A Warm, Supportive Environment
Twelve years ago, when Ashley Andreas found out she was expecting a baby girl, she decided “I really needed to get myself in gear and create a real life for my daughter.”
A self-described lifelong learner whose educational journey to that point was full of twists and turns, Ashley enrolled at CCV. “I was late to class very often, mainly because of my home life. I was in a pretty chaotic relationship, I had an infant daughter, a car that would break down all the time,” she said. But “the staff at CCV were so accommodating and really helped keep me on track…it just felt like a warm and supportive environment.”
She was also surprised to find that she wasn’t alone—many of her peers were going through the same things. “So many of my classmates also had children, also worked full-time, and it didn’t feel like I was just the odd one out with this crazy nontraditional educational pathway.” She even teamed up with other single moms who would babysit for each other so they could take evening classes.
Ashley completed her business degree in 2016, and was chosen as the student speaker for commencement that year. “I felt so sentimental about my CCV experience, and I felt so much camaraderie with my classmates that I wanted to try to give a voice to that diversity, that resilience. It was one of the biggest honors I have had in my lifetime. It’s up there on the list of coolest things I got to do…I felt like I had a seat at the table, which is something that especially lower income single moms don’t get a ton of opportunity to feel.”
A Fortuitous Field Experience
Not long after graduating, Ashley came back to CCV for a second degree, this time in STEM. As part of that program, she took a Professional Field Experience course that requires a work-based internship; she found a spot at Vermod Homes, a manufacturer of zero-energy homes just down the road in Wilder. That internship turned into a full-time job, and launched her career as a woman in the trades.
Since then, she’s worn many hats in the construction industry—she even participated in Trailblazers, a trades training program through Vermont Works for Women.
“I really enjoy being in the trades,” she says, “and even though I’m not someone who’s on site every day pounding a hammer or doing the really incredible labor intensive work that a lot of folks are doing, I still do interact in these very traditionally male-dominated spaces…I think it’s really important for the women who are here to be visible, and be supported, and to let other women know how much diversity there is in the construction world.”
Credit for What You Know
Ashley hopes to continue her education as she advances in her career. She earned 43 credits through CCV’s Prior Learning Assessment Program, which offers “Credit For What You Know”—an opportunity to earn college credit for knowledge gained in the workforce or through military service or volunteerism. She was able to earn 43 credits for the learning she’d acquired in construction management. “It was a super intense 15 weeks for sure,” she recalls. “I was studying and doing homework almost every night the whole time, but so worth it. I saved thousands of dollars. If I would have had to go to all of the classes that I got credit for I would have spent a lot of money and a lot of years, so it was a really cool program.”
Giving a Gift
Today, Ashley is the new executive director of the Upper Valley affiliate of Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit that builds affordable homes. “What I love about the Habitat model is that it does engage community. We build homes, but we build homes with the families that we serve and also with the communities that the homes are going into, so volunteerism is at the heart of everything we do at Habitat.”
“It’s been so fulfilling. I grew up never even imagining that I would own a home let alone that I would help other people to own homes. My husband and I were able to buy our home in 2020 and it’s just like a dream come true, and I loved how much it changed my life and I want to help give that gift to other people who may not otherwise be able to access housing.”
The Value of Community College
Ashley uses her CCV education every day, from technical skills to leadership and taking initiative. “My time at CCV helped mold me into the very active person that I am in my community,” she said.
The work of community-building is near and dear. “I would be the little kid that would run up to strangers and talk with them,” she says. “I’m still that way today. I feel like one of the things that we’re lacking in society is a sense of community, and togetherness, and helping each other out, and being together.” Ashley ran for statewide office in 2016, and has since been involved in organizing at the local level. She currently sits on the Hartford Select Board, where she serves as a voice for her neighbors.
And her CCV education has helped her earn the top spot at an organization that’s making a difference every day. “I’m so totally honored and want to shout it from the rooftops that I’m the ED of a quite amazing non-profit…and I have an associate degree. I don’t have a bachelor’s degree. I don’t have a master’s degree. If you are passionate about your relationships with your education and you’re committed to the work you want to do, you can get wherever you want to go. And CCV got me there.”
