GALESBURG — A few years ago, Kaden Pickard had a grade point average that started with a 1 and was convinced college wasn’t a fit for him.
This weekend, he’ll receive arguably the most prestigious award given to an Illinois community college student.
Pickard, who’ll graduate from Sandburg at the end of this semester, is the second student in the college’s history to be named a Student Laureate by The Lincoln Academy of Illinois.
The annual honor recognizes excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities by selecting an outstanding senior from each of the state’s four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities. In addition to that, one graduating student is chosen as a Student Laureate to represent the entire Illinois community college system. Pickard, 23, of Galesburg is that student for 2026.
“There are 45 community colleges in Illinois and 600,000 students enrolled in those colleges,” Pickard said. “Those are 600,000 other students who could have been nominated, could have won the award, and it's me. It's surreal.”
Pickard will attend an award program at 11 a.m. Oct. 24 at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, where he’ll receive the Abraham Lincoln Civic Engagement Award, a Lincoln medallion, a challenge coin and a $1,000 check from The Lincoln Academy. Zana Danner in 2018 is the only other Sandburg student to have been named a Student Laureate.
‘I definitely lost my footing’
Pickard first came to Sandburg after graduating from Galesburg High School in 2021. He enrolled in the college’s basic industrial manufacturing maintenance program, but he quickly realized he didn’t have a passion for the work. His grades reflected it, and he didn’t feel motivated to continue.
“I definitely lost my footing straight out of high school,” Pickard said. “I just came here, did terrible, and I was like, man, college just isn't for me.”
Pickard left school to work full-time as a second-shift warehouse associate at Blick Art Materials, a role he still has today. A couple of years into working full-time, Pickard wanted to find a career path that he felt had a larger purpose.
“I didn't want to do a job where I only impact myself and only benefit myself,” Pickard said. “I want to have that type of impact on kids where I help them see their own potential, see themselves.”
A sense of belonging
Pickard decided to come back to Sandburg in the 2024 fall semester, this time to become a history teacher. Early on in his return, he came across a friend, Alex Galarza, who at the time was president of the student organization Men of Distinction. Galarza recruited Pickard to join, and it transformed his Sandburg experience.
Pickard’s grades started shooting up. He earned a spot on the honors list his first semester back and has been on the dean’s list in the three semesters since then. He became president of Men of Distinction and has logged more than 230 community service hours through MOD and other student groups. He became a student ambassador, is part of TRIO Student Support Services, was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and is part of the Rural Teacher Pathways project, which helps young men explore careers in education.
That involvement on campus, Pickard said, completely changed the outlook of his educational journey.
“It led to this being more than just, ‘Oh, I want to be a teacher,’” Pickard said. “When I first decided I wanted to be a teacher, it was very ground level. Then I saw the impact that helping people had through the community service I was doing.”
His experience with Sandburg’s Rural Teacher Pathways project has allowed him to be in classrooms and learn firsthand from teachers as he works toward his goal of becoming one himself.
“One thing I've learned a lot is it's more about the relationships you build with the students than just what it is in the classroom,” Pickard said. “It's about making the students want to show up to your class, want to be in your class, want to participate, want to be there and have that sense of belonging.”
Next steps
Pickard will graduate from Sandburg at the end of this semester with his associate in arts degree. He’s undecided on where he plans to complete his bachelor’s after that, acknowledging that the news of his Student Laureate honor “just opened up a lot more doors than were already there.”
One thing he does know, though, is that returning to Sandburg and becoming more active on campus in his second stint steered him toward where he is today.
“Everything within the last two and a half years has changed dramatically, more than I could have ever possibly imagined,” Pickard said. “I genuinely can say every person who's been remotely involved in my journey in college has helped me. There's not been a single person who's held me back.”
Kaden Pickard