Ashley Bynum

I am a sixth-grade advocate. That means I navigate students to resources that they may not be able to on their own.  For example, we work with the family resource center downstairs. They provide housing, financial assistance, and food. I run into a lot of kids in crisis that have those needs and they don't know that they can get help for it. We also provide academic support, like tutoring if they need help with that. So I just advocate for students any way necessary, I even help with personal goals they want to set for themselves. I am very student based. I am always around kids, mostly bringing them up here. I meet with them one on one.

Then I have weekly crews on Mondays and Fridays. That's just like working with them and their social-emotional skills and trying to incorporate that. I myself have learned how to regulate my emotions and feelings about my bills and responsibilities, and I feel like it is kind of hard to do. You don't always know what to do about what you are feeling. So I incorporate this with my kids. I have always given kids the space to figure that out when I work with them. I am really big on coping and how they deal with what they are feeling and  emphasizing that what they are feeling is real, so they feel acknowledged. I think that's one of my biggest accomplishments. 

We have to be selfless in a way, but in my role, my team and I came up with self-love Fridays. And we made February into a self-love month for the kids. Because one of them came up to us and they said, I don't really know how to love myself. So we all just set up like these self-affirmations. We did self-care bags and gave them little chopsticks and lotions. And so we just really promoted self-care and self-love that month. I'm really proud of us for doing that. Yes, that is an accomplishment for me. 

I am very introverted and an empath. I take on a lot of energy. So I think it takes a really long time to recharge. For that I like to write. I write poetry. I like to read. I am so cliche, but I feel like I am my happiest when I am in nature, or when I am outside.

Interview by Luke Robinson and Zach Lazarczyk, spring 2023