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WASHINGTON — Growing up in Trinity, Kathy Proctor never dreamed that one day she would be an honored guest of the first lady at the U.S. Capitol.

Much less be featured in a presidential State of the Union address.

But last month, the 55-year-old woman told President Barack Obama her story of seeking a science career after losing her job at a furniture factory. It must have struck a chord.

As she drove to lunch on Interstate 40 last week, Proctor got an unexpected call from the White House inviting her to rub elbows with Michelle Obama during her husband’s address to the nation this week.

Proctor and her 18-year-old twin daughters, Amanda and Meghan, flew from Charlotte to Washington on Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s been exciting. It’s been full,” Proctor said in a telephone interview. “Just busy. Always somewhere to go or something to do.”

All three women attended a reception before Proctor’s daughters were taken to the White House to watch the speech on television.

“I’d like to hear about education,” Proctor said before the speech. She can’t afford to send her two daughters to college in the fall.

“I like to see education be affordable to everybody and for everybody to have that opportunity.”

Proctor, a biotechnology student at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, met the president during his visit to her lab on Dec. 6.

She was among fewer than a dozen at the lab chosen to meet the president that day. Obama came in, shook hands and spoke briefly, she said.

Then he asked if anybody had a story to share.

“I’m not usually one that talks very well in front of people, but I felt like he was genuine, and I didn’t have any trouble telling my story,” said Proctor, who is also a carrier for the News & Record. “Or maybe it was just something that needed to be told for the people that lost their jobs. I just feel like I represent so many people that have lost their jobs.”

Proctor told Obama that she had been employed in the furniture industry for 30 years.

“I got out of high school and started working in the furniture industry,” she said.

“I thought I’d retire there. In February 2009 , the company I worked for had other plans.”

She decided to complete the biotechnology program after her layoff.

She started taking classes about six years ago while she was still working at a factory.

Proctor used to do leafing and mix chemicals to match finishes, so she parlayed her love of working with her hands into a new passion.

“I always liked math and, I guess, the advances being made in medicine,” she said. “The more I’m in it, the more I see it’s just amazing where science is going.”

Proctor expects to get an associate’s degree in July and hopes to work as a biofuels analyst and research renewable energy resources that could reduce the use of fossil fuels.

She suggests that casualties of the struggling furniture industry retool, as she has.

In his speech, Obama said community colleges across the country are revitalizing to better train the unemployed.

“Last month, I saw the promise of these schools at Forsyth Tech in North Carolina,” the president said.

“Many of the students there used to work in the surrounding factories that have since left town.”

Obama said Proctor wanted to earn her degree not only because she had lost her job but also to inspire her daughters.

“As Kathy said, ‘I hope it tells them to never give up.’ ” Obama said.

Contact Dioni L. Wise at 373-7090 or dioni.wise@news-record.com