Boarding School was Never Something I thought I would Do

Saint Mary’s School holds such a special place in my heart because it is where I really started to figure out who I am as a person.

I will never forget the first time that I stepped onto Saint Mary’s campus during my tour and got overwhelmed by this feeling that everything felt right and tears welled up in my eyes. The tour continued and I met Emily Smith who interviewed me and she made me feel like the most important people in the entire world and was so bubbly. She asked me the question, “if you were a shoe, what shoe would you be?” and I said “I would be a Jack Roger because you can dress them up or dress them down, which is similar to me because I am a very go with the flow and outgoing person so I will make the most of any environment I am put in.” After my interview I remember sitting in front of a panel of student ambassadors and thinking to myself I want to be just like them one day. When I got accepted into Saint Mary’s as a boarding student even though I applied as a day student because they thought that if I wanted to do all these sports and leadership roles and make good grades that I needed to board in order to reach my full potential. This was the hardest news my parents had to hear because I was their first kid and they had not planned on sending me to boarding school initially. However, they knew it would be the best decision for me. Going to boarding school was something that I never thought I would do, but it was exactly what I needed to become the person I am today.

I started at SMS in Fall of 2013 and hit the ground running, making friends and playing tennis, dancing in the winter and playing lacrosse in the spring. I learned more that freshman year at SMS than I did any other year in my life. During that year I had moments of hardship because I was so homesick, but I also had moments of gratitude because I knew I was growing way more than I would have if I stayed at the private school in Durham where I had attended my whole life. I learned how to rely on myself more than I ever had before. For example, if I forgot my tennis racket for an away match I just wouldn't be able to play because no one would be there to bring my racket to me. Experiences such as this one stand out to me as times that I learned how to manage my life and be prepared for whatever comes my way. During my sophomore year, I started to become a lot more comfortable with everyone and I became a student ambassador which had been one of my dreams to do since I toured SMS. This leadership role really helped me gain confidence in who I am and helped me to find out that I really liked public speaking and selling people on how amazing the school was. The following summer, I studied abroad in Costa Rica with my roommate from SMS, which was the first time I had traveled abroad by myself. This was an experience that I never would have been confident enough to do if I had not attended boarding school. When I came back for my Junior year, I felt like a new and improved Ashton because I felt super comfortable with all my friends at school and with the faculty. For example, I had built this amazing relationship with my advisor, Morgan Phillips, who was like a second mother to me who I sought advice from about anything and everything. She helped me to learn how to navigate my anxiety and focus on what is most important in life. When I would come to her stressing about something, she would say to me, "If this bad outcome happens, is it really the end of the world?" Every time she asks this I I would reply that it wouldn't be the end of the world and it always helped to calm down and think of the situation with a different perspective. During junior year, I was elected Marshal, which was the leadership position I wanted most since the first day of school watching them stand in front of the chapel doors. This position is chosen by the student body and you are the official hostesses of the school and help out with chapel, assembly and so much more. Additionally, I was elected to be the Cheer Captain, which was chosen by the student body as the person who can motivate the grade, lead pep rallies at sports events and run the dances at school sponsored events. The summer after Junior year, I applied and was accepted to the Woodberry Scotland Program, which was a three week summer-long program where 8 Woodberry boys and 8 females were chosen to travel to Scotland and take a history course. This was a life changing experience that allowed me to further my passion for traveling and hands-on learning. Finally, my senior year was one of the best years of my life. Everything that I had gone through at SMS had come full circle in that everything that I had learned along the way served a very important purpose. Because I attended SMS I gave myself the opportunity to get accepted into my dream school, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This place will always hold a special place in my heart and I can honestly say I would not be who I am today without Saint Mary’s School.

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