Name: Ashley Poston
School/Grad Year: SFHS, 2004
Pronouns: she/her
Identifies as: bisexual, polyamorous - polygynous polygamy
Professional/Academic Career: After graduating from SF in 2004 with a lackluster GPA, I attended Sacramento City College. I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to do in college, and initially filled my schedule with art and early childhood education classes. Halfway through my second year I discovered that SCC had a cosmetology program. Cosmetology was a field I excelled in. It was hands-on and creative, had a basic scientific foundation, and was a job that allowed me to care for people in a professional setting. I graduated from the program with Highest Honors and earned my California Cosmetology License in 2008. I began working at Great Clips in Davis CA (my hometown) shortly after. I stayed there for almost 10 years, eventually becoming the assistant salon manager.
As wonderful as my time as a hairstylist was, I had grown and my professional interests changed overtime. In 2017, my husband and I relocated to Akron, OH, and I took the opportunity to return to school so that I could pursue a second career in healthcare. I enrolled in Cuyahoga Community College for my prerequisites, with the goal of entering their Diagnostic Medical Sonography program. I am currently on track to apply for the Fall '22 Diagnostic Medical Sonography cohort, and will hopefully graduate Spring '24.
Words of advice for current/future students: "All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle." -St. Francis of Assisi
They can take away your rights. They can call you names. They can punish you for speaking up. They can ignore you, dismiss you, and shame you. But you still exist. We exist. We have always exists and we always will. There are more of us than some care to admit. We come in more variation than even we may know. Our gender identities, orientations, romantic attractions, and family structure are just some of the facets that make us whole people. You are a whole person, with intrinsic value, and your existence makes you valid.