How a Simple Plaque Became a Daily Reminder to This Aggie About What Truly Matters

The MSC Abbott legacy began with Joanie and Frank Abbott—the 1987-88 Texas A&M University Parents of the Year who originally planted the organization with an endowed gift through the Texas A&M Foundation. Alongside their children, they poured everything they had into creating a conference that helps sophomore and junior student leaders at Texas A&M reflect on their individual ethics, morals and values in order to establish a strong personal value system they can use throughout their lives.

I first attended the conference as a delegate and then served as its director of development in 2023, responsible for maintaining donor relationships and raising funds. In this role, I saw the tree the Abbotts planted continue to grow when several former directors and chairs, over a decade removed, came together to give back. United by their years serving the conference and inspired by the Abbotts’ example, these former students coordinated across cities and life stages to financially support our organization. Though they had stepped into new seasons of life with careers and families, they continued to walk in the values established during their time in MSC Abbott. Their decision to give back was about investing forward; they were ready to start growing trees, just like someone once did for them.
 

As a fourth-generation Aggie, I’ve come to realize that MSC Abbott and the lessons it teaches are part of something much bigger. All across campus, students are growing trees of their own as they mentor, serve and give their time and heart to things they may never see fully bloom. And yet, they do it anyway. That’s what this university does—it develops leaders of character who continue to plant trees in their homes, businesses and communities far beyond their four years on campus.

That plaque still sits on my desk. It’s a daily reminder not of something I finished but of something I’ve been invited into: a legacy that stretches far beyond me, shaped by people like the Abbotts and generations of Aggies who chose to give their time, gifts and hearts to growing something that lasts.

Bella Griffin ’25 ’26 is a fourth-generation Aggie from Cypress, Texas, serving as director of marketing for the Texas A&M Foundation Maroon Coats and formerly as vice chair for the MSC Abbott Family Leadership Conference. When she’s not traveling overseas, Bella loves listening to good live music and spending time outside with her friends. Following graduation, she plans to pursue a career in consulting, with the long-term goal of working with international nonprofits.