Designing his own path: UK grad’s journey from first-gen student to future architect

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 4, 2026) — Kauner Shacklette, a May 2026 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Design and the Lewis Honors College (LHC) from Vine Grove, Kentucky, can thank his dislike of calculus for leading him to his career as a future architect. 

Shacklette, who entered his first year at UK as a computer science major, realized after a few weeks in introductory calculus that his interests and strengths were better suited to a different field. As priority registration approached, he began exploring other career paths that felt like a better fit. 

That’s when he discovered Associate Professor Liz Swanson’s introductory design course that explored how design shapes everyday life and introduces students to the creative process behind it. 

“I took that in the spring, and by the next fall, I was in the architecture program,” Shacklette said. “It eased me into what design work could look like, and that’s where I found my passion.” 

After that moment of clarity, Shacklette began to see what was possible. 

As a first-generation college student, navigating a new academic path could have felt like a setback. Instead, Shacklette’s early college experience, which allowed him to earn an associate degree during high school, kept him on track and created space to take advantage of opportunities across the College of Design and UK as a whole. 

Shacklette’s decision to become a design student was affirmed during an architecture studio in which he was tasked with designing a house for vampires and their various physical forms and stages of ability (bats, human-sized and beyond). The project challenged students to consider a wide range of mobility needs and physical conditions, using an imaginative framework to explore accessibility in design.  

“That pushed me to see design in a new way that I had never seen before and really take this idea of accessibility and apply it to such an outside-the-box concept like vampires,” Shacklette said. 

With smaller class sizes and studio-based learning, Shacklette, began to move beyond technical skills, rethinking how design can shape the way people experience space and soon found himself working closely with faculty who challenged and supported his development. From the course that first introduced him to design to the studios that pushed his thinking, those connections played a key role in helping him build both confidence and direction. 

“I think that architecture is one of the few majors where you get so much feedback from professors, and you really develop those close relationships with them,” Shacklette said. 

Those relationships became a gateway to opportunities he hadn’t once imagined for himself. During his time at UK, Shacklette pursued as many of these opportunities as he could: leading sustainability initiatives through the Student Sustainability Council, externing with Brooks + Scarpa Architects and engaging in international experiences.  

Shacklette was also named a Gaines Center for the Humanities fellow, a competitive program that focuses on humanities-centered work and independent research, including a year-long thesis project. In addition to his fellowship, he also worked with the Gaines Center as the student assistant program manager, supporting program operations, developing promotional and educational materials, and helping bring events and guest speaker programs to life for the younger fellows.  

He even spent his last year on campus as an instructional assistant for the introductory design course that first sparked his interest in design, something he says he could’ve never seen himself doing four years ago. 

Shacklette credits much of his growth to his education abroad experiences that took him from Italy and Ireland to France, Germany, Spain and Ethiopia. These experiences included being one of 52 students across the United States awarded an inaugural NextGen Service Fellowship by the Institute of International Education, participating in UK’s Explore First career-readiness education abroad program for first-generation students, and completing the Gaines Center’s European Travel Experience, a 21-day humanities immersion program.  

In addition to these multidisciplinary programs, he also took part in Associate Professor Mark O’Bryan’s faculty-led summer architecture studio in Italy. During this program, Shacklette experienced architecture in a way that went beyond textbooks — encountering in-person, the historic structures he had previously only studied in lectures and on screens. 

“Over the past few years, I’ve developed a deep interest in how architecture can operate at the intersection of design, culture and environmental responsibility,” Shacklette said. “From studio work to research and travel, each experience has pushed me to think more critically about the built environment and the role designers play within it.” 

As a member of LHC, Shacklette further developed an interdisciplinary approach to design. 

“Through coursework in the humanities, sciences and arts, I learned to approach design not just as problem-solving, but as a way of asking broader questions about culture, history and society,” he said. “That perspective has influenced my work by making me interested in architecture as a bridge between design, research and public service.” 

With that sentiment in mind, Shacklette is moving forward with a clear sense of direction. This fall, he will attend the University of Michigan to pursue a Master of Architecture. Long term, he hopes to combine creativity and impact in his work, whether that’s designing for a company like LEGO or contributing to preservation efforts through the National Park Service. 

“Being a first-generation college student, I didn’t know what my experience would look like,” Shacklette said. “Four years later, I’ve had opportunities I never would have imagined, and I’ve grown in ways I never expected.” 

For Shacklette, that clarity and growth didn’t come from a single moment, but from the relationships that shaped his time at the College of Design and LHC, including faculty mentors and connections through the LHC Center for Personal Development’s alumni mentoring program. 

“I really don’t know where I would have been if it wasn’t for those relationships,” he said. 

That’s the core sentiment behind the advice he now shares with incoming students. 

“I would say just to embrace it all and really be thoughtful about the relationships that you build here,” Shacklette said. “UK gave me the foundation, opportunities and confidence to reach this moment, and I will always carry that with me.” 

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The May 2026 Commencement Ceremonies will be Friday, May 8 and Saturday, May 9, at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. More information is available at commencement.uky.edu.