Good morning! My name is Ashley Shemanski, or some may know me as Ashley Watson. Either way, I am going to take the next few minutes for everyone to get to know me a little better.
I was chosen to talk about “my story.” Everyone has a story and your story makes up who you are today. To start, I was born in Pennsylvania but have lived in Delaware pretty much all of my life. T he furthest I have traveled is to the Bahamas on vacation, but other than that, I haven’t been able to travel to many other places. Growing up I was the 3rd of 6 children. I have four bothers and one sister. Our dad moved away for a lot of our lives and we would visit every now and then. My mom had raised us on her own. Being a single mom with 6 children things got a little tough and we didn’t have a lot of money. There were times where we didn’t have any electric, heat, or hot water. We made it by with the little bit of food that we did have. I remember going to the neighbor’s house just to be able to get a hot shower. My two older brothers eventually moved out which then left me as the oldest in the house. I decided to stay to make sure that my younger siblings were always okay. Once I had turned 18, I was kicked out of my house. From there I had house hopped for years, never really knowing where I would go with just a bag of clothes that I had packed when I got kicked out. I ended up moving in with my aunt and uncle who wanted nothing but the best for me. Instead of paying rent, I was to go to college. I was 100% okay with that, but the world had other plans for me. I was not making enough money to pay for school so I ended up dropping out.
In October of 2008, I got my second job working at Buffalo Wild Wings! I had started out as a cashier for a few years and eventually moved into the kitchen. I loved being able to help out where ever I was needed. Once I was old enough, I moved into the serving world. Currently I am a server and bartender. I am not sure which department of our store I could say is my favorite. I enjoy being able to do everything. In the year 2012, I found out I was pregnant with my 1st child, Jacob. After being with my boyfriend at the time for only 6 months when we found out, we tried to make things work. We moved into our first apartment for a year and then, with the help of his parents, got a house. I started going back to school again when Jake was only a couple months old. I have had many of long stressful nights. In 2015, we decided to get married. That is when I became Ashley Shemanski. In the year 2017, we were blessed with our 2nd child. A little girl named Paisley. Not long after, we decided that things were not going well (with a lot that I am not going to write about) but we decided that it was best for us to get a divorce. Things since have gotten a little more complicated, but I am doing my very best to make things work.
So bringing us to the present time, I am living back at my mom’s house with my two wonderful children. I may have lost people in my life who I thought were friends, but I have learned to surround myself with people who want to support me and my children. These people in my life now are amazing and are there for me whenever I need them. I am still going to school with only 3 classes left to graduate with my associates! My long term goals are to graduate from Delaware Tech with my associates in Early Childhood Education (birth to second grade), to then transfer over to Wilmington University for my bachelors in Elementary Education. I have always had a dream to become an elementary school teacher. I remember “playing teacher” with my siblings in the basement when we were younger . My schedule with two kids, school, and work is crazy hectic. I am determined to graduate, but my number 1 goal is to always make sure my kids are happy, healthy, and taken care of 100% of the time.
Tomorrow, October 2nd, I will have been with Buffalo Wild Wings for 10 years! With all of the craziness that my life has been, I am extremely happy to be able to say that the entire High 5 Hospitality management team has been nothing but supportive of me. They have been able to work around my schedule, whether it be when I have my kids or when I have classes. They all have also been great listeners while I am going through this hard part of my life and want to make sure that I am okay. I am grateful to have been working for an amazing team for the last (almost) 10 years! My story has had many ups and downs, but it has made me into the person I am today.
What’s your Story?
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