by David McAlpine

She may not have walked away with Brad's heart during last season of The Bachelor, but now Ashley Hebert, 26, is going to be looking for love on her own. The University of Pennsylvania dentistry student will be the next star of The Bachelorette. Ashley sat down with members of the press to talk about what to expect on her quest to find love.

Q: Was it more difficult than you expected when you were the one making the choices?
A, Ashley: Yes. I mean, going into it, I knew that I would have whole other set of kind of hard times but I didn’t expect it to be as difficult as it was.  But I definitely learned a lot about myself.  I mean, I prefer to be on this side, but it was not easy at times that was for sure.

Q: Were you more nervous for your first mixer on Brad's season, or on your own season?
A, Ashley: I mean, when I was on The Bachelor, I feel like you kind of have nothing to lose, you are going into it open minded and you are excited about the experience, but walking into this when it's, I mean, it's more serious and there is a lot things I have to figure out and there is a lot pressure -- I am definitely a lot more nervous for this one.

Q: Was there a moment when you just wanted to quit?
A, Ashley: I will tell they were definitely a rollercoaster and all that, you some of it had to do with just been away from home and been away from friends.  There wasn’t ever a moment where I wanted to give it all up because I knew how great of an experience it was and I knew how much, I thought that hopefully I wouldn’t look back and be really happy that I went through but there was only hard moments where I thought did I make the right decision to do, am I strong enough to do this?  But overall, I think I knew I wanted to push through.

Q: How was it making the decision to be on the show?
A, Ashley: So I will tell you what I went through, when I was approached about it I thought no question on my mind absolutely.  I would do it if I everything worked out and then I started to question -- am I strong enough for this, am I at a good place in my life with this? I mean I have to take more time off from school.  I just weigh the pros and cons and then at the end of the day, I realize that I wanted to do it and the pros outweigh the cons.

Q: What was your mindset going into the show?
A, Ashley: I think that I reached a point in my life where I knew that if I were to meet the right person, I would be ready but only if I were to meet somebody that made me feel like I was ready.  But going into this, I definitely have the mindset that I have my career in place, I feel really good I was wearing that on a personal level. I feel like I have a lot to offer and I have a great mindset about being in a committed relationship.

The Bachelorette premieres Monday, May 23 at 9/8c on ABC.

(Photo courtesy of ABC)

Reach David by e-mail or follow him on Twitter (@DavidMcAlpine).