Ashley Windsor will never have the opportunity to wear that expensive but gorgeous gown to her senior prom. She'll never get the chance to experience senior week at the beach, and she won't have the honor of walking across the stage to get her high school diploma from Stonewall Jackson.
That's just fine with her because Windsor has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She gets to graduate high school in three years.
Looking back, Windsor said she doesn't have any regrets about taking a full load of college courses during her junior year. She's just looking forward. College lies ahead. New challenges await.
Quite frankly, high school wasn't all that exciting anyway, Windsor said.
"I'm 100 percent happy," she said. "I'm ready to go."
Windsor, a shortstop on the Generals' softball team, decided during the winter that she was going to try to graduate in three years. She knew it would take a lot of hard work, but she's used to that. So she enrolled in a program where college courses counted toward her high school diploma. The only students allowed to take the chance were the ones that needed only English and history.
Winsdor took and will pass those two classes. She will graduate next month, but she won't join the other seniors on the football field for commencement ceremonies.
"I chose not to do that," she said. "It's not my class. It's just a personal preference."
Either way, Windsor, 16, will enroll at Shenandoah University, where she hopes to earn a spot on the Hornets' women's basketball roster.
The chance to leave high school a year early wasn't always a cinch. It wasn't until recently that she was given clearance to proceed. Some school officials were hesitant to allow the college courses to count toward her high school diploma.
"There's been a lot of discussion about what classes to accept and what classes won't be accepted," she said. "But it's all done. It's all worked out."
The academics are nice — it's getting Windsor through school a year early — but sports are her passion. Basketball is her forte, but softball presented a challenge that Windsor couldn't pass up. Up until this year, she's never played a full season thanks to ankle problems. In her first full year on the team, Windsor has exceeded expectations.
Playing at arguably the toughest position on the field, Windsor is scooping up grounders with ease and is leading the team in RBIs. In fact, used mainly as a designated hitter, she led the team in RBIs last year, too.
"This is a totally foreign sport to her compared to basketball," said Jeff Burner, Stonewall's girls basketball and softball coach. "I think she's done a wonderful job. She's smart enough that she's picking up on the small things. Her intelligence has always helped her."
Windsor may be a junior, but she's not treated like one. She was moved up as a freshman, and she's been playing with the older kids ever since. Her best friend on and off the field, Katie Tusing, said that experience has helped mold her into a team leader, even as an underclassman.
"Most of us have been playing with her for so many years, it's like she's a senior," Tusing said. "Ashley has a way of stepping up and taking charge of situations. If somebody's not doing something, she'll let them know. As far as being a leader, she definitely fulfills her duty."
Windsor's success has been matched by just about everyone else on the team. For the first time since 1984, Stonewall will end the season with a winning record. The Generals' 9-3 mark in the Shenandoah District (14-5 overall) has earned them the No. 2 seed in this week's district tournament, which starts Tuesday in Staunton. Stonewall will play seventh-seeded Central, a team it beat twice already this season.
Windsor said the fact that she won't be coming back to Stonewall in the fall hasn't fully sunk in yet — "It won't kick in until about August," she said — but it doesn't mean she's not keeping track of how long she has left.
"I have a countdown going in my planner," she said. "I'm ready to get out."
