Ashley Bailey
Ashley Bailey
Essay Specialist
Ashley is a Northern California loyalist, even though she completed her BFA in creative writing at Chapman University in Southern California. She graduated Summa Cum Laude while also studying for her minor in Educational Studies.
As co-president of Chapman’s chapter of the English Honor Society: Sigma Tau Delta, Ashley facilitated workshops, gave on-the-spot feedback to other writers, and created spaces for more experienced writers to tell their stories to their community. After graduating, she blended her interests in education and writing by tutoring reading comprehension and composition. Through her communication with writers, she’s been introduced to a variety of techniques and discourse that she now shares with high school students to help them tell their own stories.
Since joining ILUMIN’s team, Ashley has been successfully coaching students through all manner of essays, especially the Common App Personal Statement and UC Personal Insight Questions. She uses a combination of thought-provoking guiding questions and in-text suggestions to lead her students to deeper areas of reflection. Ashley uses her background in creative writing to bring out the best writing in all her students, having supported traditional first-year applicants as well as aspiring transfer and graduate students. Beyond her individual work with her students, you might also see her helping host ILUMIN’s College Essay Bootcamp or guiding essay writing workshops for our rising seniors.
In her free time, Ashley is a voracious reader of all things myth and fairy tale.