Early one morning I woke up and decided it was time for me to get my G.E.D. I had quit school in the ninth grade because I had to support my pregnant girlfriend. For four months I was living a corrupt life to get money for her and my child.

In these four months I started to realize it was time for me to get a job because if I kept on this way I would be in jail. After a couple of jobs, I knew it was time for me to go back to school. I tried to enroll in a G.E.D. Program but my counselor explained that it was necessary for me to improve my reading. She then gave me the number for the Literacy Volunteers of America, so I called for an appointment.

When I arrived, there was a kind woman waiting for me. She gave me a test to check my reading level. When I was finished with the test, the woman told me that I was reading on a second-grade level. After four months my tutor said that I am about to advance to the third-grade level.