The
Most Important Success Story
by Tresa Pokorski
I have witnessed a lot of success stories during the past ten years of
working for Region VI Education Service Center. However, none is as near
and dear to my heart as the very first success I experienced with adult
education; even though I always feel very proud and fulfilled at each new
success. I guess I should explain. That first success story was, and is,
my own.
When my husband and I enrolled our daughter in M.E.T. Head Start in Grangerland
I had no idea what a huge difference it was going to make in not only her
life, but also mine. I knew that I wanted my daughter to have the best opportunities,
which of course means a good education. Since we were eligible for early
childhood intervention, I knew I would take advantage of every available
resource. M.E.T. Head Start gave my daughter the chance to associate with
other children, and they gave me the chance to volunteer as a reader. One
day while volunteering the director told me I should apply for a job. I
replied that I would love a job, but that I had never graduated. That was
when she told me about Even Start.
By then I was getting ready to have my second child, so I immediately got
our names on the waiting list. I continued to volunteer up until it was
time to deliver, and then two weeks later I was back volunteering with my
newborn baby son in the stroller in front of me everywhere I went. My daughter
finished her year at Head Start and then we moved on to Even Start. The
combination of childhood development and adult education that happens in
those Even Start centers is nothing short of miraculous. The staff there
just took us in under their collective wing. They fed our minds, souls and
bodies. They even offered free parenting classes that helped me immensely
since I was an endless-worrier.
Even though I had only quit in the eleventh grade, I had actually begun
to go astray in the seventh. When I was eight years old my mother, two brothers
and I made a spontaneous move. I was told we were going on vacation to Texas
to visit my mother’s parents. We left Florida, and my alcoholic father,
one day in the middle of school. We wound up in Texas staying with a very strict grandmother who spoke no English and an intimidating
grandfather who spoke very little English. A couple of years later I guess
it finally sank in; this was no vacation!
I started hanging around the wrong people and eventually started smoking
and skipping school. By that time my mother had saved enough to rent a house
of our own, and of course she worked, so she couldn’t always be there
to make sure my brothers and I did as we should. I became very good at keeping
things from my mother, and she didn’t find out until high school just
how little I actually went to school. To make matters worse, I just packed
my things one day while she was at work and I ran away. We ended up having
to go to truancy court and I finally realized how I had broken my mother’s
heart...by then it was too late.
Years later, after getting my GED through Even Start-- no one, including
me, was as proud of me as my mother was when Susan Young offered me a job
with Region VI in the ESL department. You see... my mother came to the United
States when she was 18 years old and had to teach herself English by watching
TV. My wonderful teacher Edna Price kept insisting that I could do it without
any problems. I have been teaching ESL with Susan as my supervisor for the
past ten years and I have seen so many success stories that I can’t
even attempt to count them all. But then, I don’t want to try. Each
one is the most important success story to the person who is living it---
thanks to adult education and dedicated educators!
About the Author
Tresa Pokorski was born in Chicago, Il. She moved to Texas when her
parents divorced at age 8. Her marriage of 27 years has rewarded her
with a 15 year-old daughter and an 11 year-old son. She enjoys seeing
her ESL students realize their dreams, and hopes to help many more achieve
their goals. Tresa teaches ESL for the Region VI Education Service Center’s
Adult Education Program.
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