Learning is a Process That Never Ends
You can’t lose anything
but you can gain a lot!
Oralee
I would like to thank
the Florida Literacy Coalition
and the Department of Education
for this opportunity to tell my story.
Educational opportunities did not come easily for me.
We were so poor
we slept six people in one bed.
Back then, times were hard.
I was forced to drop out of school at age fifteen
so I could help take care of my family.
I worked in the fields
and went to school when I could.
I got pregnant at an early age.
Later we moved.
It was no fun.
It was difficult.
It was a struggle.
The 7th grade was too hard.
The other kids made fun of me.
When I did go to school,
I’d hide in the bathroom
so I wouldn’t have to listen to them call me names.
School
was no longer fun,
so I quit.
School wasn’t for me,
it just wasn’t my thing.
Driven by money,
had to have my bling-bling.
It was a struggle.
I thought I would go back to school one day,
but time passed
and I never went back.
People say though
learning is a process that never ends.
I will be 74 years old next November
and I still study English.
It is a struggle.
There are many things in life I want to do –
open my own business,
be a doctor,
a medical assistant,
a nurse, a flight attendant,
a better mother,
a better father,
I want to go to college to be a teacher
and give back some of the wonderful lessons
I have learned in this program,
I just want to support my family.
It doesn’t have to be a struggle.
There are no walls in life
and the trip on this highway has been easier
because of the drivers I have had.
She is like the sun rising each day,
radiant and always there.
I know I will reach my goals
because everything is possible.
I’ve been working on a rainbow
and words cannot express my gratitude
for literacy workers
and the programs they provide.
It is like my life
is starting
all over again.
Good luck!
A ‘found poem’
Lines used are from ‘My Journey – A collection of Essays
by Florida’s Adult Learners’