Free State High School graduating senior Ashleigh Armstrong will be attending Baker University in the fall to pursue course work in education and mathematics.

It takes Ashleigh Armstrong a little time to rattle off her lengthy list of Free State High School activities and achievements.

There’s the varsity bowling team, color guard, the school’s Link Crew, International Club, French Club and Math Club. And then she ran sound and light boards for concerts. She also did volunteer work – all while earning a 4.0 grade point average her senior year.

Her motivation for staying so busy? A lesson she learned as a child to pursue a well-rounded knowledge in a breadth of subjects and areas.

“All my life I’ve been trying to find that one thing that I’m really good at, and I actually really haven’t. But I’ve learned so much by doing so much,” Armstrong said.

She and about 350 other Free State High seniors are preparing to graduate at 4 p.m. today at Kansas University’s Allen Fieldhouse.

Armstrong is grateful she attended a high school that gave her the opportunity to explore her interests, which range from photographing landscapes to studying other cultures.

Her happiness and success did not come without difficulty. Before starting ninth grade, she moved to Lawrence from Austin, Texas, with her parents, Michele and Jay Armstrong, and grandmother, Alice Favreau.

The family chose Lawrence and the location of their house based on the school system, Armstrong said. After one year at Southwest Junior High, Armstrong was separated from most of her friends by Bob Billings Parkway because they attended Lawrence High.

Eventually, Armstrong forged new friendships and involved herself with many new activities, such as spending three weeks in Lawrence’s sister city Hiratsuka, Japan.

“I really like to be involved, and I really like to feel like I’m making a difference,” she said.

Among the extracurricular activities, she found time to excel in her studies as a National Merit Commended Scholar, and she learned to love mathematics, even though it initially was a struggle.

This fall, Armstrong plans to attend Baker University on a scholarship to focus on secondary education, mathematics and psychology.

“I really like working with people, and I really like math. It’s not something that I am naturally gifted at,” she said. “I have to work for it, but I think that’s something that would make me teach better because I understand the struggles and what happens.”

Because she’s a people person, Armstrong relies heavily on support from her family and teachers. They came through for her in a huge way this school year as she dealt with her grandmother’s death. During that time, Armstrong opened up to one of her favorite teachers.

“I saw her as more of a person than just a student,” said Free State psychology and film teacher Megan Spencer.

Spencer said Armstrong showed strength, a kindness toward classmates and a good head on her shoulders that would guide her to success.

Armstrong says she is a product of a good family and school system and offers some advice to future graduates: “As intimidating as it sometimes can be, just jump in and get involved. There’s always something that you can do, even if you’re not necessarily good at it. Free State’s always really good about offering all sorts of things,” she said.