By Ann Blackford
Jim Adams
LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 30, 2024) — Jim Adams loved his nearly 40-year career as a coal miner, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and great grandfather before him. He never regretted his decision to go into mining despite his lifelong dream of attaining a college education.
Yet during his time spent in the mines mining coal, or outside working as a mechanic, he still longed for a college education. Now, on Friday, May 3, Adams will walk across the stage at the University of Kentucky and see his dream come true when a diploma is placed in his hand.
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Adams grew up in Isom, Kentucky, a small town near Hazard in eastern Kentucky. At 17 he married his high school