Ashley Schroder '22

When Ashley Schroder ’22 saw how nurses stepped up to serve in the midst of the 2020 pandemic, she found within herself the desire to do the same. “I saw the perseverance they had and the strong community they built together,” she remembers. “I had learned the power of a strong community during my time at Oakcrest and knew that wherever I went, I wanted to continue to cultivate and experience such an environment.” 

Now a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ashley is studying nursing and in the process of applying to the school’s nursing program this semester. 

“I love nursing because it provides me with a concrete and tangible way to help people and to make a real difference,” Ashley explains. “Over the course of my life I have experienced numerous medical issues and the kind, supportive, and often witty healthcare professionals have made a significant difference in my experience. 

“I’ve also always liked biology because it fascinates me that God has not only created our souls, but also our bodies. Learning about all of the intricacies of how we work has shown me how much care the Lord took in creating each and every one of us and He truly is the Divine Physician.” 

Ashley remembers AP Biology at Oakcrest as one of the most demanding included in her course load. “But through this hardship I made some of my best friends at Oakcrest… AP Bio taught me that in good and fruitful friendships, you push each other to be better, and you hold each other accountable,” she says.

In addition to the faculty at Oakcrest, Ashley also notes the staff members who impacted not just her experience as a student, but helped shape her as a young woman. 

“Due to my health problems I spent a lot of time in the nurse’s clinic and Nurse Nancy (Williams ’98) Miggins and I became very close my senior year, as she became my unofficial mentor,” Ashley explains. “She taught me that being vulnerable invites others into your life and allows you to establish a relationship with them that goes past the surface level. She taught me the power of hardship and suffering, and how it was okay if you fall apart sometimes, but that you simply need to get back up, and that it is okay to ask someone for help. She was present and enthusiastic and completely herself in every conversation I have ever had with her and that made an immeasurable impact on my life.” 

While a student at Oakcrest, Ashley was involved in Student Council, serving as executive student body president her senior year. One of her most memorable projects was establishing and organizing the school’s first Charity Carnival which raised funds to support girls education at a school in Venezuela. 

With a heart for charity, Ashley founded “Happy Cakes” when she was in sixth grade. She sold baked goods at farmers markets and CrossFit gyms to raise money to create care packages for the local homeless. 

“Our first delivery was of one care package to a homeless man on Christmas morning,” Ashley said. “From its inception, Happy Cakes has a tradition of delivering care packages on Christmas morning. As it has expanded, we now also do numerous other deliveries throughout the year.” 

“As the number of care packages grew, so did the manpower needed to run Happy Cakes, so naturally I enlisted numerous of my service-minded Oakcrest Class of 2022 classmates to help me, which they happily did. Abby Adams ran the social media, Elisabeth Dunch set up the website, Sarah Callahan, Caroline Naegele, Adele White, Jackie Friddle, Grace McDonnell, Dima Al-Mosawy, Abby Koehler, and Franny Barvick all helped bake, organize donations, shop for and assemble care packages, and on occasion, deliver them.” 

Since heading to college, Happy Cakes has not been able to continue as Ashley has wished, so she plans to host a bake sale and donation drive this winter break as she closes out the Happy Cakes chapter. Visit Happy Cakes on Instagram @happycakesvienna. 

As Ashley reflects on her Oakcrest experience, she says, “My Oakcrest experience was the single most important decision my parents ever made. It formed me more than anything else. It has shaped my future more than I can describe, it has given me mentors to help counsel me through difficult times, it has given me the tools to tackle any challenge, and it has given me the people that I want to go through life with on a daily basis. I could not be more grateful.” 

“The single most valuable thing that Oakcrest gave me was confidence in who I am as a person,” Ashley explains. “Unlike many young adults in college, I do not find myself trying to figure out “who I am,” because I already know. The all-girls education taught me three important things: confidence in my academic abilities, independence, and the freedom to be unapologetically myself. The faith formation taught me that I am loved by God, not just because they told me that but because I was shown that was true: through adoration, confession, meditation and real encounters with the Lord that I had every time I had a deep discussion with a classmate, talked about an issue with my mentor, was given grace by one of my teachers. Christ is infused into every aspect of life at Oakcrest and that has allowed me to walk away with the assurance that I am deeply, unconditionally loved and that has given me the power to get through some of the toughest times of my life in college.”