Open the link by clicking on the grey arrow to the right — click “Part 2” then skip to the 6minute 30second mark to hear my comments on networking and personal branding. This video is taken from the first annual “Empowering and Cultivating Emerging Leaders” conference at Purdue University. I’m seated on the far left next to Dawn Yerger and Casarae Gibson. They’re talented and inspiring young entrepreneurs themselves! Casarae recorded then posted this video on her blog along with closing remarks and reflections on the conference. I was honored to have been a panelist and a member of the planning committee.
This new blog will be a space where I discuss in more detail my varied interests and experiences. I hope you find it helpful — if so please comment and subscribe!
I am honored to have been nominated and selected for Purdue’s 2011 Outstanding Young Alumni award :*) This photo is from the celebration dinner. Here’s a snippet of my bio featured in the most recent Young Alumni newsletter:
“Ashley Gaynell Scott is currently working as an assistant director of Admissions at Purdue University. While at Purdue she was the creator and student coordinator of the Black Cultural Center’s non performance-based ensemble called the Black Thought Collective – Purdue’s first black think tank.
Ashley is a member of Lambda Pi Eta National Communication Honors Society and was inducted into the 84th class of the Barbara Cook Chapter of Mortar Board.
Ashley is currently serving as the secretary for PBAO and is on several committees. She represented PBAO at the Black Caucus of Faculty and Staff’s annual awards reception by presenting the 2011 PBAO student scholarships. PBAO nominated Ashley for the 2011 Outstanding Young Alumni Award stating “all that she has done to impact and influence undergraduate student life will translate into others being excited about the possibilities of becoming a Purdue student.”
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Event Planning for Student Leaders
Today I had the privilege of facilitating two workshops on Event Planning for some of Purdue’s top student leaders. Instead of lecturing on a topic they are all quite experienced with I opted to initiate a brainstorming session where they could combine their expertise and resources to plan an event that would benefit the entire campus community.
I’ll blog more on the opportunity leaders have to create change via event planning later but for now I’d like to connect those students to the Facebook group I just created:
About the group [Click Here]
Use this group to network and begin planning campus wide events aimed at bringing student leaders and student organizations together from all across campus. This space should be used to continue discussions had during the Event Planning workshop of Purdue’s 2011 Student Leaders Retreat or to start new ones!
Please remember to be respectful of one another’s ideas. Everyone has something to offer whether it be funding, manpower, marketing expertise, etc. Work together and you’ll accomplish great things! Good luck!
Had a wonderful time at the Purdue Black Alumni Jazz Reception hosted in Indy during the annual Indiana Black Expo.
“What is a community connector? In his book, “The Tipping Point,” Macolm Gladwell defined it as an individual who has the capacity to bring people together through formal and informal networks as a means to bring great ideas to fruition. Gladwell found that connectors are not all people of wealth, power or influence, but are trusted individuals who use their connections and knowledge to bring people together.
As part of the Northeast Indiana Connector Project, The Journal Gazette and Leadership Fort Wayne asked the community to nominate people who help get things done because they are trusted and innovative leaders. The project is modeled after the work done by Leadership Philadelphia…
…The top 101 connectors have now been identified as the region’s 2011 Cohort of Connectors.”
I’ve been identified as one — click the link to see my name on the list :)
Graduation Day Launches a Future of Possibilities
This time last year, on May 16th at 9:30a.m., I walked across the stage in Elliot Hall of Music and received my diploma from Purdue University. If you would’ve stopped me on the steps of Hovde that afternoon and told me I’d be back on campus less than a year later, I would have laughed in your face — but life happens. Here I am. Working my first full time job at the very institution I paid to prepare me for a life beyond Indiana. I know, it’s not quite what I expected either…
I thought I was going to be a big time magazine editor or advertising executive atop one of my favorite downtown Chicago skyscrapers. Instead I’m a higher ed admissions counselor — living happily and more comfortably in the nonprofit sector than I’d ever imagined.
I’m using my skill set to ultimately help young people manifest their dreams and positively alter their realities. It’s funny how you can go to class mentally preparing for one thing but somehow use that same learning outcome to succeed at another. Only now do I understand what people mean when they say college is just as much about the experience as it is the content. The entire time I was getting closer and closer to my true passion and what I believe is my life’s purpose — but it took me leaving Purdue to realize how afraid I was to embrace it.
Like many, I wanted my career path to be easily defined, logical, and predictable. I wanted to be in control of my professional circumstances. I had no idea how scary giving in to truth could really be. But when I look back over my life — at all the things I had done out of love, all the things I did just because I cared — I found an undeniable common thread that I had been trying to deny all along. Suddenly, everything was clear, and the solution to this internal struggle I was dealing with became less about ‘giving in’ and more about ‘tapping into’…
The experiences that I enjoy the most are directly related to improving the life experience of another. I live to get the word out about individuals, organizations, or events that I feel will improve humanity’s quality of life as a whole. All of the experiences I had in college helped me to develop as a leader and they educated me on the complexities that exist within this world we all call home. As a result, I can now celebrate diversity, respectfully encourage everyone to live their dreams, and create change in the most deserving (though sometimes unexpected) communities.
I’m thankful for my graduation day because it was one day I truly felt ready to “make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
As I reflect on my one year anniversary, I’m truly inspired and becoming more and more fearless every day. If at the moment your path doesn’t seem clear, avoid letting uncertainty in the days ahead paralyze you. Remember, the first part of Marianne Wiliamson’s quote says, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” You not only have a purpose but are adequately equipped to complete that assignment successfully. Believe and continue to achieve.
Congratulations Graduates!
Live your dreams.
❤AGS
About me
@ashleygscott is a higher ed admissions counselor interested in demystifying the application process so that every teenager across America has a shot at making their dreams reality.
