Single mom was ‘barely making it.’ Now she’s graduating from college

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Karen McGirt was barely making it as a young, single mom in Charlotte decades ago with three children. Her part-time job was hardly earning enough to pay monthly expenses. More often than not, McGirt had to decide whether to pay the electric bill or provide food for her children. She also was a trade school student. “I had to find a second wind with each new challenge to finish what I set out to accomplish,” she said. More than 30 years after graduating from Harding University High School — much of it working as a bus driver or in a salon — the 48-year-old mom will cross the...