April 14, 2023, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Kim Budde had barely started at Grand Rapids Community College in 1996 when her mom was diagnosed with congestive heart failure.
“Once I found out Mom was terminally ill, it really took everything out of me,” Budde said. “I needed to focus on her, so I paused college and told myself I’d go back the next year.”
But life — and death — got in the way. Until now.
On April 28, more than a quarter-century since first attending GRCC, Budde will walk across the stage at GRCC’s Gerald R. Ford Fieldhouse and accept her diploma.
“You can bet I’ll be thinking about my mom and dad and brother and all the other people that I've lost the past two years as I walk across that stage. They’ll be right there with me, and I’ll make sure I give all the thanks to them,” Budde said.
Budde is also thankful to Michigan’s Futures for Frontliners. The state scholarship program was created for Michiganders without college degrees like Budde who worked in essential industries during the state’s COVID-19 shutdown in spring 2020. The scholarship provided frontline workers with, in most cases, tuition-free access to local community colleges.
“Frontliners was truly a blessing because it gave me another great reason why I needed to stay in school. I didn’t want to let GRCC down either,” she said.
Budde grew up in Newaygo County, part of a large, close-knit family. After her mother’s death in 1996, she and her husband, Harry, built a new home in Rockford where they raised two daughters.
She’s spent her career in the medical insurance industry in Grand Rapids, rising through the ranks to her current position as a senior manager. But her mom’s dreams for her never faded.
“My mom never went to college; she only made it through the eighth grade. I think that’s why she really wanted college for me,” Budde said. “But for 25 years I just focused on my work and my family.
“In the back of my mind, though, was keeping that promise to my mom; I thought I let her down by quitting college. I always figured one day I’d go back, I just had to find the right time.”
That time came in January 2021 when Budde re-enrolled at GRCC as a business major. Since then, she’s kept her nose to the grindstone with a full-time job and a full class load the past several semesters.
All that hard work paid off: Budde has earned a 3.78 GPA, serves as a GRCC Honors Ambassador and is vice president of Alpha Upsilon Kappa, GRCC’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for community colleges. She’s also been on GRCC’s President’s or Dean’s list every semester.
Kim also was one of three students named to represent GRCC on the All Michigan Academic Team through Phi Theta Kappa.
But continuing her educational journey wasn’t always easy. She lost her father to COVID in October 2021 and her brother passed away last summer. Despite the pain of loss, she persevered at GRCC.
“We’re a very close family and my dad’s sudden death hit us hard,” she said. “But I just couldn’t pause school again. I made a promise to myself that I would forge ahead and keep going until I earned my degree.”
And she will on April 28.
After graduating with an associate degree in business administration at GRCC, Budde will continue with her studies this fall through GRCC's pre-business "3+1" program, a partnership with Davenport University, where she will earn a bachelor’s degree.
She hopes her story will inspire others facing what seem to be insurmountable obstacles.
“I’ve seen my share of struggles like a lot of other people,” she said. “All you can do is just keep going, keep pushing forward.”
This story was reported by Beth McKenna.