Kristy Riddell is one semester shy of finishing her associate degree program in business with an accounting track. A single mother of three living in Paducah, Kentucky, Riddell has had her hands full with school and family obligations.
“It’s a lot,” Riddell says with a laugh. “And that’s on top of coaching basketball and football and everything else.”
Riddell is one of approximately 100 veterans attending West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) in any given semester. She returned home to Kentucky in 2004 after serving in the Army in Iraq. The state is home to a large veteran and military population and is the site of two Army bases: Fort Campbell and Fort Knox.
Riddell first enrolled in school after returning from Iraq, but then life intervened.
She became busy raising and caring for her children and also started working at a factory in the area that subsequently closed. “When it shut down, I decided to go back to school,” Riddell explains.
Some Kentucky schools, such as the Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, which has a campus on base at Fort Knox, serve active-duty military and their dependents. WKCTC is more likely to see student veterans come through its doors, according to Kristen Amaya, director of veterans’ services at WKCTC. As a former naval officer, Amaya is well positioned to work with veterans. She is from the area, as are many student veterans who enroll in WKCTC after returning home after years of military service.
For many, the college is the beginning of the next phase of their career.
