RICHMOND, Ky. (LEX 18) — It’s pretty common for most 18-year-olds to be thinking about graduation at this time of year, with the end of high school fast approaching. One teen from Casey County is already celebrating his graduation – and he’s got a college degree to go with it.
“I've been in sports. I used to play football. I used to play basketball. I just really like competition,” said Om Patel, who just graduated from EKU with a bachelor's degree of Business Administration in Finance.
That love for competition, and his family’s history in business, led Patel to pursue that business degree.
“The discipline, the hard work, diligence, being on time, all the soft skills, all of my skills, I accredit to my dad,” Patel said. “He's been in the business with flipping gas stations.”
Patel graduated high school in 2023 and completed his college degree in three years. His plan for business is to create his own gas station chain.
“I've learned a lot,” he added, sharing about his time at EKU. "These last 3 years have been the most I've personally and intellectually developed.”
When he first got to campus, he was shocked and didn't know what to do with peers much older than him.
“Then I decided that I was going to go out and meet people, talk to people, understand their backgrounds, and I got eased into it a lot more. It feels like I'm graduating with my age class right now," he said.
Patel is wasting no time. Graduation at EKU was Friday, May 8. On Monday, Patel was at the Hustonville Grab N’ Go, which he and his dad own together.
“I sat down with him like a year ago,” Patel shared. “We've got a location in Hustonville, Kentucky, and that's going to mark our first one that we're going to keep.”
Right now, it’s just a convenience store, but the plan is to place gas pumps at the store location as well. It will be rebranded as ‘Jack’s.’
“My career aspirations are to build a chain of convenience stores, gas stations, whatever you want to call them,” Patel said.
Patel’s first store is just off of Highway 127 in Lincoln County on Carmel Drive.
“In life I believe you should develop a goal, whatever kind of goal it is because this goal is what you're steering your every move you're making. It's pushing you either towards that goal or away from that goal, and that goal just gives you direction in life. You should take that goal and develop a strategy to go achieve that goal.”
