Kenai Penninsula College (News) - Homer resident Taylor Huskey has capped a string of academic successes at KBC with statewide recognition of her achievements. At an annual conference earlier this spring, Huskey was named the Alaska Adult Education Association’s Outstanding Adult Learner of the Year.

Her success is a lesson in persistence and determination. A mother of five, Huskey had passed three of her four General Education Development (GED) tests three years ago. With a great deal of math anxiety and the COVID disruptions, she delayed her final math test to complete her certification. Then, when her youngest child started kindergarten last fall, she decided to finish.

She attended class regularly, did her homework diligently, and passed her math test in October. She also became the first recipient of the KBC High School Equivalency to College Scholarship, a way to support AAEA students seeking to earn a college degree, offering free tuition for a three-credit class at KBC.

She praised KBC’s Michelle Waclawski, the winner of AAEA’s Administrator of the Year award, as essential to her achievement: “I’m excited to be a student this year no matter what classes I take,” she wrote to Waclawski. “You were such a great supportive teacher! Seriously, I didn’t think I could overcome my math fears—but I did it with your help! It was very empowering—now I feel like I can take a college class and I’ll be OK. My kids are watching me and my teens are so proud!” (See a related story on Page 2 of this issue.)

Huskey is currently working to author two books, carving out time to write every day. To further her goal of authorship, she used her scholarship to take Writing 111 this semester at KBC.