Rise Up: Sydney Allen
Austin-East High School student, Sydney Allen is grateful for her East Knoxville neighborhood.
“I have grown up in the community around the school, and I love how everyone knows each other. I’ve had the same group of friends since I was a kid,” she said.
As a rising senior at A-E, Sydney has little time to spare on her calendar, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She serves as vice president of the Student Government Association, plays in the marching band and is an athlete on A-E’s basketball and track teams.
Sydney also was selected to participate in Youth Leadership Knoxville with other students from around Knox County. She was nominated for the program by her school counselor, Riley Hammett.
“Ms. Hammett has played a big part in providing leadership and community engagement opportunities for me,” said Sydney. “I appreciate her helping me build my resume, including nominating me for Youth Leadership Knoxville. I really enjoyed YLK and learned a lot, especially how to work with others and be patient.”
Additionally, since her freshman year, Sydney has been part of Emerald Youth’s Calling and Career Ministry for high school students. She’s also grown in her faith during Emerald’s Wednesday night Bible study at Mount Zion Baptist Church and is a lifelong member of Children of God Ministries in Mechanicsville.
“Emerald Youth has given so much to me and played a big role in my life,” she said. “Emerald helped me prepare for the ACT and explore colleges. My goal is to attend Spelman College and become a biomedical engineer.”
Sydney’s desired career path began during middle school.
“When I was in the seventh grade, my mom passed away from cancer. At the time, I thought I might become a doctor, but I also wanted to be an engineer. I figured pursuing biomedical engineering would be a great option, so hopefully one day I can help find ways to prevent cancer. That’s my big life goal,” she said.
While experiencing her mother’s illness and death was difficult, she was grateful for her church family at Children of God Ministries.
“The church is tight knit. They were with me throughout my mom’s illness, every step of the way. When I started to question God…they pointed me to scripture and helped me realize it happened for a reason…and they helped me grow closer to the Lord.”
Because of our faithful donors, volunteers and ministry partners, young people like Sydney, will continue to grow into promising Godly young adult leaders.