May 12, 1999
Contact: Ida Lee Wootten
(804) 924-6857

DRIVEN BY AMBITION, GRADUATE COMPLETES NEXT LEG 
IN HER JOURNEY OF BECOMING A TEACHER

	Many people have the drive to succeed, but for Kimberly
Elizabeth McKinney, the drive to earn a University of Virginia degree
has often meant a daily 150-mile trip and four-hour commute from her
Fauquier County home.
	In addition to being a full-time U.Va. student, McKinney, 33,
has been a full-time wife and mother to three children with their own
jumble of academic, athletic and work schedules.  Family members gave
McKinney their full support, and on May 23 she'll earn a B.A. in
psychology.
	McKinney stayed at home with the children while they were young,
but when they entered grade school, she began working full-time as a
bookkeeper.  After deciding to become a teacher, McKinney, with
encouragement from her family, enrolled as a full-time student at Lord
Fairfax Community College.
	While at Lord Fairfax, she was elected Outstanding Graduate in
recognition of her 4.0 GPA and her efforts to rekindle the Phi Theta
Kappa honor society at the college.  She was also chosen to represent
the college's Fauquier campus on the All-Virginia Academic Team, which
won a medal during the state competition.  After earning her associate's
degree, McKinney applied to U.Va. and was accepted as a third-year
transfer student.  
	McKinney wrestled with the logistics of continuing her education
at U.Va.  She didn't feel she could ask her family to relocate because
she didn't want to uproot the children from their schools or disrupt her
husband's new business. 
	McKinney has encountered no roadblocks in her drive toward a
U.Va. degree.  "I've learned that there are a lot of good people who
care and support you, and I've learned that when you make a decision to
do something, it can happen."

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	For more information, contact Kimberly McKinney through May 21
at (540) 364-4111 or kem8b@virginia.edu. Television reporters should
contact the TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.