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Success Stories

My Literacy Success Story

by Holly Reyes

Part of the American lifestyle is going to school. From the time that a child is born, his or her parents are preparing them to go to school. Some kids love school and love going. Myself, on the other hand, I hated it. Now that I am older and a parent, I look back and think. I ask myself, what could I have done differently? How can I make my kids like going to school? I think I know how now, and the rest of this story will explain how perseverance and strong will got me to my literacy success. Moreover, there is more success waiting in my future.

My elementary school years were lonely. I was a loner and very shy. The kids picked on me a lot because I was overweight. I just wanted to stay home in my comfort zone where I knew I would be safe.

Middle school was not any better. My mom and dad divorced, so I moved and lived with my mom. Transferring schools was hard. It made me hate school even more than I already did. We finally settled into one place, and I went to that school for two years. As before, I did not have any friends, and I was lonely. I started hanging out with people older than myself. I often lied about my age. I was going down the wrong path. Being a kid, I thought I knew everything. I was thirteen going on forty.

In the eighth grade, we moved to Houston. I was really lost then. I was from a little town in Mississippi, and here I was in the fourth largest city in the United States. Needless to say, I really didn't make any friends here. I wouldn't even eat lunch. I was afraid that I was going to be made fun of.

Although I went through many changes, I still kept my grades up. This was my second year in eighth grade. I had missed too many days in the previous year so I failed. I knew I was smart and that I could persevere if I really wanted to. I had lost the will and stopped trying.

In the fall of 1991, I was fourteen years old. I met a man that made me feel whole. He was twenty-three years old. I lied to him and told him that I was seventeen. A relationship started, and I was in "love." Well, in February of 1992 I was six weeks pregnant at fourteen years old. I was devastated. My mom was devastated also, but she stood by me as well as my husband. We've been married eleven years.

We moved to Pearland with my aunt. I was still in school but not doing too well. I was very overwhelmed. The morning sickness was so bad that I dehydrated. The doctor put me on bed rest, and I could not go back to school. That made me happy at the time. I had a tutor that would come to my house twice a week. Mrs. Wright was wonderful, and I'll never forget her. She encouraged me and lifted my self-esteem.

Although I was very sick, and I had a whole lot of family problems, I still maintained A's and B's. With the help of Mrs. Wright, I passed the rest of eighth grade and ninth grade. She never gave up on me. After I gave birth on November 4, 1992, I was severely hurt. The birth of my son broke my tailbone and pulled all of my ligaments. I could not walk for three months. Mrs. Wright continued to tutor me. She would come in the most adverse conditions. She even risked her job by going out of district because we moved.

Unfortunately, my grandfather died in 1993. We spent our rent money for travel expenses for the funeral. When we returned, we were evicted from our apartment. My husband and I lived in a shelter for ten days. I didn't know what to do. My dad found out about what happened and sent money for me to go back to Mississippi. After three weeks in Mississippi, my dad brought me back to Houston. I wanted my husband with me. I felt that my son needed his father and, I felt like I needed him also.

My dad rented us an apartment, bought me a car, and got us on our feet again. By then, I had lost all hope of graduating high school. I fell into the role of being a wife and a mother. I was totally dependent on my husband, and kept in seclusion. I even had to wait for him to wash clothes at the washateria supposedly, because of the area we lived in. I know now that was not true. My husband was severely jealous, and could not stand the thought of another man looking at me. I loved and depended on him; so I did what he wanted me to do.

I looked into night schools but I had no one to watch my son. My husband was seldom home. He would tell me that he was working but, when he would come home smelling like beer, I knew something was wrong. He had a drinking problem that I was blind to before we lived together.

The years passed quickly. In 1998, I gave birth to a baby girl. My whole world changed that year. My wonderful father bought me a house. For the first time in six years, I felt independent. The house was mine, and no one could take it from me. It was then that I made up my mind; I wanted to go back to school.

When my daughter started Pre-K in 2002, I started in the Even Start Family Literacy Program to get my GED. Finally, everything was falling into place. I received my GED in December 2002, and I am currently enrolled in college for the Fall of 2003. I was very fortunate in having a wonderful instructor in the GED class. Ironic as it may be, she reminds me a lot of Mrs.Wright.

I have succeeded with my children and myself. My kids love school. I am their example. If I had given up on myself, they would give up on themselves. I always tell them don't ever stop trying to move forward, because the day you stop, you will start rolling backwards.