These Faces!!

Look at these faces!  These faces tell the story of what it means to work hard for something and see it come to fruition.

Elizabeth & Jessica are just two of the adults who have come to our program with the intention of improving not only their lives but that of their family.  They came determined to get their GED certification and both completed this in December of 2016.

In the three years I’ve been working with adults in our program I have seen many consistencies amongst the students.  One thing, in particular, is their constant lack of confidence in their own abilities.  Whether it’s a self protection tactic or a true disbelief in one’s self doesn’t matter.  They constantly underestimate their abilities and here we work to correct that.

Jessica & Elizabeth were not exceptions.   One believed herself in possession of a learning disability that would make learning the material a long drawn out task.  Two months in it was apparent that she was advancing rapidly and she became one of the first to graduate in the 2016-2017 class.

The other was determined but constantly second guessed my urging to go ahead and take that next section of the exam.  She’d site her need to work on it more.  Don’t get me wrong, we are not trying to rush students here but sometimes that little nudge to help the student build confidence is needed.  Jessica might liken my nudge to something more forceful but at the end of the day a passed science test and one step closer to graduating made it worth the fight.  When the day came that completed her final test the pride she felt would start a chain reaction of life changing events for her.

Motivating and encouraging our students to dig down and find that place inside that only we believe exists can be a huge balancing act.   You don’t want to drive the person away but you certainly don’t want to miss a chance to keep someone pressing forward.  Being able to meet people where they are, spend one on one time with them to see what makes them tick can lead to helping our students achieve what they know they want but so many reasons tell them they cannot.  The result can be what you see here, these faces!!

Leslie Kutz

Executive Director