When Richmond Herring was in the fourth grade, her Girl Scout troop went to an engineering fair. While there, she met a NASA engineer.
“She told me everything she does, and at the time, was building a rover for Mars. As she was explaining it, I said ‘I want to be that,” she said.
That chance encounter has the Lyon County senior on a path to becoming a mechanical engineer and, hopefully, working on jet engines for NASA.
Richmond wrapped up her senior career on the soccer pitch for Lyon County last fall, where she has been named the team MVP for two years. As a team captain, she was also named to the All-District Team as a goalie.
She is a 4.0 student and ranked No. 1 in her senior class. Last summer, she spent five weeks at the Governor’s Scholars Program at Morehead State University.
“I got to see another part of Kentucky and really benefitted from the experience,” she said.
In addition to her educational experience, she also got to meet other soccer players and network, even bringing back some team-bonding ideas for her team.
Communicating on the field has never been an issue for Richmond, who is the regional speech champion in Original Oratory.
“I just love speaking. When I was younger, I would get in front of my Bible study groups, and I think it was a gift the Lord gave me. Honestly, he knew that I’m good at talking So he gave me the ability so that I can lead other people and hopefully lead them closer to the Lord,” she said.
With communication also comes leadership, something Richmond says goes hand in hand with being around the right people.
“If I’m not around the right people, it’s really hard for me to open up, but my team makes it really easy to fall into that role. As the goalie, it’s easy for me to see everything, and whenever I’m in that position, I’m able to just easily fall in line and give them what they need to hear in the moment.”
Off the field, Richmond is the President of Lyon County’s Beta Club, President of Speech, and President of 4-H.
Richmond takes the time to help younger students prepare for public speaking competitions.
“I’m proud of every single girl that comes up. I love helping them and helping one of the girls get over her fear of speaking, and I absolutely love it.”
Richmond also serves in a leadership role within her youth group at Eddyville Methodist Church, helping teach 4-H LEGO Robotics.
It’s all part of the fabric of growing up in a small community where your friends in the first grade are likely your friends when you graduate high school.
“I think it is the most beautiful thing ever. I love being a part of a small town because you can do more. I know everyone talks about how you don’t have that many things in a small town, but I go to these clubs, and I see that I want it to grow and be bigger in our community,” Richmond said.
The Pigman College of Engineering at the Paducah campus of the University of Kentucky awaits Richmond after high school.
It’s not the space part that intrigues Richmond so much as the engineering part.
“You won’t see me leaving Earth. I think my feet need to stay on the ground,” she said.
But it doesn’t mean she has to stop reaching for the stars.
