When I see people who have been struggling with not only their addiction, mental and physical health and still manage to pass their GED test, even if it is after a number of years, it is worth every effort through this journey. Their struggle and journey is just as well mine.
Whenever I get a new student, I like to take the time to have a 5-minute interview to find out some more about the student and most importantly their educational journey inside and outside these fences.
It is heartbreaking that in the ‘Land of the Free’, there is still so much to be done and how yet another system seems to fail (young) human beings. The illiteracy rate is humiliating for such a modern society.
Education is the compass you will need to navigate through life.
So many children drop out at a very young age, many end up in prison as they have never had a true chance in life and just needed to focus on surviving. Now, decades later, they are mandatorily enrolled in GED, which they hate, but it is up to the Tutor to challenge and guide them through that journey. It is far from easy, students have the tendency to study ‘Meth’ more than ‘Math’ and before you know they are in their 3rd year in GED class having only a high score in absence. Being a Tutor in a prison setting is challenging, resources are so outdated and limited, there is no computer, PowerPoint, digital board, but only books, paper, pencils, calculators, a white board and markers and the pay is so low for such a big job. If budget allows, one can sneak in copies of articles from the Internet or other media, just to have a little variety. Tutors get creative in making drawings on the board, play Math or Vocabulary games.
But when students pass their test, whether it is 1 subject or all 4, tears flow and there is a lot of hugging. I always get teary eyed myself, as their success is my success. When they fail, I fail and hurt just as much.
Let us keep on emphasizing the importance of education and add to that training on new technology and prepare Re-entry in an even more digitalized society.
Sherida Nabi
