Staff: Ashlee Lancaster

Level Cross is known as the home of NASCAR racing legend Richard Petty. But for Ashlee Lancaster, her hometown means a little more than that.

“I’m related to most of the town in one way or another, so everyone knows everyone,” said Lancaster, a graduate admissions specialist at East Carolina University. “It was quiet and sleepy. We spent every Sunday at church and then for lunch at my grandma’s. I really miss that tradition.”

That background helped shape her decision to work at ECU. She was working at Cracker Barrel in 2016 when coworkers suggested she apply for a job with ECU.

“I didn’t dislike what I was doing, but I like the idea of being able to do things for other people,” Lancaster said. “When I saw this position come open, I thought, ‘This is my opportunity to make a difference in somebody else’s life,’ and it just kind of stuck.”

Ashlee Lancaster, graduate admissions specialist, works at her desk in Ragsdale. She came to work at ECU to help people with the graduate school admissions process and has now decided to get her own ECU degree in computer science.

She first worked with ECU family medicine before moving in 2019 to the graduate school where she helps prospective students with the application process. She has an important bit of advice for those applying.

“Read everything. The information is there,” she said. “We have a lot of folks who scan the application as opposed to reading it, so they miss bits and pieces. And then explore it before applying. Make sure that it’s really what you want and that you understand the concepts of it.”

Lancaster said many decide on graduate school to further their careers, while others pick a program simply because they’re interested in the subject matter. Either way, her joy comes from knowing she’s helped someone get accepted.

“It’s a very minuscule piece of their entire life, but it’s nice to know that, especially when they thank you for your help,” she said. “I appreciate that. It feels really, really good to know that I’m a little bit of many people’s lives. It’s really cool. It’s nice to know that you get to provide that little bit of help.”

Lancaster, a 2017 Treasured Pirate award recipient, said she enjoys her coworkers who are willing to help wherever needed.

“We’re doing this for the students, but it’s also doing for each other,” she said. “That’s what makes it fun. You spend more of your day at work than you do anywhere else. If you can’t enjoy yourself while you’re there, it’s kind of sad.”

While she has spent years helping others get their ECU degrees, now she’s going to get her own. She’ll start classes in the spring toward a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

“I haven’t been to school in almost 20 years and I likely won’t finish until after my daughter is already finished with her degree, but that’s OK. I thought if you don’t start now, then you never will. I try to look at it like that,” Lancaster said.

She helped with the implementation of a new computer system in the office and enjoyed it, prompting her decision to major in computer science.

“It really made me realize how much I enjoy the maze and the math that comes with it,” she said. “I think computer science is something that would thoroughly interest me in the short term and in the long term.”

It may not hurt that Lancaster is a gamer. Memorabilia from the post-apocalyptic game Fallout occupies her desk. She met her husband, Travis, at a GameStop where he worked with one of her brothers. They have one daughter, Emilee.

“He’s a huge gamer, and he got me into Fallout,” she said.

Not surprisingly, she grew up a NASCAR fan and became a football fan. Now she’s passionate about the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team.

“I’ve always been a football fan and having something to do whenever football season wasn’t in, you had hockey,” she said. “It’s something me and my dad did together. Every year we would go to one hockey game.”

She also enjoys reading, gardening and spending time with family. That’s good considering she grew up with five brothers.

“It wasn’t too bad. Nobody ever messed with me,” she joked.

She has 10 nieces and nephews scattered mostly throughout North Carolina and has found a sense of family at ECU.

“Having community is really important,” Lancaster said.