Do you know which student is responsible for fundraising for the senior ball by selling t-shirts, organizing senior day, dealing with the graduation ceremony, organizing the homecoming float and bleacher for the senior class? If you don’t know, it’s Ashley Arcuri, the senior class president. But besides being president, there is more to her as a person that some students may not know.
Mr. Walling, the senior class adviser, describes Ashley as “motivated, mature and driven.” He says working with Ashley is “a relief; It’s nice to have a hardworking class president. She’s by far the hardest working class president I have ever worked with in 8 years of being here.”
Sophomore Brian Schwartz, who works with Ashley in Student Government says, “She cares about what she is doing. She’s a good leader and helps the senior class be as good as it can be.“
She has raised the expectations for herself and looks up to her dad as her role model. “I definitely think that my biggest role model is my dad. Since before I was born he worked so hard to be successful and to be the best father to my sister and me. He’s accomplished so much from holding three different college degrees to providing a great environment for our family. He’s always told me that he might not be home as much but his first and favorite job will always be being a Dad and, I just love my Dad. Although he’s set such a difficult bar it’s one of my goals to exceed his and show him how good of a Dad he is.”
In the future, Ashley hopes to be either a dentist or a speech pathologist in the Hamptons or in Boston. She loves working with children so she wants her career to be focused around them. “I’d like to have a Master’s degree or some type of graduate certification. I’m juggling with a couple different careers but they all involve working with kids. I’ve always loved working with kids; I envy their stress-free lives,” she laughed.
Two of her biggest goals she has achieved are becoming class president and passing the ocean lifeguard test her sophomore year. Lifeguarding is something she takes a lot of pride in. Her grandfather, dad, and uncle were lifeguards and she knew she wanted to be a lifeguard to be at the beach everyday in the summer. She said that being a lifeguard was imbedded into her since she was a child. She has always had a passion for the water. “I love my work (Lifeguard and Swim Team Coach at Swordfish Beach Club). We’re like one big family and working with kids is awesome.”
At the end of the interview, Ashley wanted to share her motto that she lives by. She stated, “ Life is limitless, if you say you can’t do something you won’t and it’s not a good attitude to have.”