Ashley Stevens’ Montevallo story began in February of 2015 when she visited the campus for the first time to see the annual College Night production.
“My deciding factor was visiting and seeing the campus in person,” Stevens said. “The campus was beautiful, I loved the high arts focus and I loved the College Night traditions, so after visiting I knew this would be my school.”
Ashley also credits her various scholarships as another reason for her decision to attend the University, with one program standing out the most.
Stevens earned over $7,000 in scholarships through the Distinguished Young Woman program, representing the state of Tennessee at the national finals in Mobile, Ala. in June. She represented her hometown of Tullahoma at the state level winning the talent and scholastic achievement award, and later won another scholastic achievement award and a Distinguished Diaries award at the national competition.
After deciding to attend Montevallo, Stevens was awarded the MAPS scholarship, was accepted to the theater program following an audition and is also a part of the honors program, something that she says makes Montevallo stand out from other schools.
“I take concentrated classes with all the other students in the honors program so I have gotten to know them really well and we even all live in the same dorm,” she said. “However, our schedules and majors let us have classes with other students from all over campus, so that allows us to all have our own personal experiences.”
The one thing Ashley loves about Montevallo is the diversity of the students and the ability to learn from her professors and her peers, stating that, “there is always something to learn from everyone else here.”
As for the future, the freshman plans to continuing living her Montevallo story through College Night programs, auditioning for musicals in the theatre department, and possibly studying abroad. In her free time she likes to play video games, a hobby that she hopes to transition into a career.
Ashley knows a lot about stories. In the theatre, she expresses a storyline through acting and singing. On paper, she writes and is even developing a script for a play. Her Montevallo story may be a chapter of four years, but Ashley is already making lifelong memories that will be a part of her own story forever.