Class of 2019 Graduate Profile: Asha Reaves, Western High School

Reaves received a $11,000 scholarship through the JCPS Employee-Sponsored Student Scholarship Fund 

Asha Reaves is surprised with an $11,000 scholarship on Friday. She already has 61 college credit hours and an associates degree from JCTC.

By Toni Konz Tatman | JCPS Communications

Asha Reaves was born in Detroit and moved to Louisville in 2012 with her mom and younger sister.

“Living in Detroit can be life threatening,” she said. “I was exposed to the heartache of robberies, kidnappings and murdered family members all happening in the city I called home.”

“At the age of eleven, I walked seven terrifying miles to school along with my mother and newborn baby sister … although my mother tried to shield me from everything going on, I doubted whether I would make it to school or not,” she said. “I flinched at every shadow and the darkness around me was never reassuring, only the knife that my mother carried in the pocket of the stroller.”

Reaves said moving to Kentucky afforded her a better life, although it wasn’t always easy.

Asha Reaves will graduate from Western High School in June 2019.

“I no longer had family or friends (nearby),” she said. “My loneliness ate away at me until there was nothing left but emptiness and depression. I realized I was academically behind.”

After going back to Detroit to attend the funerals of more family members, Reaves said something changed.

“I had no choice but to pick myself up and get it together,” she said. “I decided to get active in school by joining the dance team. I made huge sacrifices to raise my grades, but all of my sacrifices proved worthy. By the end of the semester, I was making straight A’s and was placed into advanced courses.”

The momentum continued as she entered the Early College Program at Western High School, with a goal of getting a head start on her college career.

"Being part of this program takes a lot of discipline," she said. "Being in high school and taking college classes, you have to miss out on a lot of regular high school experiences and sacrifice very much."

On May, those sacrifices paid off when Reaves earned her associate's degree from Jefferson Community & Technical College (JCTC).

She will enter Indiana University Southeast this fall with 61 credit hours and will major in psychology. She wants to eventually earn a doctorate and become an applied developmental psychologist.

"I took an interest in psychology when I was in middle school and I was having a hard time adjusting to a new state," she said. "I want to be able to help ease the minds of others and help individuals solve different issues in their lives the same way that my counselor did for me."

Reaves is also an entrepreneur. At 15, she started her own business called Pretty Apparel.

"I have always had an interest in graphic design and I started making different designs with what I call 'feel good' quotes on them," she said. "I never imagined turning this into a T-shirt line (until_ my mom encouraged me to put my designs on shirts and sell them, which I now use as a way to uplift other girls and young women because everyone should feel pretty."

During the month of October, Reaves turns her business into a non-profit organization and uses the money she gets from one shirt to give two shirts to individuals at a women's and children's shelter near her home.

"I also take part in many events like Women's Empowerment and Breast Cancer Awareness to support and raise money as well as awareness for these causes," she said. "October is the month for strong women in my eyes and they should be praised in every way possible, so I use my business to give back to all the mothers going through a rough time, women in domestic realtionships or the women fighting cancer."

Reaves adds that running a business is not easy.

"It is not like having a part time job," she said. "I have spent sleepless nights perfecting designs, working on my website or preparing for events."

"My goal with my T-shirt line is to inspire a sense of self-love and self-worth in all women, everywhere, because I know what it feels like to not have that," she said.

You might also see her working her part-time job as a cashier at Walmart or choreographing dance performances at her church, New Birth Ministry.

Reaves will graduate from Western High School on Monday, June 10 with a 4.0 GPA.

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This story was originally published by JCPS on May 24, 2019.