After a beautiful life of raising four children and enjoying many grandchildren, Edith Frensley-Westfall finally achieved a life goal at 75 years of age. Edith married at a young 15 years old, graduated the ninth grade, and ended her educational career to raise her family. However, on January 19, 2021, she earned her General Education Degree through the Skills U program at West Kentucky Community and Technical College, something she had been wanting to do for 60 years.
“I spent my early life raising my four wonderful children, and I would not trade that time with them for anything. But earning my GED was always in the back of my mind; I just didn’t have the confidence to pursue it,” says the Paducah resident.
As her four children each graduated, she was bursting with pride but also envious. Edith was always sorry she didn’t get her GED, but she kept it to herself with the mindset that she simply couldn’t do it.
After becoming a widow, she re-married in 2012 to Michael Westfall, who encouraged her to follow her dream. “My husband saw in the local paper about the GED classes, and he said, ‘I think you need to do it,’ and I responded, ‘Mike, it’s been 60 years since I left school.” Edith says with a chuckle. After further encouragement from her husband and her children, she made the call to WKCTC to learn about the program.
In November 2020, Edith began her journey toward earning her GED. WKCTC set her up to take the “ready test.” This test determines what areas the student may need help in before taking the four tests that must be passed to earn a GED. Edith, nervous and with little belief in herself, took the ready test.
“I thought I was going to go in and take the ready test and they were going to laugh me out. I didn’t have any faith in myself. My husband, kids, and people at the college made me start believing that maybe I could. To my great surprise, I passed every subject!”
After the ready test is passed, a student may move forward and test more extensively in each individual subject: language, science, social studies, and math. The program provides workbooks that help students study at their convenience for each test. Because of her health, Edith took one test subject at a time, each test lasting a couple of hours.
Edith explains her journey saying, “I thought I flunked every test when I took it and would always be so surprised I passed. After my last test, I had gone to the store, and one of the ladies called and she said, ‘Congratulations!’ and let me know that I had passed my final test. I was standing in the store crying with tears of pure joy and happiness. My husband was waiting in the car, and when I got back in the car, all I could get out was, ‘I passed! I passed!’”
To someone in her shoes, Edith would say, “It is well worth taking the time to do it. Just don’t wait as long as I did! The feeling that it gives you inside yourself, it makes you bubble over, because…I did it, you know? I did it! There really aren’t words to describe it.” She also recognizes WKCTC and their staff for being unremarkably helpful and cheering her on the whole way. “It’s never too late, and you are never too old to follow your dreams,” adds Edith “If earning your GED is what you want to do, just go for it.”
Michael, along with her family and friends, was just as excited and proud as she was. They threw her a wonderful surprise graduation party, complete with cake, balloons, and gifts. She and her husband plan to take a trip this year to celebrate. With a newfound belief in herself, Edith plans to look into participating in the free courses that WKCTC offers at no charge for people 65 and over.
Edith is one of three over the age of 70 who has earned a GED in the entire state of Kentucky over the past five years.
West Kentucky Community and Technical College’s Skills U program was recently ranked second in Kentucky for providing adult education opportunities, as well as making a significant jump in its overall ranking to third, up from 14th last year.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, WKCTC’s Skills U program representatives have worked diligently to make sure students continue to get the help they need to prepare for and take the GED test, which is currently free of charge. Tammy Maines, WKCTC’s Skills U director says, “I am humbled that we have been able to thrive during a pandemic. We haven’t missed a beat in helping students across Western Kentucky earn their GEDs.”
For more information on WKCTC’s Skill U program, contact Tammy Maines at tammy.maines@kctcs.edu.
