Ally B is an  altruistic and helpful person who will stop at nothing to put the needs of others before herself. Growing up in a close-knit family of five with an older brother, twin sister, and uncles, aunts, and cousins who were always around, Ally has always been a big family person. “Since day one, my family has never failed to support me in everything I do. I could never imagine my life without them,” she states. One of her biggest supporters was her grandmother who, unfortunately, passed away in April of 2012. “My grandmother always wanted the best out of me, which makes me even more motivated to make her proud of myself and my accomplishments.” Making her grandmother and the rest of her family proud is one thing Ally Byrne never fails to do.

Ally likes to spend her time outside of school hanging out with friends, going to concerts, playing sports, cooking, and, most importantly, volunteering. Ally has played basketball for almost all of her life, but many ankle injuries have taken a toll on her. These injuries have only been a small setback in Ally’s road to success because she does not let this stop her. This past year, she started playing volleyball for the CYM St. Anthony’s senior league team and basketball for the St. Matthew’s senior league team. Though Ally did not play basketball for Padua this year, she was still involved with Padua basketball by becoming a manager of the JV team.

Because of her many injuries, Ally has also started volunteering more. She spends everyday of the first week of June volunteering at the St. Anthony’s Italian Festival. Here she  takes orders, prepares and cooks food, and watches the younger children of some of the other adult volunteers. Ally also became a member of Ronald’s Rescue last year as a freshman, an experience that has made her realize just how grateful she is for everything and everyone she has in her life. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the people who reside at the Ronald McDonald house,” she says. “It really makes me realize how lucky I am and how I should never take anything for granted.” Through more of her volunteer work, Ally has realized her love of working with children. Because of that experience, she spends much of her time babysitting her younger cousins and neighbors. Ally does all of this activity while still managing to be a Sophomore Student Ambassador and keeping her grades up.

With her optimistic attitude, Ally Byrne is always able to make the people around her smile. Ally plans on attending college after graduating from Padua, but is not quite sure what she would like to do from there. She states, “All I know is, I want to make the best of the life I was given, be happy, and make the people around me happy,” a road she has already started traveling on.