Student Spotlight: Ashleigh Foreman
September 28, 2021
Virtual High School is proud to have an established partnership with U-Can International School. U-Can began as a K-6 school in Entebbe, Uganda. As their students progressed, they sought out VHS to provide students with the opportunity to earn the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. We are excited to see how our partnership with U-Can evolves in the future and can’t wait to present our first U-Can Student Spotlight!
Born and raised in Uganda, Ashleigh Foreman was first introduced to VHS by U-Can in 2020. Although most of her courses are completed through VHS, she still gets to spend lots of time engaged in activities with U-Can International School. For example, every Monday Ashleigh visits the Entebbe Botanical Gardens to spend time with her classmates teaching young children how to read, count, and play games. She has lots of fun helping out and even gets to complete some of her community involvement hours doing this!
Following a period of adjustment to online learning, Ashleigh quickly became a fan of the asynchronous model:
“After seeing how it worked and looked, I was so excited to try it out. My Grade 9 VHS experience was exceptional, so I joined Grade 10 VHS. I have learned so much that I do not think I could have learned anywhere else. I get to take things at my pace and doing the work is much easier.”
Now an experienced VHS student, Ashleigh recommends making sure that you put in the same level of work and effort throughout your courses so that you don’t have to rush to finish your assignments at the end. She’s looking forward to following her own advice this year and has high hopes for a smooth Grade 10 adventure. We’re confident that she’ll excel at everything she sets her mind to!
Although she likes to sing and dance, Ashleigh LOVES math. She credits one of her elementary teachers in Uganda for helping to make math fun and creative so that she wanted to continue learning. Her passion has led to exceptional grades and an enthusiasm for math that is absolutely contagious. In the future, Ashleigh wants to develop her interest in math into a career as a doctor:
“I have always had a passion for becoming a doctor. As a kid, I had many career options, such as singer, model, dancer, and actor. But I always had a doctor option on my list, even after other options started disappearing.”
Besides math, Ashleigh is also active in the world of Taekwondo! She recently received a red belt in the sport and highlights this as one of her favourite achievements. She feels that self-defence is an important skill for every person to have, and it’s evident that the training has helped to establish her as a strong, confident young adult.
When she’s not busy studying and practicing her kicks, Ashleigh loves spending time with her family. Being around her cousins makes her happy, and she cites them as her source of self-care and stress relief. She looks up to her dad as somebody who always puts his family first and makes sure that they have everything they could ever need or want. Ashleigh also enjoys watching and learning from her mother and aunts:
“My three aunts love me like their own even though they have their own kids. I have always dreamed of becoming a mix of them. They inspire me to be someone great in the future.”
We like to think that Ashleigh already is somebody great right now! A young woman with an interest in her education, a drive to help others, and an undeniable bond with her family? What’s not great about that?! We predict an excellent year ahead for Ashleigh, and we’re delighted to get to be a small part of it.