After her own detour, this senior is teaching fellow students valuable financial lessons

When Michelle Kingsley first imagined going to the University of Pittsburgh, she pictured a classic college journey — four years in Oakland, exploring the city and all it had to offer.

That’s not quite how things turned out.

Kingsley’s road to graduation included a detour through community college, a few full-time restaurant jobs and a lot of budgeting. But this spring, the School of Business senior will walk across the commencement stage after funding a majority of her educational journey on her own while helping other students manage their finances.

Kingsley grew up in Sugar Grove, a small town in Warren County, Pennsylvania. When she graduated high school, her main goal was to get a debt-free college degree. But, unsure of what to study, she felt it would have been too challenging to accomplish this goal if she attended Pitt right away.

Instead, she started her college career at a state college in New York. Unfortunately, the cost of her first semester wiped out her savings, which she attributed to poor budgeting. She made the difficult decision to pause her education and regroup.

She doubted whether she’d graduate from any college, she said, unsure if she’d be able to make enough money and manage it appropriately. Her mother, Nikki Kingsley (BUS ’99), was her strongest support system during this challenging time in her life — and her primary inspiration to attend Pitt.

“She always told me that there’s no certain timeline, and it’s okay to take some time off if you need to and figure out exactly what you want to do and save up to meet those goals,” Kingsley said. “As a young adult, it does feel like there’s a certain time frame where you need to have everything perfect. I realized, after struggling a little bit, that it’s OK to take that time.”

To save money for school, she started working full time as a server, bartender and, eventually, manager, working 50-60 hours weekly. She soon began pursuing an associate’s degree at Jamestown Community College and continued working 20-30 hours a week while taking classes.

With each paycheck, she rebuilt her bank account and her confidence. The money-managing experience also helped Kingsley figure out that she wanted to study finance. She earned her associate degree in business administration before transferring to Pitt, where nearly all of her credits carried over.

After her first semester at Pitt, she earned a General Motors/Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Endowed Scholarship and became a student worker at the Financial Wellness Center, which quickly became one of her most meaningful experiences on campus. For someone who once struggled with managing her own finances, the job has been a full-circle moment, she said.

The center provides students with tools to help them plan for and address financial issues that may come up during their academic journey. Among the center’s many offerings, students can learn tips on budgeting, savings, establishing credit, student loan borrowing and more.

In her role as a peer educator, Kingsley has led presentations and one-on-one coaching sessions. The main tool she emphasizes while coaching, she said, is making a budget and sticking to it.

According to Associate Director Janet R. McLaughlin, peer educators like Kingsley are a core part of the Financial Wellness Center’s offerings.

“The peer educator allows a college student to see that they are not alone,” McLaughlin said. “Students don’t always come to school prepared to chat about their financial story. By chatting with someone who is experiencing similar issues, the peer educator can provide support, empathy and, most importantly, a better understanding of what their situation may be.”

McLaughlin said she still remembers Kingley’s first presentation upon joining the center. It came after Kingsley admitted public speaking was something that intimidated her.

“Her preparation and practice were so good, that to this day I am so proud of her ability to present in front of her two supervisors and peers with such confidence and ease. Public speaking is one of the most difficult things for most people to do, but Michelle hit it out of the park with her practice and preparation.”

After graduation, Kingsley hopes to stay in Pittsburgh and begin her career in finance, with a long-term dream of one day opening her own business — possibly a doggy daycare, inspired by her years growing up around animals on her family’s farm.

But first, she’s taking a moment to reflect on the significance of crossing one finish line.

“It means the end of a really hard but amazing chapter, and I’m really excited to see what happens after this,” Kingsley said. “I feel like a Pitt degree can take you anywhere, and I’m really excited to see what that is for me.”

Photography by Aimee Obidzinski