May 1, 2026

Outstanding grad: Abby Beyer follows calling to serve others as U.S. Navy sailor turned Ferris State graduate

Protecting loved ones and community members has always been second nature for Abby Beyer.

That was a large reason why she answered the call to serve in the United States military and would later evolve into a community leader at Ferris State University.

Weeks away from becoming the first in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree, with her focus on the Hospitality Management program, Beyer didn’t anticipate that joining the military would result in becoming a Ferris State Bulldog.

“I’ve always wanted to serve, and in sixth grade I decided I wanted to be in law enforcement. But not too long after, I realized I wanted to join the military. So when I was told I could do both, I said ‘sign me up’,” Beyer said. “My grandfather was also in the Army reserves, and I always wanted my values to align with how he presented himself.”

Though Beyer persisted at training with the U.S. Army services while finishing high school, she recalled being told that she didn’t meet the physical requirements when it was time to make a definitive decision. The heartbreak is something she won’t forget, but Beyer was determined to turn those emotions into motivation.

She kept her focus on enlisting but also took advantage of educational opportunities, which included the Eaton Regional Educational Service Agencies (RESA) program. This allowed Beyer to not only work towards her high school diploma but also earn credit for an associate degree simultaneously. During that time, she started college visits, but coincidentally only made one pit stop: Ferris State. She knew immediately it was the only school for her if she were to pursue college.

“I fell in love with Ferris the first time I came on campus. I love that it is founded on hands-on learning, and that’s the way I learn best,” Beyer said. “Also, it’s not a big public university campus like Michigan State, but still bigger than other schools.”

After graduating high school in 2017, she enrolled at Lansing Community College – which she said was thankfully paid for by her grandparents – as she followed her father’s rule of getting a job or pursuing higher ed if she wanted to continue living at home. Beyer decided to do both, as she took courses at LCC and found a job as a prep cook at a local restaurant.

Months later, Beyer received a phone call in December 2017 that would change the trajectory of her life in a way she might not have expected.

“The Navy called me since I inquired about more information about their branch, but I told them I was probably over the weight requirements like I was for the Army. They asked for my measurements and told me I was good to enlist,” she said.

That same month, she started paperwork and was officially ready to ship out to boot camp in May 2018. The grueling transition would prove fruitful, as Beyer found herself in the role she hoped for, and a title she proudly stands by: Master-at-Arms (MA). The rank consists of being military police or security forces personnel, which was one step closer to her long-awaited law enforcement aspirations.

Beyer was stationed in Georgia on a nuclear submarine base after boot camp, while only able to share that she was doing a lot more than just “guarding the front gate,” as her position details are contractually sealed at least 50 years after she is fully discharged from service.

As she seemed to be on the path towards her childhood dreams, Beyer’s career came to an unpredictable hold just four years into her military career.

“In my last year in the service, I fell out of a BearCat service vehicle, and all that service gear weight and my own body all came down on my left ankle. That was a very long recovery, which took me getting out of the service to fully recover,” Beyer said. “I wasn’t sure if I’d make it into law enforcement.”

Already carrying mental and emotional baggage from her time in the service, primarily related to her height-to-weight ratio that prevented her from joining the Army, Beyer noted that she relied heavily on her father to get her through one of the most challenging hardships of her life.

She had the opportunity to stay an additional two years and ranked up to Petty Officer Second Class before ending her service but wanted to move onto an environment that wouldn’t judge her based on her physical appearance.

Dead set on discharging from the Navy, Beyer knew that she needed a game plan before moving back home to Michigan. Beyer would soon revisit the trip she made to Big Rapids years prior and realized she knew the next step she had to take.

“I knew I wanted to go to Ferris, and I was in my last year of service trying to figure out what to do. I looked at the programs the university offered but knew that Criminal Justice wasn’t for me since I was only interested in law enforcement,” she said. “If I did decide to keep pursuing law enforcement, I wanted something (a degree) to fall back on, but it’s hard to fall back on a Criminal Justice degree.”

That’s when the idea of studying Hospitality Management at Ferris State became her new reality. Beyer said the decision was inspired by a conversation she had with a former manager at the restaurant where she worked as a prep cook, who told her she should consider a business degree with a focus on management.

As she was forced to let go of the fact that her plan of serving in the military for 20 years and later becoming a state trooper was abruptly cut short, Beyer was granted terminal leave from the Navy and began classes at Ferris State in fall 2022.

A lot has changed for Beyer from the moment she began her program to now being close to receiving her bachelor’s degree. She said transitioning from the military back to being a civilian was no easy feat, and she struggled in multiple ways to stay on course.

Though her tuition was covered, an overwhelming housing bill resulted in her having to ask for help from her father, which she wanted to desperately avoid as she was conditioned by the military to support herself. She mentioned that her father and several Ferris State professors were also big mental and emotional supporters – including associate professor Amy Dorey.

“Things got to the point where I was scavenging around my car for coins just to buy milk or bread. … One day, I was in Walmart and Amy saw me struggling. She didn’t hesitate to say, ‘Put whatever you need in my cart,’” Beyer recalled, emotionally. “I say my professors helped me, no words can explain that, especially Amy. … It feels degrading asking for help from others, but it’s not. They just want to help you.

“I’m still struggling (socially), even four years later, because you’re essentially institutionalized with how the military is set up. That first month was hard… and sometimes I still struggle. Four years of conditioning is hard to get rid of,” she said.

Fortunately, Beyer earned scholarships and got a job as a line cook for Ferris State Campus Dining, which both helped to cover additional financial burdens. She also worked for the Lansing Lugnuts Minor League baseball team as an assistant manager for the suites and clubhouse, adding to her versatility as a hospitality specialist.

All of this ultimately allowed her to build a stronger community and start enjoying the perks of being back in civilian life.

For starters, anyone who wanted to enter her single-living space at Cramer Hall couldn’t barge in without permission – something too familiar in military barracks. Though she gets friendly teasing of showing up to anything at least one hour early to avoid the possibility of being late, Beyer can almost always be counted on to be prompt.

With her involvement in Veteran Services at Ferris State, serving on the executive board for the Hospitality Management Student Association (HMSA), and being voted into the Student Alumni Gold Club - all while maintaining fellowship at His His House - Beyer has found her stride.

“Being involved is what helped me transition to civilian life because everyone around me understood I was in the service, and there were things I would that I thought were normal, but that was just a military way of thinking,” she said.

The reality of becoming the first in her family to finish a bachelor’s program still hasn’t set in for Beyer. She noted that without the military, she would never have been able to afford a college education and has a lot of emotions about something that nobody can take away from her.

Although she’s savoring the last few moments in Big Rapids, Beyer is preparing for the next big step: finding a full-time job. She is currently back with the Lugnuts but hopes to either earn a promotion to manager for one of the club’s warehouses or move to Florida later this year to work at the Detroit Tigers’ spring training facility. Her passion to become a law enforcement officer is still ever-present and noted that she’s still working towards that dream.

Regardless of where life takes her, Beyer is confident that she can find a job working in hospitality or as a security contractor.

“It comes down to being that I’m very passionate about protecting people. The skills I learned in the military, law enforcement, or hospitality are similar, and the only difference is my guests in hospitality want to be there as opposed to my ‘guests’ in law enforcement,” she said, jokingly.