STANFORD, Ky. (LEX 18) — Michelle Padgett is graduating from the University of Kentucky. She shared the following words with the school and her classmates, "We did it. Those three words spark an explosion of joy as we proudly celebrate the incredible achievement of being the graduating class of 2024."
Those are just a few words of more than a thousand that Padgett wrote ahead of the graduation Friday.
Padgett will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Community and Leadership Development. But this hasn't been the easiest journey. She explains, "I had my first child at 13 and that's when I was heading into the Lincoln County Middle School. That was really hard trying to navigate being a teenager, being a teen mom, working and going to school."
Padgett tells LEX 18 that she worked hard to juggle the three, as she also battled learning disabilities. She says she didn't fully learn to read until she was in sixth grade.
"School was very difficult for me. I didn't ever want to attend school; I did a lot of crying. Like I said I was very quiet in school because I was timid, I was... I knew I didn't understand but I didn't know how to tell anyone I didn't understand,” says Padgett.
After graduating high school in 2002, starting school at Somerset Community College in 2014, and going on to UK in 2022 -- now more than two decades later Padgett never gave up.
She says, "It was like this little piece of paper that has for years just held me back and I have it. I have achieved it. I'm excited to say the least."
Education and perseverance are lessons she not only wants to pass down to her kids but also wants to share the message with young moms who know they don't want to give up.
Padgett says, "Take care of that baby, take care of you. Like I said, it may be five or 10 years down the road, just don't give up on yourself. Even if you just have to take that one class a semester in between working and everything, just don't give up on yourself."
She says this hasn't been easy, but it’s been worth all the hard work, love, and support from the people around her.
