BY ASHLEY DALLAIRE ‘18

Ashley Dallaire is a senior general business major concentrating in marketing, management, and business communications. She is highly involved on campus as captain of the women’s tennis team, an Emerging Leaders Program member, the health and fitness coordinator, member of the honors program and the Delta Mu Delta and Zeta Alpha Phi Honors societies, a Student Alumni Society member, and an intern for the Nichols College Office of Marketing and Communications.

It sounds like I know what I’m doing right?

Wrong!

I have been through a lot since my first year here at Nichols College, and if it weren’t for the experiences I have had or the people I have met here, I would not be the person I am today.

How did I get to Nichols College, you may ask? The final decision came down to money, sports, and family. I got the most financial aid from Nichols; the sports teams are Division III, so I could play both hockey and tennis; it was far enough away from my house, but close enough so that if I wanted to go home I could; and when I did my overnight I felt like I had been catching up with old friends. The tennis team truly welcomed me as one of their own, and I felt at home.

As a first-year student at Nichols, you have to take Learning to Lead, which is a class that focuses on building the leader you are. I never viewed myself as a leader, since in my mind leaders were always the outgoing, loud, and popular people—and I was not any of those things.

One day, Associate Dean for Business and Professor Luanne Westerling came up to me after class and told me she thought I would be a great fit for this new program called the Emerging Leaders Program. I was so confused but excited at the same time.

Me, a leader?

Accepting to be in the Emerging Leaders Program changed who I was. I felt confident in my leadership abilities—and in me. It didn’t matter that I was not your typical leader, because actually there are so many different types of leaders! It was then that I wanted to be a part of everything I could on campus.

From my first year to my senior year, I have been a student panelist on the Institute for Women’s Leadership Board, a student ambassador for Admissions, went on a leadership trip to Walt Disney World, played on the track and field team, and, in 2016, my team won our conference championship for tennis.

Yes, being involved is something I highly recommend because that is the only way you truly learn about yourself. But, it is like anything else in the world—everything in moderation. I was so busy to the point where I was missing the social part of college—and, more importantly, I was not producing my best work.

Fast forward to today: I have found what I love to do, which is marketing and public relations, having a blast with my friends and family, and being on the right track to a potential job offer after graduation.

Because of my experiences and opportunities presented to me at Nichols College, I was able to land an internship over winter break with The Silent Partner Marketing in Manchester, Conn., and I could not be more excited to learn more about what I love to do.

Life isn’t about finding yourself, it is about creating yourself; everything we do, we do because we are building who we are and the life we want to live.

Attending Nichols College was the best thing I could have ever done for myself.