Academy provides training to students with disabilities.

Tressa Kelly knows what it's like to be underestimated.

Kelly, the first lady of University of South Carolina Upstate, didn't let the fever that took most of her hearing when she was 3 stop her from achieving her goals. The wife of USC Upstate president Brendan Kelly earned her doctorate in communication from Wayne State University and teaches English and public speaking at Wofford College.

She told a group of 150 graduates of the Career Academy for Students with Disabilities not to let anyone define the scope of their dreams, either.

"I never bought into arguments that I couldn't keep up," Kelly said during her remarks at the commencement ceremony for the initiative of the S.C. Vocational Rehabilitation Department, held in late July in conjunction with USC. " Everyone is this room has more strengths than weaknesses. Focus on developing your strengths."

The July 30 graduation capped a four-day program, themed Power Up, that taught students with physical, emotional and cognitive disabilities workforce preparation skills. Participants in the first-year program practiced filling out job applications, shadowed area employers and learned to...