Presley presses forward with planning goal as new FMPC youth representative
The Commission appointed her as its youth representative during its June 20 meeting.
“I feel very honored,” said Presley, daughter of Travis and Laura Presley. “I’m super-excited to be able to see what it’s like and see if that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
She is looking to pursue a career in sustainable design or urban planning.
“I’ve wanted to be an urban planner since middle school,” Presley said. “I love design; I love planning things, and I really love the outdoors. I’m in a lot of agriculture classes at Farragut High School.”
In her application for youth representative, she stated: “In urban planning, there is no way to design the future without sustainability. I want to incorporate my eye for design and planning with sustainable and renewable materials.
“I have always loved learning about the environment and learning how I can make my community a better place,” Presley further stated. “…I hope to work with others in designing a better place for our future generations.”
As a result, Presley thought serving on FMPC “would be a great opportunity to see how (planning) works and see if it’s something I really want to pursue as a career.
“I just think combining (love of design, organization, people, being outdoors and sustainability) would be a really good step for me,” she added.
Presley said she loves working with people and loves Farragut. “Being part of my community is really amazing to me,” she said.
Regarding her opportunity to serve on FMPC, Presley said her parents love it.
“My mom is super-excited for me, and my dad thinks it’s really cool,” she said. “He used to work at the Town of Farragut, so he’s really excited.”
Presley hopes to learn “how everything works, learn how to work better with people and just what to expect if I pursue this kind of career and how the Town of Farragut works so hard with everything they do, all the decisions they make and how they come to conclusions about that.”
Besides serving the Town, Presley has served as FHS’s Student Government Association Junior Class president, a member of Future Farmers of America and is a youth group leader in her church.
“Out of the 510 students in the Class of 2025, Anna Presley is one of the kindest students I have had the privilege of working with,” stated the rising senior’s sponsor, Rachel Bast, AP coordinator and Class of 2025 counselor, in a letter to FMPC.
“Since her freshman year, she has had clear passions and ambitions and has taken the steps she needed to take to reach her goals,” Bast further stated about Presley.
“Anna is mature beyond her years and has grown into a strong, independent young woman who advocates for herself and is capable of handling challenges.”
Specifically, “Anna can be described as a passionate, determined and disciplined student,” Bast stated. “With a 4.22 GPA, Anna is in the top 30 percent of an extremely competitive (rising senior) class. She has taken 10 Honors classes, five Advanced Placement classes and multiple dual enrollment college courses.”
