Being homeless prevented Kim Hetzler of Hendersonville from attending school at times while growing up, but her decision to pursue a GED certificate on her own led to a master’s degree and a business of her own.

Hetzler was 17 and working two jobs when she decided to buy a GED prep book.

“I didn’t want to work two jobs forever,” Hetzler said. “I wanted to do something that no one in my lineage had done. It was very important for me to
create a new path.”

When she was 22, she opened her mailbox and took out her GED certificate.

“It completely changed everything at that moment for me,” Hetzler said. “It was just a sense of enormous accomplishment. And so from there, I just continued.”

She got a bachelor’s in criminal justice and a master’s in adult education. She now owns her own business, training professionals in the workplace.

“It was the most proud education moment of my life,” Hetzler said. “It wasn’t just about getting my GED. It was validation I had beat the odds and come a long way in my life.”

Hetzler shared the story about how education changed her path in life in the lottery’s N.C. Proud Moments in Education contest, becoming one of ten people to win $20,000. She said she’s determined to pass this educational legacy to her two sons, using the $20,000 to help pay their college tuition.

In the N.C. Proud Moments contest, the Education Lottery asked North Carolinians to share their proudest moments in education and how they would use $20,000 to create more proud moments. The lottery received hundreds of moving responses. A panel of judges chose 10 winners from the 100 entries that got the most votes. The contest helped mark the lottery’s 10th anniversary as it raises money to support education programs in North Carolina. Since 2006, the lottery has raised more than $4.6 billion. The winners’ submissions and a video featuring their stories are posted on the N.C. Proud Moments website, located at http://www.ncproudmoments.com/.