Mrs. Mickey says goodbye to Northwest

Mickey Ashley, also known to students as Mrs. Mickey, left the Northwest Bearcat Commons Feb. 10. She was most known for her positivity and left a meaningful impact on students' lives.

Ashley’s positivity showed through day in and day out. When talking about her years working at Northwest as it came to an end, she became very emotional. Mickey loved the people she got to interact with everyday.

Mickey was born in Saint Joseph and graduated from Nodaway Holt in 1982 with honors. She said she had been working at Northwest Bearcat Commons for eight years, and it was time for her to move on.

“I’m gonna miss the kids,” Ashley said with tears. “The faculty, staff, everybody has just been amazing. I am just so proud that I got to share everybody’s journey with them. … I’m gonna miss the people more than anything.”

Through swiping Bearcat cards in the Union, Ashley made fond memories working at Northwest. She said she enjoyed meeting different kinds of people.

“I probably have learned as much from them as what I hoped they would have learned from me,” Ashley said. “Like the kids that are from different countries. We sit and talk, and they tell me things that go on in their countries, what they do, and their kind of cultures and yeah, I have learned.”

Assistant Professor of education Dr. Tina Ellsworth, said Ashley meant a lot to them. Ellsworth said she really enjoyed her outgoing nature and cheery attitude. She also said Ashley can take an average day like a Wednesday and turn it into something that makes people smile. This is something many students refer to as “Hump Day.”

“She’s got her camels all out and her sign out, and she tells everybody you know in her voice in the way that she does, ‘Happy Hump Day,’” Ellsworth said. “And then even on Sundays where there might be some special event in the Union and they have music playing, she’ll get students to dance with her while they’re in line.”

Junior Carly Breen was not only there on “Hump Days,” but nearly every day of the week. She also felt Mickey was able to have a meaningful impact in the lives of others, including her own. She said Mickey went out of her way to help her when she was going through a tough time.

“She’s just always there for other people,” Breen said. “She says hi to everyone, she knows everyone by name. And at that point, I realized, like, why she was able to do that. Because she does genuinely care about each and every student that she sees everyday. She genuinely cares about what they’re going through, what they have gone through and what they might go through.”

Although Ashley has had a great impact on the students and faculty at Northwest, she said she has accepted a job at the Mound City Post Office for personal reasons. Ashley said her leaving had nothing to do with her job since she loves it. She also wanted to give advice to Northwest stu- dents before she left.

“Just do your best,” Ashley said, trying not to cry. "And don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not important, or you’re not worth anything, because each and every one of us is just as unique and important, just as much as the next person.”