Kathleen M. Rodgers named a Distinguished Alumna for Tarrant County College/NE Campus 2014

When I walked across the stage at Tarrant County Convention Center in Fort Worth, TX to receive my diploma in May 2007, I felt ten feet tall in my cap and gown. I was also one of the oldest graduates at 48. With my husband Tom, our two grown sons and my mother looking on, I graduated with highest honors, a total victory considering I feared I would flunk college biology my first day in lecture and lab. Most people complete an AA degree in about two years, but then I’m not most people. It took me 30 years to earn a college degree. In that time, I attended one university, two community colleges, recovered from a life-threating eating disorder, wrote numerous articles for national and local publications, completed one novel, followed my Air Force fighter pilot turned airline pilot husband from base to base, and raised our two sons. I also raised one puppy dog and served as a nanny to my three young boy cousins while their mom worked as an attorney in downtown Dallas.

By the time I earned my associate degree, I’d already enrolled in Southern Methodist University’s noncredit novel writing course. With one completed novel The Final Salute under my belt, a second novel began to take shape. That novel grew up to become Johnnie Come Lately and will be published by Camel Press, an imprint of Coffeetown Press, February 1, 2015.

Being named a 2014 Distinguished Alumni for Tarrant County College/Northeast Campus is one more affirmation that I’m on the right track with my new novel. My protagonist, Mrs. Johnnie Kitchen, goes back to college later in life. In my own little way, I’ve tried to shine the spotlight on community colleges. Tarrant County College inspired the fictional Portion Community College in the novel.

Although I didn’t need a college degree to become a writer, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. Regardless of my many successes in the writing profession, earning a college degree thirty years after I graduated from high school gave me a boost of confidence like nothing else.

No matter what level of education we all achieve, we are all students of the world. Every day we have a chance to learn something new and to apply it to our lives.

Here’s the announcement I received from the President of Tarrant County College/NE Campus:

Greetings Kathleen Rodgers,

As president of Tarrant County College Northeast Campus, I would like to congratulate you for being named as one of the Distinguished Alumni of the campus for recognition in 2014!

Recognition of graduates who have made a difference in the community is a relatively new endeavor for TCC Northeast.  Twelve years ago I established a committee of faculty members with the goal of developing guidelines for this project.  The committee decided to ask departments to name outstanding former students who had graduated from TCC Northeast at least five years ago with associate degrees or certificates.  In the last few years, we also wanted to include students who had attended TCC Northeast for a substantial portion of their college course work, but who may have transferred to another institution to finish a degree.  Each discipline chose one person to be recognized in a ceremony that will take place on campus in May during the Faculty Luncheon.  As a member of this group of Distinguished Alumni, you will receive a certificate that will be presented during that ceremony.

We have scheduled the recognition ceremony/luncheon to take place in the Center Corner (NSTU 1615A) in the Student Center Building.  You might remember that this is the building with the clock tower.  It will begin at approximately 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 6, 2014 and should be over by 1:00 p.m.

The photo and a short bio will eventually be transferred to our Distinguished Alumni Wall of Recognition housed in the J. Ardis Bell Library on the Northeast Campus.

Again, congratulations, and I look forward to seeing you next month.

Larry Darlage, PhD

President| Tarrant County College Northeast Campus

BIO:

Kathleen M. Rodgers’ work has appeared in Family Circle Magazine, Military Times, Family: The Magazine for Military Families, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Albuquerque Journal, Clovis News Journal, and in the following anthologies: Because I Fly, McGraw-Hill, Lessons From Our Children, Health Communications, Inc., Stories Of Faith And Courage On The Home Front, AMG Publishers, Inc., and Home of the Brave: Somewhere in the Sand, Press 53. Her essay, “Remembering Forgotten Fliers, Their Survivors” will be published in a new anthologyRed, White & True forthcoming August 2014 from University of Nebraska Press/Potomac Books.

Leatherneck Publishing released her debut novel, The Final Salute, in paperback in 2008. In 2009 Army Wife Network selected it as their July book club pick and Military Writers Society of America awarded it the Silver Medal. In 2010, USA-Today and The Associated Press ran stories about the author’s sixteen-year journey to bring the novel to life. The novel soared to #2 on Amazon’s Bestselling Military Aviation paperback list. In 2011, Navigator Books released the Kindle edition and the novel hit #1 on Amazon’s Top Rated War Fiction the following year.

Kathleen’s second novel, Johnnie Come Lately, is forthcoming from Camel Press, February 1, 2015.

She is the mother of two grown sons, Thomas (an award-winning artist and graduate of UNT) and J.P. (a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Army and graduate of Texas Tech). Both sons attended Tarrant County College/NE Campus before earning their undergraduate degrees. Kathleen lives in Colleyville, TX with her husband, Tom, a retired fighter pilot/commercial pilot, and their rescue dog, Denton.

She is represented by Loiacono Literary Agency.