Last year her English Professor was so taken by her motivation that she was asked to give a speech to the then graduating class ...
Here is a sample of her personal story ( some parts have been left out to preserve her privacy )...
This I believe, I highly value education. However, I was not raised to believe this way. My brother and sisters, like myself, grew up unschooled. Hence, my childhood lacked an educational foundation. As a result, what I did learn, I took upon myself to learn, and therefore, is precious. Unfortunately, what is precious to some is disvalued by others.
My mother deemed it unnecessary to educate her children... The lack of value placed on education permeated my childhood home. When young, the difference between me, and my friends who attended school was subtle. They went to school part of the day, while I stayed at home. Yet, we liked the same things. We rode bikes together, played with our Barbie dolls together, and laughed together. Nevertheless, growing older made the differences grow too. My friends could read the label on their favorite candy bars, they could read the board when we played monopoly, and they could read the street sign of the road they lived on. My friends around me were changing, but I remained the same, they could read, I could not. I remember wanting to go to school, and having a desire to read... Eventually, I was able to obtain a self- guided reading program, which included an audio tape and a booklet with some word games. I struggled, day after day with recognize the different sounds such as ph, th, ch, sh, qu, and deciphering when a vowel was either short or long. However, each new sound I learned was cherished.
Most people I have talked to, do not remember reading their first word, but I remember mine. One day, my brother walked passed me, and on the back of his t-shirt there was a single word. I studied it for a moment, and then sounded it out “qu-i-ck-s-i-l-v-er, quicksilver” I said louder. My brother turned around and said “how did you know what my shirt said” I replied to him, “I read it”. He did not snicker or chastise, but simply smiled back at me. I remind myself now, that my struggle had also been his struggle, for he also taught himself to read.
Reading became a sanctuary, and in reading I found a love of knowledge and an insatiable thirst for education. Hence, when I became old enough for high school, I beseeched my mother to let me take a high school correspondence course. Filling out the necessary paperwork was difficult, I did not know which subjects to choose, however I did the best I could. After waiting anxiously for weeks, my books finally arrived. At first, I did not know where to begin, I never learned how to really study, and so I started from the beginning. I opened the front cover, and then I read the first word, then a sentence, then a page. I took every day slow, I built my precious knowledge, one baby step at a time. Eventually, the baby steps paid off, they led me to the completion of the course- I graduated high school. Having conquered high school, which, I had deemed impossible, I entertained the idea of going to college. I was naturally scared, but my thirst for knowledge overrode my fear. I had never been in a class room, so the thought of it was arcane. My introduction into a class room, took place the day I took the SAT test... There was one subject I received a high score in- reading. It was a small victory, but nonetheless, a victory. I knew, if I was a good reader I had endless possibilities, I could teach myself anything, regardless of my past. Thus, the following semester I enrolled in college.
In my life I have learned that reading can turn into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom, but without the first, the latter is not possible. The gift of an education is not easily seen by certain people, there are those that disvalue it, or begrudge its preciousness. For me, an education was something always beyond my grasp, and yet, my greatest desire. Without a doubt, today, I am basking in its warmth.
>>> I am so proud of her ! Every time I read this it brings tears to my eyes .
