Ashley

Because there’s just so much you can do here, I’ve learned what my interests are. I’m able to form my own, more developed opinions, and I feel like I’ve become more independent in my thinking.

Ashley

Ashley distinctly remembers the moment that ignited her passion for social justice. It was her 9th-grade year at NMH, and older students from the Student Diversity Committee were speaking to the school about democracy, voting, and the then-upcoming 2020 election.

“I remember thinking, ‘That is so cool – they’re students and they’re teaching me about the Electoral College,’” Ashley recalls.

Fast forward to her third year on the Student Diversity Committee, when Ashley, who hails from New Jersey, now wielded the microphone to address her peers.

“It never occurred to me that being passionate about social issues could be something that you could pursue academically, more than just having a personal opinion about it,” she reflects.

Ashley also took on social issues in the Rhodes Fellowship Course in Social Entrepreneurship, a two-year class in which students are challenged to address injustices within the community through funded entrepreneurship projects. During the first year of the program, students learn about issues like mass incarceration, the housing crisis, education systems, and food insecurity. They can then apply for the second year of the fellowship, when students create a social enterprise to address a specific issue.

For their project, Ashley and her classmate Delphi tackled substance abuse issues in western Massachusetts through community-based research at rehabilitation centers and support groups and by collaborating with organizations like YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs.

Ashley also did a senior capstone project called “Roots: Examining the Relevance of Natural Hair in Black Womanhood through Literature,” which delves into the intersections of hair, race, and gender. For the project, she photographed and interviewed Black women about their personal hair journeys and read several books on hair and the Black experience. Then she put together posters of the women, writing a paper, and preparing a presentation about her work.

“I think there are a lot of spaces where I’ve taken the opportunity to make them social justice-oriented,” she says.

Her impact extended well beyond the classroom. As the digital media editor of the school newspaper, Lamplighter, Ashley amplified voices and narratives on race, social justice, and other key issues. She also served as a leader in the Black Student Union and fosters camaraderie as captain of the ultimate frisbee team. In the winter, she served as captain of the junior varsity ice hockey team.

As a Resident Leader in a 9th-grade dorm, Ashley learned to navigate balancing mentorship, boundary-setting, time management, and leadership. “It was an experience that taught me that the leadership positions that I have, I have them for a reason and I can actually take things out of them and I can learn alongside being a leader,” she says.

For Ashley, NMH was a place of growth and self-discovery. “Something I really like about NMH is that you can find things in your schedule that work for you, and if you want to try new things, it’s really easy to do that,” she says, adding that she even found time to give a capella a try one semester.

“Because there’s just so much you can do here, I’ve learned what my interests are a lot more,” Ashley says. “It’s given me a really big sense of independence. … I’m able to form my own, more developed opinions, and I feel like I’ve become more independent in my thinking.”

As she prepares to embark on the next chapter of her journey at Columbia University, Ashley remains committed to her passion for social justice. She hopes to fulfill requirements for a pre-law track while studying history or political science, but she’s open to trying lots of classes and finding the right fit for her.

“Something I’m interested in is working in nonprofit spaces and trying to find ways to help people who are facing social injustice,” Ashley says. “I just like helping people.”

— By Maddie Fabian