FAIRFIELD — Karen Winfree will never forget the day she drove onto the Kennebec Valley Community College campus to take her first class at age 57.

“It was the most surreal feeling — it was like, I can’t believe I’m actually here,” she said.

Before that, she had decided to take an online summer math class to sort of test the waters. Math was difficult for her, so she wanted to tackle her fear head-on.

“I knew that this was going to be my biggest hurdle,” she said. “I managed to pass with a 3.67 and I was elated.”

That was in 2023, just before she enrolled in a psychology program at KVCC in Fairfield. Two years and many accolades later, Winfree, now 58, was named KVCC’s Student of the Year at a Maine Community College System recognition ceremony. Saturday night, she was student speaker at KVCC’s commencement exercises and, with a 3.98 grade point average, received an associate’s degree in psychology.

Faculty in the psychology department had nominated her for the Student of the Year Award, calling her a role model, both in and out of the classroom.

“She volunteers for everything and engages with all of those involved,” they said in a statement. “She is an idea generator, but just as equally, a workhorse.”

College officials say Winfree distinguished herself as a passionate leader and active participant in campus life, serving as a student senate ambassador, a member of Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society and Phi Beta National Honor Society, and a founding member of the KVCC Rotaract Club, whose focus is service over self. She also was named a 2024 Gorman Scholar for community volunteerism both on and off campus, and that award paid for her second year of college, she said. She logged 445 hours of community service while also advocating for her peers and mentoring fellow students.

Winfree said Saturday she planned to focus on the theme, “Crossing the Bridge to a Better Future,” in her commencement speech before hundreds that were expected at the Augusta Civic Center.

She recalled what brought her to that moment, starting from when she was a girl growing up in Fairfield and attending Lawrence High School. She didn’t finish high school, instead marrying at 17, and as a military wife she traveled a lot. While living in Connecticut, she earned her GED, or general educational development certificate, she said.

She raised two children, a boy and a girl, both of whom have earned their bachelor’s degrees. She eventually moved back to Fairfield to care for her aging parents and as an empty nester, joined the general workforce, doing everything from landscaping to house cleaning, she said. After a few years of working with her body, she decided she really needed to do something with her mind, she said.

“While I didn’t go to college, I’m a lifelong learner, self-educating myself for decades,” she said. “Any time I became interested in something, I learned about it. When I came to college, I was actually way more prepared, academically, than I realized. It’s been really gratifying.”

Winfree found that being in the college setting allowed her to stay engaged and involved in society. She enjoyed interacting with other students, she said, and recalled one instructor telling her that she really enriched the class because of her unique perspective.

“I’m often the oldest person in the room, including the instructor,” she said. “It’s been wonderful. I learn as much from them as I think they do from me, in my mind.”

Winfree also is a student employee at KVCC, where she works at the information desk.

“I get to see so many people and help so many people,” she said. “That’s been just a blast.”

Winfree received early acceptance at Thomas College, where in the fall she will start pursuing a bachelor’s in psychology, she said. She eventually hopes to serve in an advocacy role, she said, either working with youth in the criminal justice system or in mental health. This summer, she will do an internship in a behavioral health setting.

Winfree’s advice to anyone who is older and interested in going to college is to just do it.

“Start with one class,” she said. “If you’re thinking about it, you should do it. Just take one class. That’s not a big financial commitment. It really gives you a sense of, ‘Is this for me?'”

Winfree said her children are the reason she would be walking across the stage Saturday night for the first time, to receive a degree.

“That’s part of my speech, that my kids are part of my inspiration,” she said. “They are very proud of me and I am proud of them.”