FACES OF ARKANSAS: Becky Kay — October 2026 Face of Arkansas - The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is partnering with Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' office to present a series of profiles based on the governor's Faces of Arkansas, which highlights the story of one Arkansan each month. Becky KayMiracle of Life (October)At 18, Becky Kay stood in line at the University of Arkansas at Monticello with a course catalog in her hands and a decision to make. She had gone to college to play basketball. She thought she might become a teacher. But when it came time to register for classes, she was told she needed to choose a major. So, she opened the catalog. "I flipped it open, and there was a two-year associate program in nursing," Becky remembers. "I said, 'Oh, I'll do nursing.'"There was no lifelong dream of becoming a nurse. In fact, Becky had never even known one. She had barely spent time inside a hospital. But 48 years later, she is still certain she ended up exactly where she was supposed to be. "That was God shoving me in the right direction," she says. Becky became a nurse at 20 years old. Early in her career, she worked in an area of the hospital where she frequently lost patients. The work weighed on her. Then she found labor and delivery.