Why Learning is Important to Me

When I started to school they didn't have kindergarten then. I felt very lonely. I could not relate to the other children because I wasn't as bright as them. I felt ashamed of myself because I could not catch on to the reading. And each year the classes got a lot harder than the first year. And I felt more ashamed of myself and very alone. I stayed in my own little world.

I didn't get any help until I was in tenth grade. I dropped out of school. I was too scared to go on. I couldn't read or write. And I was tired of listening to people call me stupid and dummy. It was enough to listen to my own family tease me.

After I quit school I was asked to babysit my cousin and niece. Then I was asked to take care of my grandmother who had broken her hip. Since I couldn't read, I had to learn how to compromise. I compared colors and shapes of the pills. I kept my reading disability to myself because some of my other family members didn't know I couldn't read.  I also worked in a restaurant. I took orders and took care of the money and opened and locked up. And it wasn't easy and by luck I didn't come up short on money. When I took the orders I used letters and pictures to help me to remember and then I would dispose of them to keep my job. If my employer knew, I would lose my job because I didn't tell them I couldn't read or write.

I admitted to myself I needed help when my son started school and I couldn't help him to read. People don't realize how hard it is to not be able to read with your child, a short story, or a letter. I was very ashamed to let my son see me that way. I heard about Burke Literacy Council years later and I went to see if they could help me to read. I wished I would have known a lot earlier about them. They helped me to find a good tutor and now I can read a lot better and write. I am not ashamed of myself and I can read more every day!

Article from Burke County Literacy Council student