Silent Tears

One memorable adult ed student was Gloria, a 45 year old citizen from Puerto Rico. When she was six, her family moved to New York City. Gloria helped with her large family and never attended school. At sixteen, she was married and spent the next 30 years raising five children. At age 45, Gloria's husband, a laborer, died of a heart attack. Her children were grown and on their own. She had no preparation to care for herself.

She came to GED classes to help herself prepare for training and a job. Spanish was still her primary language. Sometimes she sat in class and silent tears ran down her face as she dealt with her frustration in learning math and English. However, Gloria never gave up. She attended class for over a year and applied herself every day. She finally earned her GED and gained the confidence needed to become self- supporting.

Without a GED program, I wonder what her future would have been.

Submitted by Bill Crean, Arizona Call-A-Teen Instructor. 2/10/03