Biography

Yeah... so there really isn't much to me.

We'll start with the easy stuff. My full name is Ashleigh Ann Krenz. I was born on June 13th, 1985 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I only lived there for two years. However, we still drive by the small yellow house we lived in when we go to Minnesota to visit relatives.

When I was two we moved to a small town outside Worchester, Massachusetts, where we lived for three years. I don't really remember much about living there, except that that was when my brother was born.

Then, when I was five, we moved from Massachusetts to Midlothian, Virginia. We lived there for seven years, and it is the place that I most associate with my childhood.

When my fathers job at UPS had us move again, for the third time, as I was entering into seventh grade, I left behind everything I knew. My life at this point was so intertwined with my best friend Laura's, that I didn't have an identity of my own. Being uprooted just after I had entered into Middle school was very difficult, and I entered into a deep depression, while also mourning the loss of my best friend and first love, Laura.

My adolescence is mostly a blur from that point on. I started high school at the public school West Chester East.

Here I shortly became involved in rugby, which is my favorite sport out of all the ones I've played (which includes: softball, basketball, swimming, tennis, golf, bowling, etc). I didn't have many friends during this time, and as my depression worsened I became more and more introverted. Around this time my grades got wrose aswell, so as I entered into my junior year I transferred to Woodlynde School (a small K-12 school, with 23 people in it's senior class). As soon as I started at Woodlynde rumors started to spread that I was a lesbian. Since I, after much internal turmoil, had finally admitted to myself that yes, I indeed was a lesbian, I had no qualms about admitting it to people I hardly knew, who were already all-too-ready to make judgments about me.

My "coming out" went over very well with most of my family (though my mother was a bit dismayed). As for my reception at school... I'm not going to lie to you. The girls were afraid (mostly) and the boys were intrigued. The faculty was amazing, though. They gave me so much support. But still, I was called a “dyke” on occasion by classmates.

So, in 12th grade, only months before graduation, I was suspended from school for self-mutilation or “cutting”. I used this coping strategy as a cry for help. I received the attention I was seeking, but was ordered to take a two month “leave of absence” to collect myself. In those two months I stopped cutting, and kept my grades up by having tutors come to the house multiple times a day. I returned to Woodlynde in time for my senior prom. I wore a tux.

The photo taken above is of me with the majority of the girls in my senior class. Not all of them were very nice to me after I came out, but by the end they were indifferent, if not friendly.

I graduated in 2003, and spoke at commencement. I also recieved the Creative Writing award and the "Gee Gee White Memorial" award for "Most Personal Growth in a Senior Year".

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Currently I attend Elmira College (as you might have guessed). I will be a senior come the fall (2006). I am double-majoring in Psychology and Feminist Studies. I'm not sure where I want to go after I graduate. Grad School? Maybe? We'll see.

Also:

I love to drive with the windows down and loud music blasting. I love musicals, but I'm also a big "folkie". I have philosophies on life and spirituality that is based almost entirely on a short book called "Illusions: the Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah". I commune with nature, but only privately. However, I do not disregard my enjoyment for the luxury of technology. My favorite color is green, which this website makes very clear. It stems from a very deep love for the musical and story Wicked. (See “Hobbies”.) I’m just about the greatest hopeless romantic you’ll ever meet. I sleep whenever I have a chance.