Class of 2024: After initial misgivings, Ashlee Blankenship found VCU offered a perfect formula for success

By Sian Wilkerson

Ashlee Blankenship will be the first to admit that Virginia Commonwealth University wasn't her first choice. For one, it was a bit too close to home for the Powhatan County native. For another, her mom was an alum.

"No shade to my mom - I love her," Blankenship clarified. "But I [wanted] to switch it up and try something different."

Yet she ended up at VCU - and couldn't be happier about it, as she has charted her own path that has touched on science, student leadership, international travel and medicine.

"I ended up loving it here," said Blankenship, who will graduate in December with a degree in chemistry. "I genuinely think there is no better place that I could have gone."

Her academic journey built on a passion she discovered as a student at Powhatan High School.

"I had an amazing teacher, Christy Thomas," Blankenship said. "Chemistry can be really intimidating" - especially amid the busy-ness of school activities - "so keeping it straight is hard sometimes. But she was really good at explaining things, and it just resonated with me. … The only thing I could really see myself doing for four more years was chemistry."

Blankenship has been an active and engaged student in VCU's Department of Chemistry in the College of Humanities and Sciences. She served a number of roles on the board of the university's American Chemical Society student affiliate organization as well as worked in the department's stockroom.

"In the department in general, the professors are super supportive," Blankenship said. "They know what we're doing is not easy. Chemistry is not a walk in the park. It can be really hard, and so they really try and work with us as much as possible. They're really flexible with office hours, they're very approachable, and so they help us to foster a really good community within the department."

After a four-week summer internship in Kenya, Ashlee Blankenship was inspired to pursue a career in obstetrics. (Thomas Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Through ACS, Blankenship aimed to boost membership and bring chemistry students together.

As a sophomore, she joined the organization's board as the fundraising chair, before moving to social media chair and then becoming co-president alongside her best friend, Neil Tiwari. ACS holds chemistry events throughout the year, including Coffee & Chemistry, movie and game nights, volunteering with a local elementary school, and hosting an undergraduate research symposium.

"I really enjoy being involved," Blankenship said. "I like doing stuff where I don't know anyone. As a freshman, I was like, 'I don't know anybody, but I'm still going to show up.'"

That openness is reflected in her range of passions outside the chemistry lab. Blankenship participates in the Spikeball Club and enjoys baking, reading, crochet and building Legos. She regularly volunteers at Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital and with the International Rescue Committee, speaking to clients in English as an English engagement volunteer.

After graduation, Blankenship will take a gap year to get experience before enrolling in physician assistant school. She hopes to work in obstetrics, inspired by her four-week summer internship with International Medical Aid in Kenya. Based in the coastal city of Mombasa, she shadowed doctors at a local hospital and visited local schools, talking to students about hygiene as well as menstrual and reproductive health.

Blankenship said she would love to work abroad during her medical career.

"I think that would be an awesome experience, even if I was just able to do it for a little bit," she said. "Going there in this stage of my career, I couldn't do anything - I don't have any certifications, I'm not a PA or anything yet. So if I could go back and actually, physically help, I would do it in a heartbeat."

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