2025 Student Scholar - From Ashes to Answers: Ashley Bennie, A Legacy in the Making

“ Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.”

– C.S. Lewis

This phrase, often repeated by Ashley Bennie’s mother, has echoed through the most challenging chapters of her life, becoming a guiding truth and source of resolute strength.

Born on September 21, 2006 at the Savanna-La-Mar Public Hospital was AshleyBennie. She is a determined academic warrior who was raised in a single-parent household by her mother who resides in an extremely poor community called Bay Road, Little London, Westmoreland. Ashley’s mother is a woman who experienced teenage motherhood but for her, it was not a limitation only, but more of a launchpad for love and sacrifice. Though life offered little in material wealth, Ashley’s childhood was rich with the values of faith in God, education as a pathway out, and the belief that one’s current situation never has to determine one’s future.

Ashley’s early years were marked by adversity. At age twelve, her world was shaken when gun violence forced her father into hiding and ultimately out of her life. The trauma of that night lingers, but so does Ashley’s courage. Her family was forced to relocate into a cramped one-room board house, where six of them shared a space too small for their dreams—but never too small for their hope. When that home was later destroyed by fire, Ashley endured homelessness, living with strangers who showed kindness when all seemed lost.

Through every storm, her faith held her steady. Her church became her sanctuary and her platform. As a praise and worship leader, youth member, and choir singer, Ashley found not just comfort but strength. She credits these experiences with shaping her character, building her leadership, and instilling in her a sense of purpose far greater than her pain.From 2009 to 2012 Ashley attended the Eldin Washington Early Childhood Institution. After graduating she started attending the Little London Primary School and graduated in 2018 at the top of her class with multiple awards such as most outstanding student in both academics and character. Ashley’s GSAT results later led her to attending Mannings School, which was her first choice.

Today, Ashley is a proud student currently enrolled in upper six at Manning’s School, where she has been excelling academically and earned consistent recognition for her achievements. She has been a honor roll student since grade nine, been placed first consistently in her form classes and has been awarded multiple subject prizes. She also has exceptional CSEC passes of 7 grade ones in the subjects: Principles of Accounting, Principles of Business, Information Technology, Spanish, Human and Social Biology, Office Administration, English A and 1 grade 2 in Mathematics. She also has great CAPE passes of 1 grade 1 in Management of Business and 3 grade twos in Accounting Unit 1, Entrepreneurship Unit 1 and Communication Studies Unit 1. She has also received a National placing for CAPE Accounting unit 1 which is the field she is venturing into. Ashley is currently pursuing four additional CAPE subjects at Mannings namely Accounting Unit 2, Entrepreneurship Unit 2, Management of Business Unit 2, Caribbean Studies Unit 1 and will be graduating June 2025 as the Valedictorian and top year group achiever. Her achievements go beyond academics. She is involved in many extra curricular activities at Mannings such as: the Vice President of Environment Club, Arts and Photography Club and Spanish Club. She is also a member of the Volleyball team, Debating society, United Nations Club, Performing Arts Society, Cosmetology Club and Chess Club. Ashley is also a prefect at Mannings and the PRO for the Spirit Committee. She has also participated in many community service activities alongside her church such as supplying back to school gifts to people in her community during summer.

Ashley will be going to the University of the West Indies to pursue a Bachelor of Science majoring in Accounting which is an important first step toward her dream of becoming a Forensic Accountant. Ashley aspires to become a forensic accountant because of her deep-rooted interest in law and crime-solving. Rather than pursuing these passions through traditional legal routes, she is drawn to the

investigative side of accounting—specifically in uncovering financial crimes such as embezzlement, fraud, and money laundering. This intersection of justice and finance allows her to merge her analytical mindset with her desire to make a meaningful impact through uncovering the truth behind complex financial misconduct.

Ashley hopes to use her education to develop analytical and leadership skills that will make her an asset in both public and private sectors. One day, Ashley aspires to own a firm for this purpose, naming it “Bennie’s Forensic Solutions.” For her, education is not just a goal—it is a vehicle to transform her family’s narrative, to honor her mother’s sacrifices, and to be a role model to her younger sibling.

Despite financial hardship, instability, and emotional trauma, Ashley’s spirit remains unbroken. She hasn’t just survived—she’s moved forward with intention, showing true strength in hard times and belief even when faced with fear. Ashley lives by the quote “ I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions."

Ashley Bennie is stepping boldly into the future, determined to become not only a standout forensic accountant, but a servant leader, a voice for financial justice, and proof that resilience can rewrite any story. This is possible because she knows that "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

- Nelson Mandela