When asked if she’d imagined winning Miss Waverly in the years leading up to the pageant, Ashlee laughs and responds with a resounding “Heck no. Absolutely not.” She says she hadn’t even thought about participating in a pageant since she entered the Little Miss Waverly pageant over a decade ago. That is until her best friend, the current Miss Franklin, encouraged her to go for it, suggesting that they could both represent the county together if she won.

 

Ashlee and her older sister have spent their entire lives in Waverly, as did their father. She remarks that “there’s a long line of Browns that have gone to Waverly” and appreciates growing up in a small community. In her opinion, it’s the town’s close-knit atmosphere that makes it unique.

 

“You become very close with your class. I know everyone’s birthdays; I know their middle names. Even if they aren’t your best friends, you still know them, you know their personality, and you can work well together, knowing what the other person is like,” shares Ashlee.

 

Still trying to figure out where she wants to attend college, Ashlee has narrowed it down to ISU in Bloomington or SIU in Edwardsville. While she isn’t sure whether she’ll be a Red Bird or a Cougar, she’s identified a major. She plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in exercise science before attending graduate school to become a physical therapist.

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Ashlee classifies herself as competitive, both in sports and academics. Her favorite subjects are science and math, and she’s currently one of two Waverly students who have worked their way up to calculus and anatomy. While she shares that she consistently tracks her grade point average and how it compares to others, her mother has encouraged her to have a healthy and balanced life rather than pressuring herself toward attempted perfection.

 

Ashlee shares that sports are a large part of life, and she’s played softball since the age of three. Ashlee plays volleyball for Waverly and softball for the New Berlin Pretzels, a traveling softball team. While she loves team athletics, she’s decided that she’s ready to step away rather than play college athletics. She considers physical therapy a way to stay close to competitive sports while not participating and hopes to help injured athletes get back into their sport.

 

While she anticipates potentially opening a physical therapy office in Springfield, she has no interest in leaving her small-town community and the educational system she’s grown to appreciate. “I plan to stay in Waverly. I want to live here and for my kids to have the same experiences I had,” shares Ashlee.