{"id":105843,"date":"2021-04-29T09:23:46","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T13:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=105843"},"modified":"2021-04-29T09:23:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T13:23:47","slug":"hope-and-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2021\/04\/29\/hope-and-healing\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope and healing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Ashley Elking, an earth and environmental sciences major, with her sons, Emery, left, and Beckett.<\/p><\/div>\n

Ashley Elking knows that a good education is the key to a better life and future for her family and herself. For years, the mother of two felt stuck in her circumstances and knew that something needed to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was working these dead-end jobs and I was never financially secure. We were always struggling with bills,\u201d said Elking. \u201cAt some point, I got very complacent and I felt like I was nothing more than a mom and a housewife, working these minimum-wage jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Elking began researching her career options online, she kept finding herself drawn to jobs that appealed to her love of nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe jobs that resonated the most with me involved parks and recreation,\u201d said Elking. \u201cI thought it would be awesome to be a park naturalist.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Elking, a career as a park naturalist seemed like the perfect fit. She would be able to learn a park inside and out; discover its trees, insects and animals; and lead children and visitors on field trips and guided tours. The job would also dovetail perfectly with her family\u2019s passion for hiking, fishing and trips to Ohio\u2019s beautiful and serene Hocking Hills.<\/p>\n

There was just one obstacle looming in the way. Ashley realized that she would need a bachelor\u2019s degree in earth and environmental sciences to pursue her dream job.<\/p>\n

When Elking discovered that Wright State University offered the exact program that she was looking for, her plans began to quickly fall into place. Wright State was the ideal choice. It was located close to her home, and it offered her the flexibility to take classes during the day and work in the evenings.<\/p>\n

Fourteen years after graduating from high school, Elking was finally on the path to pursuing her dreams. And then tragedy struck.<\/p>\n

One month before Elking was scheduled to start her first semester at Wright State, Steve \u2014 her partner for 13 years and the father of her two boys \u2014 was killed in a motorcycle accident while riding home from work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was grieving, and school wasn\u2019t my top priority at the moment,\u201d Elking recalled.<\/p>\n

Now a single mother, Elking had no idea how she was going to manage raising a family on her own while going to school. When orientation day at Wright State came around, Elking was hesitant to attend. After much encouragement from her mother, Elking eventually decided to listen to her mother\u2019s advice and head to campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a mess the whole time, but everyone was so welcoming and understanding,\u201d she said. \u201cI just felt like Wright State was going to be my home.\u201d<\/p>\n

With help from David Schmidt, director of the environmental sciences undergraduate program, Ashley signed up for classes on the day of her orientation. Grateful for Schmidt\u2019s kindness, she has taken many of his classes since that challenging and eventful day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think he\u2019s the coolest teacher ever,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ashley Elking’s professor let her bring Emery to class one day when he was off from school, an experience he still talks about.<\/p><\/div>\n

Once she started classes, Elking knew that she could no longer work. It was just too much to balance school, work and being a single parent. While survivor benefits are Elking\u2019s main source of income, there is little left over at the end of each month after buying groceries and paying the bills.<\/p>\n

For Elking, scholarships have been a saving grace.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scholarships are a miracle,\u201d she said. \u201cIf it weren\u2019t for scholarships, I wouldn\u2019t be able to go to school. I would be back in a dead-end job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scholarships help pay for Elking\u2019s tuition. When she is looking for a little extra income, Elking works for Instacart and Door Dash, which provide the flexible hours that she needs as a full-time mom and a full-time student.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest struggle is time management,\u201d she revealed. \u201cIt comes down to making sure you have your priorities straight. My kids are my first priority, and school is my second priority. Everything else just kind of goes on hold.\u201d<\/p>\n

To make sure that her sons, 14-year-old Beckett and 9-year-old Emery, get the love and attention that they deserve, Elking takes classes during the day while her children are in school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a struggle, but it\u2019s doable. You just have to put in the dedication and make the sacrifices,\u201d Elking said. \u201cFor me, I just keep my eye on that prize. I want that career. I know when I get a good job that my family will be financially secure. Maybe I can even put my kids through college and start them off on the right foot.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she struggled to come to terms with Steve\u2019s unexpected and unimaginable death in 2018, Elking let the pain be her fuel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to live a life that my kids and Steve could be proud of. I don\u2019t want to fall out of existence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Even though she was in shock and still grieving during her early days at Wright State, she found solace in school. For Elking, focusing on classes and homework was therapeutic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I went to school, being around other people was really healing. It may have been the first time that I wasn\u2019t a mess. I was able to think about something other than grief,\u201d she said. \u201cHad I not gone to school, I really don\u2019t know where I would be today. I\u2019m not sure I would have recovered as well as I have. I credit going back to school for a huge part of my healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elking also found acceptance and a welcoming community at Wright State.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the people at Wright State are nonjudgmental. They don\u2019t judge you for being older or younger. They don\u2019t care what ethnicity or gender you are,\u201d she said. \u201cI find Wright State to be just one of the coolest schools. It\u2019s a really good place to be. You can just be yourself, and I love that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Elking works toward attaining her college degree in either 2022 or 2023, she has shifted her career aspirations from being a park naturalist to becoming a hydrologist or working in a wastewater treatment plant.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy main interest is making sure that everyone has clean water. There are a lot of places that don\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cWe kind of take it for granted that we have it. We turn on our faucet and we have water. But no one really thinks about where that comes from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Elking continues to work diligently and selflessly toward attaining her dreams of a better life for herself and her two boys. While the journey may not be an easy one, for Elking, any temporary sacrifices will be well worth it in the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really glad I chose Wright State,\u201d she said. \u201cI know I\u2019ll come out the other side with a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earth and environmental sciences major Ashley Elking knows that a good education is the key to a better life and future for her family and herself. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":105855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,2066,2040,725,715,746],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-earth-environmental-sciences","category-giving","category-home-news-sidebar","category-news","category-science-mathematics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105843"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105867,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105843\/revisions\/105867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}