Ashley Bruning '20

HOW GOOD HABITS AND GOOD INTENTIONS LEAD TO GREAT OPPORTUNITIES: AN ALUM'S ADVICE ON HOW TO MAKE THE BEST OF COLLEGE LIFE AND BEYOND

Setting minds at ease, Ashley Bruning, Class of 2020, connected the dots between high school and college life for our inquiring senior class. Sharing her own path and how she grew routines established at Oakwood to support her current academic and personal choices, Ashley gave practical advice. The simple act of reaching out to teachers for feedback can lead to unexpected opportunities and open doors that you may not have known existed. Indulge your passions and match them to a course offering, you may just find a whole new world of study and even careers to explore. Find your comfort zone on campus to get the best out of your dedicated study time. Think about volunteering to expand your social circle. Don't sideline your social life, build it into your routine in ways that also relieve stress. Ashley's tradition of hosting weekend brunches is a good idea at any stage of life! A junior at Cal Poly, Ashley is majoring in Art and Design with a concentration in Graphic Design and her minor is Environmental Studies.

Here is an update from Ashley herself:
“I am about to start my third year at Cal Poly SLO. Most of my life update is that I've been really into crocheting and jewelry making, and I hope to eventually open an Etsy shop to sell the things that I make, and I've been playing a lot of Dungeons and Dragons. All of my roommates have moved into the house we're renting so we've been decorating and catching up. I've also been cooking with my roommates and boyfriend lately. In regard to jobs, I'm in the process of getting a new one but I worked the last two years at an on-campus market. I'm on the board of the Cal Poly Trans Queer Student Union and I'm hoping to find time to join a couple of other clubs.”