Kim’s Story

“With opportunity, support, and belief, our students can achieve greatness, just like anyone else”

My story begins with a young mother, just 15 years old, who did everything she could to build a stable life for her daughter. My mother, Linda, often worked two jobs, especially during the holidays, determined to make sure those moments still felt magical. Life was marked by frequent moves and constant adjustment, but through it all, she made sacrifices to ensure I always had enough to eat and felt loved and cared for.

My father struggled with alcoholism and left when I was four years old. From an early age, I experienced what it means to grow up in a single-mother household navigating hardship, uncertainty, and resilience all at once. We didn’t have a car until I was 11 years old, so we walked wherever we needed to go and relied on city buses to get around, learning to navigate life with resourcefulness and determination long before those words had meaning to me.

In high school, I remember the quiet awareness of not always having the “right” clothes or the trendy shoes. I remember what it felt like to sit in classrooms and sometimes question whether I truly belonged there, whether I was enough.

But even in those moments, there were glimmers of connection and hope. I formed lasting friendships with peers who remain close to this day, many of whom were headed to college. And then there was Mr. Smith, my German teacher, who asked a simple but powerful question: “Where are you going to college?” That moment stayed with me. It wasn’t just a question, it was belief. It was the first time I truly felt seen in that space, as someone whose future mattered.

I carried both my experiences of struggle and that spark of encouragement forward. I know deeply what it feels like to be underestimated because of poverty, to question your worth, and to feel like you are on the outside looking in. And I also know how transformative it can be when someone chooses to see your potential anyway.

That understanding became my purpose.

I made a commitment to be the kind of representation I once needed, to stand as a reminder for students growing up in poverty that their circumstances do not define their future. I want them to know, without question, that they are enough as they are. That they belong in every space they enter. And that with opportunity, support, and belief, they can achieve greatness, just like anyone else.

I was accepted to Michigan State University, as a first-generation college student, this milestone marked far more than admission to college, it marked a new beginning. For the first time, I stepped into a space where I felt I could begin to shape the future I had long imagined for myself.

At Michigan State, I began to see possibility in a new way. College became not just about earning a degree, but about discovering who I could become. It was a place where I started to believe that my past did not limit my future, but instead gave it meaning and direction.

That experience became a turning point. It led me toward the field of education, where I could take everything I had lived and turn it into purpose. I felt called to ensure that students who shared similar stories, students navigating poverty, instability, or feelings of not belonging, would see themselves reflected in someone standing in front of them. Education became more than a career path; it became a way to offer what I once needed most: representation, belief, and a light strong enough to help them see their own way forward.