By Janice McIntyre, El Dorado News-Times (re-published with permission)
She was worried about money for college. Never in her wildest dreams did Ashley Baldwin, a 2007 graduate of El Dorado High School, think when she entered the high school gym one cold, January day, that her worries would be over.
Now, about three and a half years after that 2007 announcement, she is the fi rst EHS graduate to earn a bachelor’s degree with El Dorado Promise funds. She donned her blue Southern Arkansas University cap and gown and graduated Aug. 6 in Magnolia with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. And the excitement doesn’t stop there – she’s getting married Saturday – to Joseph Milam, also of El Dorado.
She jokingly told her mom, Sally Baldwin, a teacher at Barton Junior High, that she is getting all her major life changes over at once – college graduation, mar riage – both at the age of 21.
Ashley remembered that during her fi rst period of classes on Jan. 22, 2007, there had been rumors of a big announcement that day. “Then Claiborne Deming announced the El Dorado Promise,” (a $50 million scholarship program from Murphy Oil Corp. for EHS graduates). “I was taken aback,” she said. Deming was then president and chief executive officer of Murphy
“I tried to call my mom” about the El Dorado Promise and Ashley said at fi rst, her mother thought maybe she hadn’t heard the news correctly – it couldn’t be true. But, after the news of Murphy’s gift spread throughout the city, Ashley said both her parents were “really happy.” Her dad, Mark, is an auditor at Murphy Oil.
She has one brother, Matthew Baldwin, 25, who lives in Hot Springs and works in Little Rock. “I was so excited – overwhelmed with emotions. I wouldn’t have to worry because my education was paid for,” she said. It was only a few weeks later when Henderson State Univer sity offi cials arrived at EHS to announce they would match the Promise scholarships “dollar for dollar, up to the cost of on-cam pus living expenses.” Ashley said she cried when she heard the news. She was so excited because even before the Promise was announced, she had wanted to attend Henderson.
So in the fall of 2007, she head ed off to school for her first college year, with tuition and mandatory fees paid for with her El Dorado Promise scholarship. Her fi rst semester she took 15 hours, and 12 hours that second semester. She took three hours during summer 2008.
For her second year of college, she transferred to SAU with 29 hours, but was still considered a freshman. That first semester in Magnolia she took 15 hours and 18 the second term.
“I spoke to my advisor so many times,” she smiled.
In the summer of 2009, she enrolled in 12 hours of classes to “catch me up to begin as a junior.” In the fall of 2009, she enrolled as a junior and this summer, she took 10 more hours so she could graduate Aug. 6. She took her final exam on Aug. 5.
“My teachers all worked with me” (so she could graduate early). My world literature teacher this summer, he graded my test first. I made an A,” Ashley beamed.
She explained that her tuition and mandatory fees during regular school semesters were paid by Murphy; her mom and dad paid for summer sessions. She has graduated from college debt-free – no loans or grants to repay thanks to the El Dorado Promise. One reason she wanted to graduate with a degree in three years is because her dad had graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in three years. “I wanted to do it too,” she said.
Ashley didn’t realize she was the first Promise student to graduate from college until she received a call from Sylvia Thompson, who now serves as Promise coordinator following the retirement of Dr. James Fouse, who served in that position from the time the Promise was announced until his recent retirement. “Mrs. Thompson called me about two weeks ago and left a message that she needed my transcript to renew the Promise Scholarship.” Ashley said she returned her call and left Thompson a message that she didn’t need anymore scholarship money, because “I was graduating in a week.” That’s when she realized she was the first Promise graduate.
To pay for other college costs, Ashley has worked since 2008 as a pharmacy tech at Walgreens in El Dorado. She hopes to transfer to a Walgreens in Little Rock after the honeymoon to Orlando, Fla. Her husband-to-be is already employed with Verizon in Little Rock.
Ashley said she really enjoys working at Walgreens, but she hopes to one day use her business degree and own her own business – a specialty dress shop. “I want my mom to help me do this. I want it to be me and her,” she said.
Joseph is also an EHS graduate – a member of the class of 2006 – (one year before the Promise was announced) and he also has a degree in business administration from SAU – a May 2010 graduate. They were both members of Phi Beta Lambda business organization and Students in Free Enterprise at SAU. Ashley served as officer of publicity for PBL.
Ashley said she knew her soon-to-be husband in high school and “we ran into each other at Walmart when I graduated from high school. On Christmas break he e-mailed me to see if we could get together,” she said, so they started dating in December 2007.
His mother, Michele Milam, is a nurse at Medical Center of South Arkansas and his dad, Dan Milam, is a teacher at SAU-Tech.
Ashley and Joseph have been engaged since Feb. 18 of this year. She said before last Thanksgiving Joseph had asked her dad for “her hand in marriage,” so she had been expecting a proposal probably on Christmas – then New Year’s Day, maybe Valentine’s Day? (She revealed that she’d heard a rumor from a friend that he might propose on Valentine’s Day – didn’t happen).
For Valentine’s Day, they went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras with another engaged couple. “He gave me a card for Valentine’s Day,” she smiled. Then the Wednesday after Valentine’s Day, Joseph brought her four pink (her favorite color) roses.
Ashley said she wondered why he was bringing roses four days after Valentine’s Day and so she was “giving him a hard time,” about being late with the present. He then got down on one knee and proposed – again she cried. The wedding is planned for Saturday at St Mary’s Episcopal Church in El Dorado.
Ashley is a certified lifeguard and was a member of the EHS swim team She is also a water safety instructor and has taught swimming lessons at HealthWorks Fitness Center, as well as serving as lifeguard during summer camps and at the Oak Manor pool.
Ashley and Joseph have two cats and their favorite pastime is watching movies – she said they had 260 DVDs at last count.
“I was determined to finish school,” she said, adding, “My goal was to make mostly As. This summer made three As and one B, she said, graduating with 3.2 grade point average. “The Business School at SAU is really good. Dean (Lisa) Toms and her secretary were a big help,” she said, explaining that they worked with her to determine what classes she needed to achieve her goal.
For students entering their first year of college, Ashley advised to “keep focused. If you want to go to school and finish school, you have to keep focused and go to classes.”
“Have fun, but remember what you are there for. I had a school plan and knew what (courses) I had to take (to graduate). I had to take responsibility for my degree plan,” she said.
