Photo Caption: Retired Federal Judge Thomas B. Russell will be the featured speaker of WKCTC's spring commencement, which will be held at the Carson Center for the Performing Arts on Monday, May 8 at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Photo Caption: Cassandra Steele of Paducah will be the student speaker at WKCTC's spring commencement at the Carson Center for the Performing Arts on Monday, May 8.

Paducah, KY (05/01/2023) — West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) will honor more than 900 candidates for graduation during its spring commencement May 8 at the Carson Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Paducah.

Retired Federal Judge Thomas B. Russell will be the featured speaker of the ceremonies, which will be held at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Cassandra Steele of Paducah will be the student speaker at both ceremonies.

Judge Russell is a native of Louisville. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Western Kentucky University and Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law. He worked in private practice at Whitlow, Roberts, Houston & Russell in Paducah from 1970-1994 and was a managing partner from 1984-1994. He was appointed United States District Judge and served from October 1994-October 2022, and also served as President of the United States District Judges Association from 2015-2017. Judge Russell was appointed in 1994 by former President Bill Clinton to the Western District Court seat and served as Chief Judge from 2008-2011. He was later appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to the Alien Terrorist Removal Court in 2015 and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 2015-2022.

He has received numerous awards, including the 2005 Judge of the Year from the Louisville Bar Association, the University of Kentucky Law Alumni Association Jurist of the Year in 2011, the Kentucky Bar Association's Distinguished Judge of the Year in 2017, and the University of Kentucky College of Law 2018 Alumni Hall of Fame.

Student speaker Cassandra Steele has wanted to be a nurse for as long as she can remember.

"Going into my senior year of high school at Murray High, I thought I had my whole life figured out, earning my CNA (certified nursing assistant) license and college credits toward my nursing degree at the same time through dual credit," she said. "I even had a job at age 16, working for a nursing home. But that all changed in the blink of an eye."

Her best friend in high school, Meagan - who had the same dream of becoming a nurse - passed away in a car accident just prior to starting college at WKCTC in Fall 2004. "It was as if the wind had been taken out of my sails, or perhaps, the entire boat was sinking," said Steele. "I entered WKCTC in Fall 2005, but before my second year of college, I was married with a baby girl on the way, and 16 months later, I was expecting a baby boy. I dropped out and temporarily put my dreams on hold," said the 35-year-old.

When her kids were toddlers, she returned to WKCTC not knowing what she wanted to do. After a divorce, Steele said, "I felt like I couldn't manage nursing school with two small children as a single mom." She graduated from WKCTC with an Associate in Applied Science degree in 2012 and decided her first career would be in social work.

After many struggles with several universities, and illness while working toward her bachelor's degree, Steele persevered and had that degree in hand in 2015. She was a social worker for the next several years in McCracken County. While she loved helping people as a social worker, Steele said her love of helping others drew her back to her childhood passion. She applied and was accepted into WKCTC's nursing program in Fall 2021.

"Throughout my career in social work, I had many experiences that no textbook can teach and will prove valuable as a nurse," said the mother of three. "Every experience in life is a stepping stone to the next adventure. I will finally have a lifelong, meaningful nursing career to look forward to and countless lives I can impact with kindness and compassion," said Steele. "I want others to know that struggles along the way are meant to shape you, not break you."