Why I’m So Thankful for Ashley Hall

During the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, we start reflecting on our year. I know I do. But this year was a little different for me. Instead of reflecting on just this year up until now, I’ve also been reflecting on what I was doing around this time last year. When I think of what I was doing during the holiday season last year, I think of three things:

1. Cheer

2. Coaching gymnastics

3. Applying to Ashley Hall.

For those of you who don’t know, I transferred from Trinity Collegiate School, a small private school in Darlington, SC, in the middle of the 2021-2022 school year. When I applied I was in the height of the football season and my competitive cheer season. I had to cheer every single Friday, had practice every single day, and went straight from practice to the local gym so I could coach. Any chance I got, I was working on my Ashley Hall application. I was desperate to get away from Florence, the small town I had grown up in. It had become super toxic and unhealthy for me to stay in and I was ready to leave. I had plans to move into the boarding house, AKA, the Elizabeth House, in January, and to stay there until my mom could move down to our house here. I currently live out near Edisto and drive into Charleston every day. You’re probably wondering why I’m blabbering about my past. But, I’m about to tell you the story of what I’d like to call, a Christmas Miracle.

When I was four years old, I was in Sunday School and had just been asked where I thought I would be in 10 years. I told my Sunday school teacher that I was going to be living in Charleston and attending Ashley Hall. Fast forward, 10 years later, I was so miserable. I was stressed out and getting into my head when I was working on my application. Eventually, all of the stress got to me. The stress got so bad that I ran off during a football game crying one time, because I was so stressed out that I couldn’t even focus on standing on the sideline. Then, I got so stressed to the point where I made myself sick. I had a nasty stomach ache, I broke out in hives, I had a horrible headache, and I had a fever. In the midst of staying at home sick, I received life changing news. I had been accepted into Ashley Hall, and I would be moving in late December to early January. On the same day I found out that I was going to be an Ashley Hall girl– some may think it’s a coincidence, I think it was fate-my fever broke, my headache went away, my stomach no longer hurt, and all of the hives were gone. I moved into the Elizabeth House on January 3rd, 2022, and my life completely changed. I was now living alone with minimal adult supervision, but I made some of the best memories ever.

When I had to say what I was thankful for this year, I said “Ashley Hall. I’m thankful for Ashley Hall”. I’m incredibly thankful for Ashley Hall, the community, the memories, the campus. I’m thankful for everything! I have made the best of friends and I have truly found myself as a person. I have experienced so many cool things and have gotten so many opportunities that I wouldn’t have had before. But most importantly, I am so, so, so thankful for the little four-year-old girl who claimed that she would be attending Ashley Hall right now. I thought that my Christmas miracle was getting away from my hometown and gaining more freedom from my parents. But my Christmas miracle was actually the Ashley Hall community, hidden in disguise.