TOP 30: Abigail Lee
Abigail Lee
Major: Business Administration
Year: 3
Age: 20
Hometown: Santa Clarita
In One Word: Caring
HER PASSION
Abigail Lee is passionate about giving back to the community. From Key Club Lieutenant Governor to Accounting Association Executive board, she has always dedicated her time to helping the community. With Accounting Association, she has been able to fuse accounting with her passion as well, with the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program.
THE FUTURE
Abigail hopes to go into public accounting. This summer she will be interning with PWC, one of the big four accounting firms, and she’s hoping for a full time offer after her internship.
HER INFLUENCE
Summer Ko describes Abigail as “always willing to help and mentor fellow peers who are in need of her professional insight and advice…. and she is ambitious, successful, down to earth, and awesome”.
KS: Tell us about yourself.
AL: I was born in the Philippines, and I moved here when I was 11 years old. At that time, I wanted to be a doctor like everyone else, but when I got to college, I realized I’d rather go into business. My family wanted me to become a nurse, but I wanted to be a little different. Plus I’m afraid of blood, so it wouldn’t have worked out. I wanted to go into business because I always liked talking to people and just learning about what they do and how they made their business really successful. Back in junior high school, for our yearbook, we had to sell ads to raise money. I was actually able to sell a lot of ads, and I liked interacting with people that I didn’t really know. And the classes that I’ve taken at UCI are really interesting, so it kind of got me hooked into business.
KS: What have you accomplished here on campus, and what do you hope to accomplish?
AL: On campus, I used to be the External Vice President of Accounting Association. With that, I helped broaden this firm called HCVT. It’s an accounting firm that offers summer leadership programs for second years, and after one year, hopefully they get an internship. I also started a program called Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. With that, we teach UCI students how to prepare personal taxes and how to file 1040 tax forms. That’s the kind of skill that everyone needs to have because you’re always going to need to file your own taxes. We did all training for all the basic and intermediate taxes. We also prepared about 20 tax returns. For people in the community who couldn’t afford to get their taxes done, actual UCI students prepared their taxes, so it’s a win-win situation. UCI students learn how to prepare taxes and we are also able to give back to the community.
KS: What are you most passionate about?
AL: I really like giving back to the community. Back in high school, I was part of Key Club. At first I was just a regular member, but eventually I became Lieutenant Governor. For Key Club, I really liked giving back to the community and doing community service with different high schools. I liked giving back to the community and spending time with people I didn’t really know. For two or three hours I’d help them play basketball for the Special Olympics, or just keep score. I’m passionate about giving back, even through little things like that. That’s why I wanted to do VITA. We help the community too. It’s community service and accounting combined.
KS: If you could live anywhere for a year, all expenses paid, where would you go and why?
AL: That would be awesome. I’d probably go to Hawaii, because I’ve never been there before. I want to learn how to surf and scuba dive. And I think I would want to go snorkeling all the time and spend all of my time in the water. I would want to see turtles and fish, and plus it’s warm there. There would also be a lot of pineapples and good macadamia nuts. Haha sorry, I’m a bit random, but I love pineapples and macadamia nuts.
Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month at UC Irvine 