One of the things I love is getting to meet people. It’s been my great fortune to meet lots of folks. Old folks, young folks, rich folks, poor folks. I’ve met very few famous people, but even among those, I find they often aren’t that different from you and me.

But the people that give me the most pleasure are young folks.

Little children or teenagers, it matters not. I’m often left with the sense that the future is brighter than the headlines might indicate.

And, so it is with Abbey Dean. The 17-year-old Zebulon resident is a relatively unassuming teenager. She’s not the kind of kid you’d expect to jump out in front of a crowd and steal the show.

In fact, a quick glance and you might think she’s more of a behind the scene’s kid.

But get to know her and you’ll see just how wrong that assumption is.

A student at East Wake Academy, Abbey had hoped to get into the school’s visual arts track to nurture her interest in art and, perhaps, give her a leg up on what she hopes will one day be a career in interior design.

Instead, the school put Abbey in the theater arts track and suddenly, this reserved teenager was headed for the stage.

She was in the chorus in last year’s production of Charlie Brown. It’s a role she’ll reprise in next spring’s production of Cinderella.

The 17-year-old daughter of Stacy and Valentine Dean, says she has enjoyed the chance to be on stage and it has helped her become more self-confident.

I first saw that self-confidence on display last year at a church camp when she was selected from among a crowd of students to take part in a game on stage.

One of the most intriguing parts of the experience is the verbal jousting that goes on between the contestants and the emcee. Abbey held her own and looked perfectly comfortable playing a silly game in front of about 400 other teens.

She participates in a youth band at her church and she says that has been a good fit for her.

I guess it has for someone who found her way on stage almost by accident.

If the stage thing doesn’t go anywhere after high school, that’s OK with Dean. She’s already started researching colleges and figuring out what it’ll take to get there. Once she arrives, she’ll be looking to turn an avocation with interior design into a vocation. She’s already helped redesign her family’s living room and her bedroom, not to mention another room in a different home for a family member.

She says the challenge of finding just the right design is intriguing. She explained to me the other day how she and her mom went about reworking their living room, explaining that they wanted a “You’re welcome here” feeling in the room, so they chose warm colors and comfortable furniture.

It was a success. As we sat in her living room talking, I realized Abbey had simply taken much of her own personality and cast it upon the room.

I left that day feeling good about a future with folks like Abbey Dean in it.