Coleman Champion: Ashleigh Moses

Name
Ashleigh Moses

City/Town of Residence
Houston

Hometown & High School
Houston, Hightower High School

Current Degree or Certificate Program
Licensed Vocational Nursing (LVN)

Year & Class
1st year, Class of 2026

Jobs or Leadership Positions in Community
Health Unit Coordinator

Talents or Hobbies, or Something People Don’t Know About You
I love to cook and journal.

Why did you enroll at Houston City College (HCC)?
I enrolled at HCC because I wanted more for myself and my family, and I knew continuing my education was one way to make that happen. I already had a bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, but I knew deep down that I wasn't finished growing and wanted to challenge myself to do something more.

Why did you choose your program of study?
Working in healthcare, I've seen how much of a difference nurses can make in someone's life, and I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to go beyond what I was already doing and be able to care for patients in a way that could really make a difference.

What do you like best about your college experience?       
Honestly, I would say seeing how much I've grown as a person. This experience has tested my patience, my confidence, and sometimes even my faith in myself, but I've also met people along the way who have encouraged me when I needed it most.

What do you like best about your program of study?
I love that I'm learning how to actually take care of people and understand what's going on with them, not just memorize information for a test. Being able to take what I've learned in class and use it during clinical reminds me of why I chose Nursing in the first place.

When you are tired, what motivates you to push forward?
My children are my biggest motivation because I want them to see that no matter how hard life gets, you don't have to give up on your dreams. There have been days when I was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted from trying to balance being a wife and mother of three as well as work and nursing school, but my faith in God and knowing what I'm working toward keep me going.

What advice can you offer to help other students succeed?
Give yourself some grace because nursing school is not easy, and you're not going to understand everything the first time or get every grade you want. Don't let one bad day or one bad test make you feel like you can't do it because sometimes you have to cry, pray, regroup, and get right back to it.

Any final thoughts?
Being nominated as a Coleman Champion means more to me than people probably realize because there have been so many moments when I questioned whether I could really do this. 

I'm proud of myself for not giving up, even when things weren't going the way I planned, and I hope somebody reading my story realizes that you don't have to have everything figured out to keep moving forward.