Beaufort County Community College is welcoming a new student leader with a full plate and no plans to slow down. Emerson Asby, a Career and College Promise (CCP) student dual-enrolled at Northside High School, will serve as president of the college’s Student Government Association for the 2026–2027 academic year. He plans to transfer to North Carolina State University to study environmental engineering.
A Track Record of Leadership
Asby is no stranger to leadership. He was elected president of his school’s National Junior Beta Club back in middle school and has been a class president every year since. Today he serves as Northside’s student body president while holding offices in Science Club, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Future Farmers of America (FFA), and Math Club.
“I don’t think I’ve really ever regretted being busy,” Asby said. “While we have the time and the opportunities now that we’re in high school, go ahead and take advantage of the extra college class, or go ahead and do that club and make memories and learn new things.”
A Slate Built Across the Region
He ran for the Beaufort CCC SGA presidency alongside close friends from all three of the county’s high schools, part of what he believes is one of the first years the organization’s officer slate has drawn so heavily from outside Beaufort County Early College. He was elected alongside Eliza Grace Jones as vice president, Caroline Mitchell as secretary, his cousin Corabeth Asby as historian, Joanna Sauls in the special populations role, and Jackson Cohick as parliamentarian.
“We all go to these separate high schools and we’re all rivals in sports, but then we’re all in the same classes here,” Asby said. “I thought it would be a really good way to bring us all together.”
He hopes the friendships behind the slate will help draw more CCP students, especially those who commute in just for classes, into SGA events.
Roots in Agriculture, Eyes on Engineering
Over the last two summers, Asby took part in experiences at North Carolina State University that helped point him toward his intended major: the Resource Conservation Workshop, sponsored by the County Soil and Water Conservation District of North Carolina, and the Institute for Future Agricultural Leaders (IFAL). He was nominated as a Beaufort County representative for both.
His interest in the environment traces back to his family’s fourth-generation farm in Terra Ceia, where his father shifted the operation from row crops to cattle just before the pandemic. Today the farm raises about 50 head, alongside a big garden and the chickens that started Asby’s entrepreneurial streak at age 7, when he began selling their eggs.
“I’ve been connected to agriculture all my life, and I know our environment is a huge part of our community,” Asby said.
Asby plans to transfer to N.C. State after completing his studies at Beaufort CCC to pursue a degree in environmental engineering, with hopes of landing a spot in the university’s Park Scholarships program.
“I want something a little bit broader,” Asby said of choosing engineering over agribusiness or animal science. “I love to test out the different things and maybe get more specific as I get deeper into it.”
A Full Course Load and a Full Schedule
He also appreciates the unique opportunities that come with being a CCP student. Getting his course load approved took a leap of faith from his Beaufort CCC advisor, Brandon Lewis, when Asby walked into their first meeting with a wish list of seven college classes, 20 credit hours in all, more than a first-semester CCP student typically takes on.
He recalled his advisor saying, “Usually I don’t give this many classes to a [high school junior], but you’ve done the work, you’re very committed. I’m going to take a gamble and let you do it.”
He finished that first semester with all A’s and has kept up the pace since, splitting time between Beaufort CCC classes in the morning, high school classes in the afternoon, and cross country or track practice after that, with student government and work shifts squeezed in between. Asby credits a color-coded Google Calendar, and a genuine dislike of sitting still, for making it all work.
“I think there’s plenty of hours in a day to do homework or do different things,” he said. “It’s just filling your time with clubs or sports or being with other people, instead of not doing much of anything.”
Looking Ahead, Staying Close to Home
Wherever his environmental engineering degree eventually takes him, Asby said he plans to keep Beaufort County close.
“I definitely want to still look back here,” he said, “whether that’s helping with the soil and water side of things, or Farm Bureau, or whatever it might be. The environment affects everybody, no matter what.”
SGA Meetings