MAKING YOUR OWN PATH How Harvard Became the New Homefront for One Louisiana Scholar By Vicky Roe
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ith graduation season coming to an end, most high school seniors are looking toward their next step, and Ashley Johnson is no different. What does make her unique is the fact that she was a part of the mere 3% of applicants accepted to Harvard University, a record low acceptance for the Ivy League institution. So how does one go from being a senior at Zachary High School to being accepted into Harvard? Well, it didn’t come without some lessons from the school of life. It’s a journey that started with a young Johnson, who says she’s always been the type of person to get good grades almost without even trying. So, it should come as no surprise that she accomplished as much as she did in her senior year of high school. Not only did Johnson maintain a full load with seven AP classes, but she was also a Drum Major, Student of the Year, and Valedictorian to name a few. While college was always in the plan, Johnson thought she would be taking her talents to LSU to play in the Tiger Band. But once the time came to apply for schools, Johnson ended up casting her net a little wider. “I applied to as many schools as possible. I ended up applying to 18 schools.” Johnson said. What about all of the application fees? Well, Johnson says she worked over the summer to save money for them and also applied for application fee waivers. While Johnson 26
was able to apply to all of these schools, she wasn’t able to partake in a normal part of the pre-college process of campus visits. A lot of incoming college freshmen faced this same obstacle due to the ongoing pandemic. “There were a lot of emails sent, there were a lot of zoom calls. I was doing my very best to get a feel of what each school had to offer,” Johnson explained. Even with all of Johnson’s accolades, applying to Harvard was still something she did without thinking there was a real chance of her getting in. “When I initially applied, it was one of those things where I was like, I don’t know if that’s even a possibility, but I was like, ‘I’m just going to shoot my shot, we’re just going to see what could happen.’ The more interviews I had, the more research I did, the more I talked to the admissions office, the more I realized this could be an opportunity for me...this is an option, but it seemed so far off but it truly wasn’t. It was well within my reach, and I didn’t even know.” Then, Ivy Day came. The day that Johnson would find out if she got accepted into Harvard. While this was a huge moment for Johnson and her family, she laughs recalling the fact that she and her mom needed space that day. “My mom is the type of person that gets overly excited, so I planned it out. If I get in or if I don’t get in, my mom is going to be full of emotion so I’m just going to leave the house,” Johnson said. After going for a swim at a friend’s house, Johnson stepped 337M A GA ZINE . CO M
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