Kate Cecil, a proud native of eastern Kentucky, has always been passionate about education.
That passion is what led her to attend Campbellsville University (CU) to earn a degree in education and begin a career as a CU First Year Success Coach.
Cecil, 22, works hard to promote education. But, above all, she strives to be kind to everyone she meets.
“This is what the Lord wants us to be… He wants us to be kind,” she said. “So, I try to think about others and help them out.”
Her love for others was instilled in her by her parents. Both of her parents are educators who consistently show their children kindness and morality. As her parents served alongside other role models at church, Cecil was also able to witness her parents’ commitment to following Christ. This relationship with God has always been part of her. She was saved when she was 7, and she was baptized on her 8th birthday.
“I am trying to be faithful,” she said. “I know I am not perfect, but I try to work every day to show His love to others and be more like Him.”
This strong passion for Christ and her desire for leadership brought her to Campbellsville University.
“I picked Campbellsville because I wanted to go to a smaller school and make a bigger impact,” she said. “So, I wanted to go to a place where people would know my name and I would know other people’s. So, I met my goal. I made lot of strong connections during my time here in college.”
She is very proud of herself for making this decision because this allowed her to be involved on campus. Even though she was a student during the Covid pandemic, Cecil was still able to contribute to several campus organizations. She worked as a Presidential Ambassador for the university. She served on the Education Club council for two years. She also served as Stapp Hall’s resident assistant for two years. She has developed relationships with the individuals there, including her roommate of four years, and she said she is incredibly grateful for them. Her involvement with the Student Government Association has been the high point of her stay at Campbellsville. She held the position of SGA council secretary during her sophomore year. She was then elected president for two terms.
Despite her busy schedule and the extracurricular activities, she was involved in, Cecil was a model student. She was a double major in Spanish and elementary education while maintaining a 4.0 GPA during her college career. Following her graduation in May of 2023, she is now pursuing a master’s degree in education.
“She has always been the perfect student,” said Dr. Dottie Davis, CU professor who also served as Cecil’s academic adviser. “Her high-quality works, presentations and good communication skills were simply outstanding.”
Cecil has always been known for being a hard worker. Outside of the classroom, Cecil and Davis collaborated on homecoming activities, and they went on a study abroad trip to Italy and Greece with a group from the School of Education during the summer of 2022. Davis said she got to know Cecil even better during these experiences.
“She is always ahead of things,” Davis said. “After coming in my office to talk about her classes she needed to take in order to graduate, she came to me a couple of days later with her colored class schedule for her next four years. Everything was all organized.”
The day before graduation, Cecil was chosen to speak to all the graduating education majors.
“She is born to be a leader,” Davis said. “She is a positive example, good listener, she asks questions. She is simply the perfect student.”
Shelby Mollinger, one of Cecil’s best friends, described Cecil as “a ray of sunshine.” Mollinger is a junior at CU, and Cecil was her RA. Cecil’s role as SGA President encouraged Mollinger to also join the organization.
“Being part of that club, we just drew very close,” Mollinger said. “Now we go to church together, I go to her house once a week. So, we are really tight.”
Mollinger said she gained so much respect for Cecil during her time in SGA, and really started to look up to her.
“Kate is somebody that you cannot describe,” Mollinger said. “She just wants to bring everybody up. I have never heard anything negative about Kate Cecil because she is just absolutely phenomenal… I want to be her when I grow up.”
According to Cecil, she plans to continue to advocate for education and possibly become a superintendent of a school district someday. But, above all, she wants to remain a faithful follower of Christ.
“I just want to make the world a better place,” Cecil said, “and I hope that my actions can encourage others to pursue the same goals.”
