MIAMI – In his professional life, Dr. Bernard Ashby is an Ivy League educated cardiologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, but in his personal life, he is never far from his roots in South Florida.
A regular at his cousin's barbershop in Overtown, Ashby said he see the struggles that inner city youth face every day.
"I had my issues growing up, but when I see what these kids are going through, it seems like it's 10 times more difficult," he said. "Seems like they have an albatross around their neck and they want to be more successful and do the right thing, but everything is forcing them in the a different direction."
You wouldn't know it by looking at his resume now, but when Ashby was in high school he got kicked out of one school, and because of his lack of interest in school work, they thought he might have a learning disability.
So he switched schools and changed his attitude.
"At that point I said If I wanted to get straight A's I could and I did," Ashby said.
At Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, he said he has one teacher who really helped him believe in himself.
"One teacher in particular, my psychology teacher, Ms. Barnett, who has since passed away, really took me under her wing and recognized that I was intelligent and someone who has potential," Ashby said. "So she pushed me in a positive way."
That push took him to the Ivy Leagues. He earned his medical degree from Cornell University and studied health policy at Princeton.
Ashby completed his residency and internship at Columbia University, where he was also an assistant professor in the department of medicine. He completed a postdoctoral clinical and research fellowship in vascular medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ashby credits the support and love of his parents and family for helping him succeed, and knows that youth in the inner city need all the reinforcement they can get.
"It's an honor for me to be part of the My Future, My Choice campaign," Ashby said. "I think it is very necessary. It is just the start of a movement -- there is a lot more to be done, especially when it comes to issues in inner city communities."
Ashby said he hopes his story inspires others to dare to dream against all the odds.
If you have a story idea for "My Future, My Choice," email Neki Mohan at nmohan@local10.com.