Josie Allred is on Track to a Promising Future

Asheboro, North Carolina, is a close-knit community with 27,000 residents. So, what made local high school track star Josie Allred ’26 take the leap to move over 700 miles away to enroll at URI?

“I knew I wanted to go to school in the Northeast, and URI seemed like the perfect fit academically and athletically for me,” said Allred, a high jumper on URI’s track and field team. “I was looking to be part of a Division I team and I wanted to study English and political science because I want to become a lawyer.”

Scholarships sealed the deal. “I would have had to take out student loans to pay for my education if I hadn’t received the scholarships from URI,” explained Allred. “Getting scholarships has helped to alleviate the financial burden and allowed me to fully engage with my studies.”

URI has expanded her horizons in a lot of ways. She credits Professors Daniel Carrigg and Stephen Barber with encouraging out-of-the-box thinking and introducing her to different opportunities outside of the classroom, such as being a teaching assistant and entering the English Department writing contest.

As a member of the track and field team, Allred volunteers as a coach in the community, helps lead incoming student-athlete orientation, and enjoys competing in world-class facilities.

“Being an athlete at URI has been the most valuable experience of my life,” said Allred. “My team is like a family to me, and my coaches have been incredible role models, helping us every step along the way.”

In addition to her athletic prowess and her studies, Allred has had two internships, one with a software and AI development company and another with an engineering firm. They involved writing, coding, small-group collaboration, and public speaking. She also gained skills in Excel, business communication and collaboration, policy writing, and data science.

“I’ve honed skills that I learned at URI and had the chance to work with people from all different backgrounds,” said Allred. “URI has given me an opportunity to understand diverse perspectives and better comprehend the world around me.”

Allred still plans to become a lawyer, but her political science classes have shown her various career paths, like working in a government agency or a nonprofit organization. It’s exciting to know she has options, and she is definitely on the right track.