Persistence pays off for Adult Ed Student February 07

Sara Roman first sought me out for advising in 2000. She was an atypical ABE student at the time as she already had her high school diploma and some college besides. She had come to Pima College Adult Education El Rio Learning Center to refresh her math skills before returning to Pima Community College .

 What I remember most about Sara is that she was the kind of person who needed to understand topics clearly and deeply. She had an almost  dogged pursuit of knowledge to this end, coming back to me repeatedly to make sure she understood what she needed to do to transition to Pima.  I didn’t know what to think of her at the time. Was she the kind of student who asked lots of questions and required a lot of assistance but never got anywhere? Or was she someone who just needed to get a clear idea of the lay of the land before proceeding? As an advisor and teacher I had known both types of students. For several sessions I saw her a lot and then not at all.

 The next time I ran into Sara was at El Pueblo Liberty Learning Center in 2003. She was a volunteer in Linda Kangas’ literacy class. Later I learned that Sara had continued her education and had even finished a bachelor’s degree in education at the University of Arizona . Clearly she was the second kind of student I spoke about above. Sara continued to volunteer in Linda’s class very consistently and began to substitute for ESOL and ABE classes. Just last session PCAE’s  El Pueblo Liberty Learning Center hired her to teach ESOL 1A in the mornings.

I look at Sara and I know she is good with students. First of all she’s been there. She can relate to ABE students because she has been an ABE student. She can relate to non-native speakers because she is a second language speaker of English herself.  Second, Sara has a great deal of native compassion and patience. The same dogged nature that led her to come back to me over and over to review the steps for transition does her well as a teacher. I am sure she has patience for her students who may need repeated practice in order to understand thoroughly. I see her now applying the same diligence she once applied to GED math to learning how to be an ESOL teacher. I expect her to do well.

 Lisa L Grenier is a Transition Specialist and ESOL teacher at Pima Community College Adult Education’s El Pueblo Liberty Learning Center in Tucson, Arizona .