couple of weeks and attended lectures and stayed at the renowned University of Oxford on a trip led by Associate Teaching Professor Michael Costello. She also went to Belgium and the Netherlands, a trip led by Costello and Assistant Professor of Political Science Stephen Bagwell.

In addition to relishing the chance to study in new environments and with instructors from other countries, the chance to step further outside her comfort zone was important.

“For me, it was the structured independence I enjoyed most, if that makes sense,” she said. “I still lived at home when I did those trips, and I wasn’t ready to go live on my own, but for a couple weeks, it was nice to try that. And getting to sightsee, of course, while learning at the same time was a really nice combination.”

Like so many students, her UMSL introduction actually happened before she enrolled as a freshman; Foust participated in the Bridge Program during high school.

“I really enjoyed that. I was homeschooled my whole life, so for me that was really different, being in a class with other people,” said Foust, whose father, Todd, earned his computer science degree from UMSL in 1998. “It definitely helped me in the social aspect. There also was a class about creating a college roadmap, and that was helpful as well. The Bridge Program helped me with my confidence because the teachers were really encouraging, and they were more focused on improving from the beginning to the end, rather than just getting a good grade, which was a new take on things.”

Foust wasn’t sure what she wanted out of her career as a freshman, but she had an interest in optometry, so she started in the biochemistry and biotechnology program. That wasn’t the right fit, so she switched her major to business, then later switched to accounting as she got to know the students and faculty members, including Associate Professor Thomas Kozloski, in that program.

One area of consistency as she switched majors was the Honors College. Foust, who was following in the Honors College footsteps of her father and also her cousin, Jeremy Dobrzanski, a 2023 UMSL graduate, enjoyed the perspective she gained from those classes. Honors courses taught by Rob Wilson – Conspiracy Theories, Disease of Fear, and Honors 4100 – stood out.

“It’s a different style of learning,” she said. “They’re really big on discussion and on writing, so instead of a final exam, it’s almost always a final paper or a research paper. And in class, there might be a little bit of a lecture, but it’s usually more of a guided discussion, where the professor leads you through the material and tries to make you think through stuff. They’ll ask probing questions to get you to get to the main point of whatever we read in preparation.”

As she dug into her accounting classes, Foust accepted an opportunity to be a supplemental instructor for the online component of Accounting Information Systems taught by Associate Teaching Professor Johnna Murray.

Foust’s experience with UMSL started with the Bridge Program during high school and ended with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

“I was really nervous about it at first, because I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to be able to teach this well enough,’” Foust said. “Dr. Murray, she’s so great, she’s really encouraging. I think that was part of why I was a little more comfortable doing it, because I was really comfortable with her as a professor. I tried very hard to make sure I learned the material, reading everything beforehand to make sure I could answer questions to the best of my ability. And I tried to make it fun, too, like, ‘Let’s see how much of this we can make into a game. We’re learning but still having a good time.’”

Even as she was closing in on her accounting degree, Foust was staying open to other career options. A business law class with Elizabeth Grimm-Howell helped guide her choice.

“She’s an amazing professor,” Foust said. “She was just so passionate, and I think that rubbed off on me a little bit. I had always thought law was interesting, but that’s when I really got interested in it.”

Wanting to further explore the idea of becoming a lawyer, Foust found the UMSL study abroad program to Oxford that had a pre-law focus. Her interest grew while in England, but she still wasn’t completely sure. She decided that she would take the LSAT the summer after her junior year at UMSL, and if her scores were good enough, she would apply to law school.

Her LSAT experience was a success. Staying in St. Louis was a priority, and the primary areas of focus at WUSTL’s School of Law were a better fit for her interests than at Saint Louis University.

“Right now the goal is to work with copyrights and trademarks, but specifically for small business writers and artists,” she said. “Especially with GenAI, there are a lot of issues with copyright infringement and stealing art so that the AI can make art. I have a lot of writer and artist friends who are really frustrated and don’t know what to do about that, so that’s kind of my motivation. I want to work with those small artists and help them protect their work.”

Foust is confident her accounting degree will help her law career, even if she’s no longer planning to be an accountant.

“Accounting touches on a lot of laws, especially in the tax and audit areas,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which I’m definitely going to have to know in law school. Knowing the accounting side helps provide context for different laws and why they’re there, and it also helps me to understand a little bit more of the business perspective. When I end up working with businesses as a lawyer, it will be helpful to the accounting and money perspective that they’re going to be looking at it from.”