By Ansley Grayson
Special to The Times

Sitting in the Moore County High School library in the spring of 2021, Audrey Moorehead made a decision that would change the trajectory of her life, as she considered which college she would attend after graduation.

You see, Audrey sat at the top of her class nearly her entire high school career. She worked and studied hard, earning high test scores, doing loads of extra work, and dreaming of attending an Ivy League school. But coming from Lynchburg, that was almost unheard of — until she was accepted to Harvard.

Many would jump at an opportunity to attend Harvard, but for a young, small-town girl like Audrey it took a bit of gumption. Regardless, she picked up her entire life fresh out of high school and moved from tiny Lynchburg to Cambridge, Massachusetts. The demographics are vastly different. The Harvard undergraduate population is larger than the entirety of Moore County. It’s also a place filled with beliefs different from those raised in the South.

But Audrey didn’t settle for safe. Instead, she took a leap of faith and chose to attend her dream alma mater despite her fears of the big city, being away from home, and failure.

{Editor’s Note: Ansley Grayson is a Moore County native and 2021 Moore County High School graduate who is currently attending the University of Tennessee in Knoxville studying communications with a concentration in broadcasting and journalism. Her Raider Round-Up series in The Lynchburg Times is part of an internship for her degree path.)

A different ballpark

Before even arriving at Harvard, Audrey played catch up academically because most of The Crimson’s students are fluent in a foreign language before ever arriving. Many advanced placement scores when attending Harvard.

Also, while Moore County prepared her for real-world situations like job interviews and for how basic college works, MCHS doesn’t boast a lot of AP classes. An Ivy League school is a different ballpark that requires more of its students.

Upon arriving at Harvard, Audrey learned how to use the subway system, navigate campus, and communicate with people who grew up vastly differently from her.

Audrey says “having to find ways to relate to and try to make friends” was vastly different because the people she met weren’t raised on farms or doing anything she grew up doing.

Behind her, she had the support of her family, friends, teachers, and the whole community of Moore County, but Audrey says it was still scary.

“So many things were different all at once for me; it wasn’t just going from small town to big city, high school to college, going from Tennessee to Massachusetts,” Audrey says.

While Audrey says the learning curve was a challenge, her next obstacle was figuring out what she wanted to study. Audrey has always been interested in law, specifically constitutional law, but after her first law class at Harvard during her first semester, Audrey says she was thrown for a loop.

“I just don’t think I had the mental fortitude to deal with that at the time,” Audrey says.

Instead, she pursued a degree in English. However, Audrey says she’s also rediscovered her love for politics and is planning to take the LSAT and apply for school this fall.

After graduation, Audrey moved to Philadelphia where she works as an associate editor at Tangle News, an online political news website.

“I really like what I do, I am blessed to have the job that I have,” Audrey said enthusiastically.

Audrey stumbled into that position during her sophomore year while interning for Tangle. The political website kept extending her internship but did not offer Audrey a fulltime position right out of the gate. So, she started looking for full-time positions elsewhere. When she let Tangle know she’s been offered another position, they offered her a full-time position with better benefits to keep her on.

Local roots in success

Audrey says she feels as though Moore County prepared her well for life after graduation. Some of her favorite memories include playing the different countries anthems at the Jack Daniel’s Barbeque, eating lunch in the library supply closet with all her friends, and the Friday night lights in the fall. Audrey says being at a smaller school; having teachers that really cared about her academics, her future success, and cared about her in general was a guiding factor in finding success after high school.

Moore County teachers and staff invest heavily in their students. Audrey says coming from a small school and town where everybody knows everybody opened the doors to be able to trust in ways you might not find that in bigger schools.

Some advice she gives to current students is to, “take risks … life is supposed to be fun, life is supposed to be difficult and rewarding, and if you are just doing what you think you should be doing or what is expected then it’s not going to be rewarding.”

“Still have fun,” she adds, “but be responsible and disciplines, but find a way to orient that into what you really want and find a way to make work fun.”

If you’d like to read some of Audrey’s lasted writing, including her most recent piece, Not Everything is Christian Nationalism, visit the Tangle website by clicking here. •

About the Lynchburg Times: The Lynchburg Times is Moore County’s locally owned, independent news source. Our reporting is supported by readers, small business partners, and underwriters who believe community journalism matters. If this story was valuable to you, consider becoming a supporter at lynchburgtimes.com.