Biography of Ashley Christian Smith

Ashley Smith is a 19-yr.-old sophomore at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. She is the daughter of Pastor Shelton, Jr. and Reverend Marie Smith, and has one 15-yr.-old brother, Shelton III.

Ashley attended Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, VA, where she was a member of the first graduating class of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, the National Honor Society, and director of the high school gospel choir. She was also the winner of the Miss Oscar Smith High School 2006 pageant, and participated in several other clubs and activities while in high school . Ashley graduated in the top ten percent of her class with a 3.885 GPA .

Now in college, her major is Broadcast Journalism with a minor in English. She has been on the Dean’s List since her first semester. Ashley has also been an on-air personality for “W.O.D.U. Radio”, which is the college radio station. Upon graduation, she plans to receive a Masters Degree in her field, and become an investigative news reporter or anchorwoman for a major news station.

Ashley has participated in pageants for the past two years. In 2006, she was crowned Miss Virginia Beach and was a semi-finalist at the 2007 Miss Virginia Pageant in Roanoke, VA. She was also crowned Miss Virginia Peanut in 2007. She is the reigning Miss Norfolk 2008, and will again be competing at the Miss Virginia Pageant in June 2008. Her personal platform under the Miss America Organization is Breast Cancer Awareness among Young Women, and she has been active in promoting it throughout the community. She is dedicated to teaching women as young as teenagers to perform self-breast examination and passionately works to raise funds for breast cancer research and funding.

She works as a reporter and substitute anchorwoman for WCTV-48, the local education and government access television station for the city of Chesapeake. She is currently a member of the Women's Division of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce Chesapeake and the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation Hampton Roads Chapter. Ashley is an organist for Mt. Moriah United Church of Christ in Waverly, VA and Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Suffolk, VA. She has been a keynote speaker for services, schools, and community programs for 12 years.