Retired SKYCTC professor’s scholarship helps former student pursue IT career
By Reese Furlow – WNKY TV News
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A retired Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College professor is continuing her work outside the classroom by helping future information technology professionals overcome financial barriers.
Carmen Gaskins established the Gaskins Scholarship after retiring from SKYCTC, where she spent more than 29 years as a Computer and Information Technologies professor and program coordinator.
Gaskins said stepping away from teaching was difficult, but she wanted to find another way to support students.
“I truly enjoyed it. It was very sad to give it up, but I felt that it was time,” Gaskins said. “It was time to look at other avenues to continue to help the students, and the scholarship was definitely the way to go.”
Gaskins said the cost of an education extends beyond tuition and technology. During her teaching career, she saw students struggle to afford transportation, child care, food and other everyday necessities.
“Many of them just didn’t have the gas money or the vehicle to get to class,” Gaskins said. “I would also see the struggle of not having someone to watch their children. I would also just see them not eat because they didn’t have the funds.”
One of the scholarship’s inaugural recipients is Jackson Blackford, a visually impaired SKYCTC student who hopes to build a career repairing computers, solving technical problems, and testing accessibility features.
Blackford’s interest in computers began when he was 3 years old and discovered a desktop computer in his mother’s room.
“I found that it was one of the only things I could do with my vision impairment on my own,” Blackford said. “Computers have always been the only thing that I could do on my own because they talked to me.”
A vision teacher helped install screen-reading software on the computer, allowing Blackford to navigate and learn without someone constantly assisting him.
“If I break something, I’m usually good at fixing it,” Blackford said. “That’s why my IT degree is going to help me get a job helping others with my skills.”
Blackford said he would like to work for a technical support team, helping people diagnose and fix problems with their computers. He is also interested in testing accessibility features such as screen-reading software.
Because he regularly uses those features, Blackford believes his visual impairment gives him a valuable perspective that other technology professionals may not have.
“While sighted people can test screen readers, they may not be able to know whether they’re able to truly help someone who has a vision impairment,” Blackford said. “Because of my visual impairment, I can help test those features and make sure they work for everyone.”
Blackford was one of Gaskins’ students during her final year of teaching.
Gaskins described him as a “breath of fresh air” who consistently asked questions and looked for opportunities to expand his knowledge.
“He showed that anyone can be successful,” Gaskins said. “He has set the bar very high for other students.”
Blackford said he did not know the scholarship existed when he completed SKYCTC’s general scholarship application. He was surprised when he received an email notifying him that he had been selected.
“I didn’t know what to believe,” Blackford said. “I was happy to see her and to thank her for it. I was very, very pleased.”
The financial assistance could help Blackford manage the high cost of assistive technology. He said individual devices can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $7,000.
“If assistive technology ever comes up that the insurance can’t pay for, then this money will really help me with that,” Blackford said.
The scholarship is also helping him work toward another goal: living independently.
“I’m saving money for an apartment so I can move out and just start my adult life,” Blackford said.
For Gaskins, seeing a former student receive the scholarship provides another opportunity to help him accomplish the goals they once discussed inside her classroom.
“It is such a great feeling when students walk across the stage to indicate that they have graduated and accomplished their goals,” Gaskins said. “Anything that I can do to help them accomplish that goal, even though I’m not in the classroom anymore, I want to do that.”
