By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky – Coming out of Kentucky’s foster care system, Hannah Tackett faced a number of challenges in the way of her goal of attending the University of Kentucky. Yet here she is. 

“I wanted to give myself the best of the best, because I knew that I was willing to do whatever I needed to get what I needed to get the best life that I could have," said Tackett, a history major in UK’s College of Arts and Sciences. “I wanted to go to UK because, with my background, it was like a dream that I never thought I could achieve — to go to such a big university. But I did it.” 

Tackett, who’s from Pikeville, is getting assistance from the state, but she’s also benefitting from the College’s First Gen Trailblazer Fund, which helps undergrads who will be the first in their family to graduate from university. Donors will have the chance to give to the First Gen Traiblazer Fund on April 24 during One Day for UK. 

"As a former foster youth, pursuing higher education can feel overwhelming, especially knowing that only 3% of foster youth earn a college degree,” she said. “This scholarship has helped me afford materials, but more importantly, it has reassured me that I belong here." 

After Tackett entered foster care when she was 16, she ended up going to four different high schools. A couple of the schools had large numbers of students in the foster care system, many of whom weren’t focused on going to college. Such chaos makes it difficult for children in foster care to pursue higher education. But Tackett was determined, and she made college happen. 

“It was extremely difficult,” Tackett said. “I really had to go the extra mile with my education and push myself.” 

One way Tackett approached college prep was enrolling in dual-credit courses at Big Sandy Community and Technical College. She ended up coming to UK with nine credits.  

“I would go to the adviser or principal and tell them I wanted college credit because I’m going to college 100%,” she said. “So they would contact Big Sandy and tell the staff that I want college credits.” 

Once at UK, Tackett has set a new goal for herself — law school. To help her get there, she’s majoring in history.  

“I met an attorney who first got his history degree, and he was telling about all the benefits of studying history for preparation for law school,” she said. “And I've also met so many history professors here at UK whom I absolutely adore.” 

She singled out Erik Lars Myrup, Ph.D., who teaches the history of Brazil and the Portuguese presence in Asia. But her interests lie across a broad span of history, and she’s stimulated by the students and discussions she can access as a history major. 

“I’m interested in early Judaism and the history of early Christianity; I’ve taken a couple of courses in that,” she said. “The people in those classes and the professors are always interesting. And the courses are always conversation-based, which I like. You learn a lot about people around you and about different customs and cultures through these classes, and I really enjoy that being from Eastern Kentucky.” 

At UK, Tackett is striving to give back by helping other students who came out of the foster care system. She even made a short video in which she talks about her background and how she can guide her peers through higher education. And in the meantime, she is celebrating what the First Gen Trailblazer Fund has done to ease her path toward her goals. 

"This fund has given me that extra push,” she said. “Here’s something extra that can help me go farther. I've just really enjoyed it, and I'm very thankful.”