Classics Professor Angeline Chiu was the advisor for her thesis “Daughters of Ares: Iconography of Amazons.” Her paper, which she presented at the 2019 Undergraduate Research Conference, compared the Amazon myth of Greek culture to contemporary American ideas, including the movie “Wonder Woman.”

While at UVM she also worked as a curatorial intern at the university’s Fleming Museum. She contributed research behind the revamped Africa and Ancient Egypt exhibition, and for the installation of the “The Impossible Ideal: Victorian Fashion and Femininity” exhibition, which described how fashion both reflected and influenced women's behavior and beliefs in the Victorian era. These experiences have whetted her interest in combining her interests in art, education and history to work as a museum curator.

Ashley was presented with the John H. Kent Memorial Award in Classics, given each year to the top graduating senior in classics. She’s been accepted into the Teach for America program beginning in the fall of 2019. She can draw on her own experience as an educator—besides her curatorial work she worked as a tutor in UVM’s Undergraduate Writing Center for several years.

Ashley hasn’t been issued an assignment yet—she knows she’ll be teaching special education in Eastern North Carolina somewhere on the Kindergarten through grade 12 spectrum.

“I’m interested in sharing my passion for knowledge and learning ,” she said. “Education is a real gift and I love the fact that I will be making a difference in the lives of underrepresented students.”