Since the young age of five, Ashlie Watts has been involved with sports. She has played basketball, soccer, cheerleading, volleyball and participated in gymnastics. Of all the sports, her favorite is track and field. “It’s just something that I’ve always done,” Ashlie said. “I can’t imagine myself not doing it.” Not only is track her favorite activity, sports is just a part of her family. Her sister ran track, her mother is a track coach and her father is a basketball coach. In her 9th and 10th grade years, Ashlie played basketball at Armstrong High School and ran track. She has even had family members go to college to run track. This includes not only some of her cousins, but her mother was a former collegiate athlete as well.

Ashlie plans to continue running track in college. Some of her top choices for college are Christopher Newport University, Hampton University, Mary Washington University and University of Virginia.  Except for UVA, the other schools interest her because they are small schools. All four have pre-medical programs. While she has a big interest in sports and has even considered studying to be a professional athletic trainer, she is leaning more toward becoming a pediatrician. “I like working with children, especially babies,” Ashlie said. She already gets practice with children by babysitting in her neighborhood and at church. Along with running track, Ashlie’s other favorite thing to do is babysit.

While she is still in high school, Ashlie is the secretary of FBLA, the secretary of the Key Club and the treasurer of Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor. She has volunteered as a youth ambassador with the Giving Heart Community Thanksgiving Feast and also with the Petersburg Police Animal Shelter, where she even adopted a dog. “You never know what other people are going through,” Ashlie said about what she’s learned as a volunteer. “You see people and on the outside they look like they’re fine. Then you hear their stories or you hear the situation and you realize, that you don’t really know what they’re going through.”

With all of her extracurricular activities inside and outside of school, Ashlie still works hard in school. She currently maintains a 4.5 GPA. The best advice that she’s been given when it comes to approaching college life is “you want to worry about your academics and make that a priority but at the same time, have fun too.” While she currently volunteers in the community, Ashlie is determined to continue giving back in the community by pursuing a career as a pediatrician. Two of her biggest inspirations to reach her goals are her parents. “They kind of just push me to do what I want to do and be the best that I can be at it.”