PORTLAND, Oregon — Katlyn Genovese of Beaverton is recounting her life’s latest achievement, graduating college with a 3.95 GPA, all after suffering a life-altering stroke that paralyzed half of her body five years ago at the age of 29.
“It was just incredible to see what I could do with all these deficits that I have,” said Genovese. “I never thought that it would happen, ever. I mean, when they said I was having a stroke I knew what a stroke was, but I was like, 'That’s not possible. What is going on?'”
Genovese said doctors found a 6-centimeter brain bleed before rushing her to surgery, taking out part of her brain. Doctors believe she was born with an aneurysm that grew as she aged.
“It was really, really intense,” said Genovese. “Just my whole personality changed. I couldn't move my hands, my thumb, I couldn't lift my arm.”
But after years of hard work in physical therapy, Genovese started improving. She wanted to give college another chance after doctors said her dream of becoming a funeral director wasn’t realistic because the job required heavy lifting.
“Working with the deceased in some ways is what I always wanted to do. So I thought 'Well, criminology is something similar,'” said Genovese. “So I got online and looked at schools that you can do from home.”
She enrolled online at Southern New Hampshire University in 2020 and gave it a shot, despite a new learning disability that developed from her stroke. She now lives with aphasia, a disorder that makes language — particularly schoolwork — difficult to understand.
But little did she know she was going to blow her expectations out of the water. She earned her Bachelor's degree in criminal justice with a near-perfect GPA.
“All through my three and a half years I got only all As and it was incredible to see what I could do with all these deficits that I have," Genovese said. "I am just really proud of myself.”
Genovese now hopes to inspire other stroke survivors who may think their life dreams are too far to reach.
“You are going to sit there and think that you are not good enough,” said Genovese. "I mean that was really the main thing for me, but it’s really important for them to take a step back and realize that it doesn’t matter they don’t have to get straight As. They don’t have to get a 4.0. They don’t have to do anything, just as long as they do whatever they want to do.”
Since her recovery, Katlyn has now graduated college, climbed Mount Saint Helens and bungee jumped 300 feet off a cliff; all to celebrate her mobility and the freedom her new life brings her. She tells KGW she plans to become a criminal investigator after some much-needed time off.