By Liz King

Staff Writer

AMESBURY — When 18-year-old Jamie Ashton arrives at two roads diverged, the path he chooses is not set in stone — it's a road he paves along the way, morphing each day with new opportunities and experiences.

The Amesbury resident, who was named valedictorian of his class at Phillips Exeter Academy, is now turning that road to Harvard University.

His father, Guy, said Ashton applied to and was accepted to six colleges before choosing Harvard, where he plans to pursue behavioral economics.

It was on a similar whim that Ashton applied to Phillips Exeter Academy, after attending Amesbury Elementary and Middle schools.

"I didn't intend to go," Ashton said. "It wasn't a path I planned out for myself — it was a benevolent, auspicious beginning."

It was at Phillips Exeter that Ashton began exploring all the paths available to him — aside from six days of schooling from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., he played saxophone in the school's jazz band and participated in varsity swimming, water polo and crew, which he plans to pursue at Harvard.

He was a member of Phillips Exeter's Cum Laude Society, received Latin and Greek awards, and was a Presidential Scholar semifinalist.

Hard work is not new to him — as a boy, Ashton had a paper route, which he has since passed down to his younger brothers, Jack and Jake; he interned in the Congressional Office in Washington, D.C., last term; and this summer, he plans to work in construction for a friend.

"There's a sense to keep grounded," his father said. "We're ordinary people, ordinary folks, not from an academic background."

Guy Ashton said he arrived in the United States in 1984 from the United Kingdom with less than $100. The expatriate, who was a high-school dropout and never went to college, came to the country for love — his wife, Julie.

"The whole thing is just amazing to me," he said. "It's been an enjoyable, wild ride."

Ashton, who works at Digital Realty Trust, and his wife, a third-grade teacher at Salisbury Elementary School, said their son was totally self-motivated throughout his schooling career.

"It's just a combination of being very clever, very focused, and hardworking," Ashton said. "He's had many late nights — I'd be going to sleep after the "Late Show" at 11:30, and Jamie's still got his lights on."

Ashton said his son would leave for school at 7 a.m., and oftentimes, he and Julie wouldn't pick him up until 8 p.m., and he'd be bringing back three or four hours of homework to do.

"He didn't have a spare moment," Ashton said. "He wants to get education for education's sake — he's very driven."

That hard work led Jamie Ashton to graduate at the top of his 375-member class, donning laurels for his classical degree, with three years of Latin and one year of Greek under his belt.

"I think it's just curiosity at the root of it," Jamie Ashton said. "I'm not driven by a compulsion to be first in the class — I'm just enthused of acquiring more knowledge here or there."

Even in his free time, which is rare, Ashton is an avid reader. He said the book "Freakanomics" piqued his interest in behavioral economics, which he plans to study at Harvard; though he said, that is liable to change — he's also interested in dabbling in philosophy, classics, Greek, economics and psychology.

"I think it's easy to find a balance when you're passionate about a variety of things," Jamie Ashton said. "And I've been fortunate enough to pursue all those interests — athletics, academics and extracurricular. Everything I've pursued, I've pursued with passion."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1351208&forum_id=1#15358492)