Two bright lights stood out to Kindra Boyd during the dark days of her childhood, and they are who have inspired her career goals. Boyd, who is earning her associate degree in early childhood development, is this year’s Outstanding Graduate for the Middletown Campus. She ultimately hopes to become a school counselor.
“I grew up in a very toxic environment all of my life,” said Boyd, who is from Parkersburg, West Virginia. “There were two educators, including a school counselor, who spoke to my heart and kept me going as a little girl.”
The other was the school truancy officer.
“I just know the difference that they made in my life,” said Boyd. “You never truly know what a child is going through behind the scenes, but as an educator, you can really make a difference for a child.”
Nearly three years ago, Boyd found herself in a predicament – she was pregnant and felt alone. That’s when she discovered the New Eve Maternity Home.
“I was pregnant, had no support and this maternity home came up,” said Boyd, who moved in when she was four months pregnant. “I moved to Winchester to the maternity house and just started building our lives from the ground up. It has been amazing. I move out in a couple of weeks. They really have helped me through motherhood and to build our lives.”
New Eve offers a home, job and life skills, continuing education and more to expectant mothers and their children before and after the baby is born.
“I knew that I had to get educated to provide a future for myself and for my son,” said Boyd, whose son Benjamin just turned 2.
Some of the New Eve volunteers and house mothers talked to her about attending Laurel Ridge, and she enrolled in classes while still pregnant. After giving birth, Boyd switched to online classes.
For every semester she was at Laurel Ridge, there seems to have been “a professor who gets me through,” Boyd, who is working as a preschool teacher, said. These have included instructor Christen Johnson, and Professor Lori Killough, who is director of teacher education at Laurel Ridge.
Boyd received assistance from the Jeffery L. Ross Memorial Endowed Scholarship and from Laurel Ridge Student Success funds. She is also grateful for Laurel Ridge social worker Tiffany Matthews and April Strosnider, an academic advisor and Boyd’s coach in Great Expectations, a state program providing additional support for students who have been in foster care.
“The college has been there for me emotionally and realized where I stand in life because I have no friends or family here,” said Boyd, who plans to transfer to an online program at either Old Dominion University or James Madison University to complete her bachelor’s degree. “All of my early childhood development professors have been very understanding. My son has asthma and has had a lot of respiratory issues.
“My experience at Laurel Ridge has been heartfelt, and I’m truly grateful. I do feel I’ve been educated to where I can go into the teaching environment and be beneficial to the children, and provide that safe and nurturing environment.”
Strosnider nominated Boyd for the Outstanding Graduate honor, impressed by her “exceptional level of motivation.”
“As a first-generation college student, single parent, and child who experienced foster care, Kindra has faced long odds of success,” Strosnider said. “Despite the depths of these challenges, Kindra has developed and maintained a strong spirit and desire to build a better life for herself and for her son. I believe that Kindra will be helping the world for many years to come.”
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.