Meet Ashton
Ashton Ramsammy was born in Queens, New York, in May of 2001. He first came to Minnesota in 2004 to live with his grandparents, officially moving to Blaine in 2005. As a second generation Guyanese-American, Ashton has seen, first-hand, the struggles many immigrant families face when living in America. After moving from Guyana, South America, to New York in the late 1990s, and then to Minnesota in the early 2000s, his parents worked countless hours to ensure their son had everything he needed while continuing to barely make ends meet. Despite many setbacks over the years, through hard work and dedication, they successfully nurtured a childhood of strong values rooted in family, education, and community service.
If elected, Ashton would be the first Guyanese-American elected to public office in the Midwest as well as the Youngest State Legislator in Minnesota History!
Family
As an only child to immigrant parents, Ashton learned the valuable lesson of how important family is, when a family is all you have. After immigrating from Guyana, it was a struggle for Ashton’s parents to find jobs in their former profession (nurses) due to a difference in the education requirements mandated by the different nations. This led to them working any job they were able to find in order to pay rent and afford basic necessities.
As a result, Ashton spent his childhood being raised by his aunts, uncles, grandparents, and parents, as a part of a large family unit. Everyone who helped raise him did all that they could to help him succeed. Upon moving to Minnesota in 2004, Ashton and his parents shared a house with his grandparents and two uncles. In search of a better place to raise him, however, his entire family worked together to buy a home in Blaine in 2005, where all worked tirelessly chasing the American Dream. This continued until the Recession of 2008, where, like many Americans, life had to be lived paycheck to paycheck. Despite these struggles, his parents continued to work to provide him with every comfort they could afford, sheltering him from the adversities they faced.
After years of saving up, a silver lining came in 2011 when his parents were able to buy their own home in Northern Blaine, achieving their American Dream. Through these experiences growing up, Ashton has learned to understand the crucial importance of family and will work to make sure that every family in Minnesota has what they need to provide their children with nurturing and bountiful lives through all adversities they may face.
Education
Growing up with parents working tirelessly to pay the bills can be tough on immigrant and low-income families, but with the help of the local Head Start program from the Anoka County Community Action Program (ACCAP), Ashton was given the opportunity and the tools needed to have a successful education. Head start helped provide him with Pre-K readiness that his family could not afford from the schools in the area.
Ashton is a graduate of the Spring Lake Park School District (ISD 16). He started his education at Woodcrest Elementary (before it became a dedicated Spanish Immersion program) and ended at Spring Lake Park High School (SLPHS) in 2019. At SLPHS, Ashton spent most of his time heavily involved in the music program, where he found his passion for Flute. Ashton’s career as a flutist has taken him across the state, country, and world playing in various orchestras and bands. Ashton was a part of the Minnesota Music Educators Association’s All-State Band, the Northwest Suburban Conference All-Conference Band/Orchestra, and the Minnesota Youth Symphonies Symphony Orchestra. He also performed with the Minneapolis Community Education Theater Pit Orchestra, Nachito Herrera’s “Afro-Latin Renaissance” Orchestra, and the Minnesota Opera Project Opera Pit Orchestra. Out of all of these experiences, however, his favorite was being a member of the Patriots Marching Band. Ashton performed with the Patriots from 2014-2019, playing in parades across the state, with the SLP Tower Days parade always being his favorite to play.
These experiences inspired Ashton to audition for the Music Performance Program at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro (UNCG), studying under one of the top professors in the country, Dr. Erika Boysen. At UNCG, Ashton was heavily involved in Student Government and was elected as the College of Visual and Performing Arts Senator in his first year at school. While he was a Student Government Senator, he served as Vice Chair on the finance committee in which he allocated over $100,000 to hundreds of student organizations. Eventually, Ashton was hired as a campaign manager by one of the candidates running for the UNCG Student Body President.
When the COVID-19 Pandemic moved all classes and activities online, however, continuing to pursue his passion for music became difficult in the new learning environment. After mulling over the decision for several weeks, Ashton decided that it was best for him to pursue his other passions, Political Science and Constitutional Law. In his second year of college, he changed his major to Political Science and Pre-Law. As a Political Science student, Ashton has taken a multitude of classes in law and political theory, has won awards in the Southern Region Model United Nations Conference for Best Delegate and Diplomacy, and was known for his heavy involvement in public policy with the Anoka County Community Action Program (ACCAP).
Community Service
Throughout his life, Ashton has dedicated his time to serving his community through various activities such as volunteering at the Augustana Chapel View Senior Health & Living facility, being a member of the United States Air Force Auxiliary – Civil Air Patrol, and more recently, contributing to the Anoka County Community Action Program (ACCAP).
Starting at age twelve, Ashton spent every summer and winter volunteering at Augustana, assisting with church services, administering physical therapy, and conversing with residents daily. Ashton volunteered at Augustana until he was sixteen and his time there solidified his moral obligation to help those in need.
When he was thirteen, Ashton began volunteering with the United States Air Force Auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol. His time with the Civil Air Patrol allowed Ashton to serve his community in a greater capacity than he could on his own. Integrity, Volunteer Service, Excellence, and Respect. These are the core ethical values of Civil Air Patrol that Ashton practices in his daily life. While working as a Flight Line Marshaller at the Anoka County Discover Aviation Days, Ashton developed as a leader within his community. Through other leadership opportunities such as the Minnesota Wing 17th Cadet Training Group Encampment at Camp Ripley, Ashton attained many invaluable leadership skills.
More recently, Ashton has had the opportunity to intern as a public policy analyst with the Anoka County Community Action Program (ACCAP). During his time with the ACCAP, he attended meetings with local leaders, and researched the complex issues of poverty, homelessness, and the difficulties low-income families face daily. Then, using what he learned while researching these topics, he helped advise the executive director on how to best correct these issues. Ashton hopes to use his experiences with ACCAP as a platform on which he can build legislation to combat homelessness and poverty statewide.
To Ashton, being a leader means listening and being cognizant of the issues that all people are facing and working towards a common goal that will benefit everyone, not just one group.