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Laura: My name is Laura Ramirez,
and I’m going to PCC to get my GED and get into a teaching program. Because I would
like to be a teacher.
This is my kids and myself. I have four of them: three girls and a little boy. I got
pregnant as a teenager. And back then, they didn’t like the pregnant teens to be with
the regular students, so they take you out and put you in the pregnant teen school. Where
you don’t really learn anything, so that kind discouraged me a little.
And then after I had my daughter, I went back to regular high school, but then they make
you feel like an alien because you had a kid. So, I didn’t like to be treated differently
because I had a baby. So, I quit. So I was like, hmm. I should just work and not go back
to school.
When I heard about Portland Community College had an ABE program, I decided to come back
to school and I was like really scared or nervous. Because, like, I’m older and to
me it’s like only the younger, the kids, get to go to school.
My first day of class was nerve wracking. But then when my teacher started talking and
just saying that everybody was at a different level and don’t feel pressured. Basically,
don’t compete with others; just do whatever you can and then we’ll work from there.
And that set me at ease. And then my second was like, oh, I can’t wait to come back
to school.
Just being in the class and doing homework and turning it in and getting it back, just
reading the teacher’s comments on it, kind of encourages me to, like, keep on coming
and do better next time.
One of my favorite activities is writing the journal because I’m finding out that I love
to write. And just getting my ideas on paper.
I was writing today’s journal about I just got my first birthday party last Sunday. So
I was writing about that. I think I will always remember that.
I would recommend it, the ABE program, to other students because they’re always working
at your level. They push you to do better, but, you know, you work at your own pace.
You’re not rushing to catch up with the rest of the students.
I’ve noticed that I like helping people. My mother didn’t go to school. She only
knows how to read. She doesn’t know how to write. My father, me and my elder, my other
brother, taught him how to read and write. So I like helping, like, people like that
who can’t read and write.
I want my kids to be proud of me and so when I tell them they need to do good in school,
I need to put an example for them. I’m going to stay on at Portland Community College until
I get my teacher’s certificate.
Levi: High school. High school was not so good for me. Oh, hello. Oh, beagles. I love
my hounds. Joy is my dog and, well, we’ve had her for over a year. She’ll be two in
April. She just had this look in her eyes. What we pretty much only saw until we met
her was just this picture of her. She had that cockeyed ear sticking out and just this
look on her face like, I just knew I wanted her to be my dog. And so I just kind of loved
her ever since.
Yeah. High school can be a very hard time for a kid, you know. When I was getting towards
the end of my time at high school, I left at the end of my junior year. It had gotten
basically rock bottom for me. My math teacher had stopped asking me for my homework, basically
stopped calling on me in class and had given up on me in general. By the time I got out
of high school I was a much more unhappy person. But then the ABE program kind of turned me
around in that way.
I found out about PCC’s ABE program actually from my mom. She told me about it and she
told me that I could go in through the YES program which basically took care of everything
for me. And it was a big, big change.
The YES program is basically a program that takes high school aged students and it pays
for the ABE classes. It pays for the GED test. They basically pay for everything. And along
with that, once a week they’ll have like a little seminar class session kind of thing
where they teach you about things that you’ll be expecting in college, how to file for financial
aid or FAFSA, how to find a job, how to dress and act in an interview, just a bunch of different
things. So along with helping you to get your GED and succeed, they teach you how to succeed
once you get outside of the GED program.
My first impression walking into the room was, “wow! This is different.” My fear
going into the ABE program was that I was going to be with, you know, I wasn’t really
with high school kids anymore. Everybody’s just kind of gathered together. It’s a much
more adult, mature environment. But at the same time, it’s a lot more free and easy.
You’re not treated like you’re stupid. You’re treated like you’re a peer, like
you’re at their level.
When you’re not doing any kind of specialized activity, you’re studying. And when you’re
studying, you are in a group. You are at a table with other people. And you really get
to know the people at your table. You guys become a really, you know, tight kind of almost
family with each other. And usually you’re studying up on the same things and you know
you kind of get to discuss and converse. And it really helps the learning environment because
we’re all basically on the same track when it comes to things.
What I’m doing now is I’m basically getting on with things. I’m trying to move on. I
took my SAT class. I got a 1780 in my SATs and based on that score that they got from
my GED scores, that’s what got me into college. And so I’m going to be going to college.
I haven’t quite decided on my major yet, but, you know. The GED is a very scary, confusing
thing if you’re trying to get it by yourself. But if you go through the ABE program, you
get a lot of confidence. Because they make sure you’re ready before you go in. They
tell you just how it’s going to happen. They explain to you the whole process. And
it makes it really easy and comfortable. And not only that, they make sure you go in knowing
that you’re going to pass.
I’m Levi Prussack. I got my GED in November of 2008.
Sheila: My name is Sheila Burkhardt. I am a grandmother. I’m a mother of two children.
This is a picture of me and my granddaughter, the love of my life. She is now 22 years old,
has gone through school. It’s bothered me for 45 years that I never finished high school.
I had a hard time studying in school. And it was very tough for me to concentrate during
grade school, junior high and high school. I had depression. I didn’t know it at the
time, but I was depressed most of the time.
So, at 17 I got married and dropped out of school. I’ve had some people remark that
why are you doing this. Why go back to school? Why do it now? And it’s just something I
have to do. I researched it, signed up for the testing. I was very scared when I came
to PCC. I looked around and I saw these young people and our instructor sat us down and
had everyone in the room tell a little bit about ourselves and what brought us back to
school. And it was really interesting and I started calming down a little bit, then.
Finding out most of the people were there for the same reason that I was, to get an
education, to be able to get a job and to be able to go on with our lives.
My first day in the GED class, our instructor came, opened the door, and welcomed all of
us to class. Our instructor explained the program to us, made me feel very comfortable.
All the students are very supportive of each other. We help each other in class and we
clap and we’re happy for people when they pass a test or do really well on something.
Being in the ABE program is changing my life where I have more self-respect. I’m hoping
to go into administrative kind of assistant office work. And if I can’t get it there,
if I can’t get a job in that, I can use those skills in volunteering for some nonprofit
group, too. I’d like to be able to do that.
It’s taken me a long time, but it’s something that I really enjoy doing. I enjoy learning.
I love coming to school every day. And now that I’m here, I don’t want to stop. I
want to keep on going. So, we’ll see where it leads me.
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