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Success Stories
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Letter from the Director:
Success Stories
by
Dominique Chlup,
Director of TCALL
suc·cess/1. The achievement of something desired, planned,
or attempted: attributed their success in business to hard work. 2.a.
The gaining of fame or prosperity: an artist spoiled by success. b. The
extent of such gain. 3. One that is successful: The plan was a success.
4. Obsolete. A result or an outcome.
—The American Heritage Dictionary
.jpg) Dear Readers,
A week before the deadline for articles for this edition of Literacy
Links, only a handful of articles had appeared in our office. We were
a bit worried. Little did we know that we had no need to be worried.
By the deadline, 51 articles had been submitted, an unprecedented record
for us. Given the enormity of the reading task and decision process,
several members of the TCALL staff organized to get the work done. Two-tiered
reading committees were formed, criteria for inclusion were developed,
and many hours of labor were devoted to the selection process.
The result of that hard work is evident in the stories you see before
you. The seven stories selected all represent unique voices and notions
of success, but they all share the basic tenet around the idea of success
and the power of education. You will find this evident in Rina
Puente’s
piece, which describes her journey from making the difficult choice to
leave high school for the sake of her son, to GED graduate, to Even Start
GED instructor and college student. Hers is a powerful story of how one
GED graduate decides to dedicate her life to being a teacher too. Michael
Poll also talks about the decision to leave high school and the repercussions
he has been trying to overcome. His story of waiting anxiously by the
mailbox for GED scores is one that I am sure many adult learners know
all too well. Francisco Lemus’ story reminds us of the particular
struggles that immigrant students face. He also poignantly reminds us
that “It [opportunity] will not happen just because you think about
it or wish it to be so.” Martha
Marquez, a student at the same
program as Francisco, writes her story as a plea for others to ignore
the naysayers in their life and go after their education. As she so elegantly
writes, “I wish there were a way so you could see how I feel inside
of me, how I’m getting what I want and for what I’m working
for.” Mary Riedel tells of her struggles with math and the one
teacher who helped her persevere and had faith in her ability to pass
the math section of the GED. Mary’s dream is to live the life of
a writer; she certainly has the talent for it! We hope that with this
article, what we are imagining is one of her first professionally published
pieces, that she’s closer to realizing that dream. Beulah
Aviles brings humor to her piece by recounting the many ways one can misunderstand
the English language. She ponders whether or not she will only receive
half a blessing if she understands only half of the message. Fred
Anaya’s
article is the only one not written by an adult learner. Instead, it
is the story of Mr. P., a leading microbiologist, who returned to school
at 69 to receive his GED. Fred Anaya recounts how the story of Mr. P’s
success is a personal inspiration to Mr. Anaya. I would argue that Mr.
P.’s success serves as an inspiration for all of us.
Without a doubt, the Success Stories Issues of Literacy
Links generates
the most e-mails in my inbox. All year round teachers ask me when our
next issue will appear and students ask how they can get their own story
published. To help satiate the desire for success stories, a portion
of the website will now contain success stories. Whether you are a teacher,
student, administrator, coordinator, or volunteer, we hope you will consider
contributing a story. Stories can be submitted to tcall@tamu.edu.
This past year we also published a compilation of 20 success stories
that had formerly been featured in Literacy Links. Titled Spreading
the Success: Stories from Texas Adult Learners, 2003-2005, the compilation
and accompanying teacher’s guide is available free of charge from
the TCALL Clearinghouse. You can call 1-800-441-READ to order your free
copy. We hope that you will use the compilation as an instructional tool
to inspire and educate. We also hope that you will find some new voices
to add to our ongoing mix of success stories by incorporating the stories
featured on the following pages.
As always happy reading,
Dr. Dominique T. Chlup
Director of TCALL &
Principal Investigator on the Clearinghouse Project
*Please note: While the editorial decision was made to fix typos
and spelling errors,
in keeping with the article’s integrity, the authors’ words,
for the most part, remained unchanged.
 
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