As a kid, Kimsey Roman, 23, moved a lot and spent a lot of time trying to fit in. Her family moved from the small town of Ducula, Georgia, to California and Florida, then back to Georgia. By the time middle school rolled around, she felt like a stranger among longtime classmates.
“It’s a small town, so the kids are together through elementary, middle, and high school. I felt left behind, and I got bullied,” she said.
As a naturally introverted child, Roman retreated into herself. Social anxiety led to missed school, which led to classwork piling up, and it wasn’t long before Roman dropped out. Hoping to get her GED, Roman later tried taking online classes, but found that she struggled to focus and complete work. “My mental health was so bad, she said. “It was hard to teach myself.”
At 19, Roman was eager to transition into life as an adult, yet she felt lost. “I wanted to dip my toe into a lot of different things,” she said. “I wanted to try a trade school, but I couldn’t decide what to do. Finally, I decided to get my GED, and then at least I’d have a goal, something to go for.”
Roman found A-B Tech’s High School Equivalency program in January 2025, just before her 23rd birthday, and was surprised to discover it was free. Classes were offered both in person and on Zoom, so if she couldn’t catch the bus to campus one day, she could participate online. She admits that the idea of setting foot in a classroom again made her heart jump. “I was nervous to go to school again,” she said. “I thought, how many people will be there? Will I fit in?”
After taking the placement test, Roman discovered she needed to brush up on math. She then went to one of her first in-person classes, Studies for Success, which focused on tips for how to study as well as ways to research potential career paths. As part of the class, instructor Andrea Runnels had students take personality tests to learn more about themselves. Roman discovered she is a visual learner who does best with hands-on activities. The class then did research projects on fields to which they felt drawn.
The best part of the assignments? There was no pressure. “She told us your project doesn’t have to be perfect,” Roman said. “Just complete it and you’ll get benefits from finishing it.”
Roman spent much of her time in the High School Equivalency program fine-tuning her math skills. She practiced on her own in class with Cheryl Harling. “I would cry in class, I was so scared of math,” she said. “She would sit there and hug me and sit with me.”
Indeed, sitting in a classroom with other students felt a whole lot better than Roman had expected. Any anxiety she had about voicing the wrong answer soon vanished.
“Everyone is working at their own pace,” she said. “Someone could learn from my wrong answer. And I felt like everyone was a support system.”
In her Studies for Success class, Roman researched accounting and business and learned that as an introvert with a strong independent streak, she would make a great entrepreneur. She settled on the idea of becoming a Certified Public Accountant.
Why would someone who struggles with math become an accountant? “It was all in my head,” she said, chuckling. “When I retook the placement tests, I thought I was going to flunk math, but I did so well. I was over the moon.”
A large part of Roman’s success came from overcoming distorted beliefs such as the idea that she was “less than” other people. Being in the classroom with her fellow students and teachers helped to reset her thinking. “A-B Tech became a safe space for me,” she said. “I felt equipped with tools, and I could write my own story and not follow anybody else’s.”
After graduating from the High School Equivalency Program in June, Roman has enrolled in A-B Tech’s Associate of Arts accounting transfer program and will start classes the day after her graduation. She ultimately hopes to transfer to a four-year college for a business degree.
Only six months after Roman first walked onto campus, the young student feels like a different person. Roman recalls a stress ball her teacher, Cheryl, had on the table that she returned to time and time again. It was a small object, but, like her teachers and fellow students, it helped her get through. “It had a smiley face on it and said, ‘You can do this’. I would squeeze the heck out of that stress ball.”
Roman says she encourages anyone who feels lost and doesn’t know where to go to look deeper into their learning style and personality type. “All you have to do is start, and you will get through it.”
Learn more about A-B Tech’s High School Equivalency program.