Student Success Stories

I Am a Survivor — by Anthony Brooks

I grew up in the church along with my brothers and sisters. I was always around someone preaching, reading scripture from the Bible, and bein’ in church a good part of most Sundays. What we called “Livin’ in the Word” meant trying, striving to live our lives as close to GOD as possible. My Dad and Mom were church-goin’ people. I’m not sure if my Dad finished the third grade, or when my Mom dropped out of school, but I know my parents did not finish high school. We were poor and lived off the land. My Dad had and believed in a strong work ethic. On our farm in Caldwell, North Carolina, we all would be up by six o’clock in the morning doing our chores. I had to feed the pigs, pick vegetables and shuck corn. As I got older I had to also split wood. I would watch other kids up and down our road playin’ or ridin’ their bikes. We didn’t have the money for bikes or the time to play. Because we lived off the land, we sold our pigs and vegetables to make money.

My Dad’s first concern was the family helping him with the farm. Education and school was something we could get, only after we completed what he wanted us to do. I remember in the morning always being so tired when the school bus arrived. I usually stayed up nights finishing chores—then had to get up early—to start chores all over again. I had already worked several hours before I got into the classroom. I had no chance to rest and found that I could barely stay focused on my lesson.

Basically, the only part of school I really liked was recess. I liked it because it wasn’t boring. Maybe I liked it because it was doing something with my hands. At recess I could be active and play sports. In class—I had to sit there—some time half sleepy and tired. I started getting further and further behind in school. I remember being so frustrated with school that I dropped out around 10 th grade. During my teen years, my mother passed away when I was 14 years old, and my Dad later passed when I was 18. This time in my life was really hard for me. I had people, teachers, friends, family who tried to help me with my education and other things, but I was juggling probably a little too much.

In my mid twenties, I was blessed to get a god job pullin’ cable at a communications company. At 24, I began to take stock of my early life. I realized how fortunate I was to have had a loving family, food on the table, and my health during those growing up years. I saw how my parents really did the best they could. I also forgave myself for the wrongs I had done in life. This period I became closer to my faith, became more involved in the church, and began reading the Bible more. The readings were some time very difficult to comprehend, but I wanted to do it.

My first wife, was a college graduate and came from a family where education and degrees where very important. She felt she spoke English well enough to correct my English in front of her friends and family. I felt embarrassed and ashamed around her family and, when visiting them, I would stay quiet at their family gatherings. She went back to school to get her Masters. I thought, now here she is getting her Masters and I haven’t even completed my GED. I started taking GED classes in hopes of completing, but eventually dropped out. My marriage also did not last.

Not having my GED, however stayed with me. Over the years I continued to struggle. I overcame other hurdles and hardships in my life and managed to keep goin’. Many things turned to my favor. I met and married my present wife, and together we created a small residential and painting business. I also stayed in the church. In 2005, I decided to become a lay minister requiring that I read and write even more than I had. My entire life had been involved in the church. Now I wanted to do something that would help others. As I grew in GOD I knew that I would need more help and support, not only with reading, but with comprehending, analyzing, and building that bridge in my sermons for others to cross-over. GOD had lead me to the Word, and in order to truly use these words, I needed to be able to read and understand the teachings in ways hat made a difference for people.

That is where the Orange County Literacy Council (OCLC) came in. After enrolling with the Council and getting support from my tutor I started reading more. I began to have an easier time at reading scripture and preparing writings. Yes, I have some ways to go with reading and comprehension, but some things have gotten easier. Literally, it is my faith that brought me back to reading, because in order for me to understand and talk on topics in the Bible, I saw how important higher-level reading and comprehension would be for me.

Now, I try to read something everyday—a newspaper, ads—anything that has me reading something. It’s a tremendous feeling to be able to read a paragraph and tell somebody what it says. I have moved up some on the testing ladder, but what really matters and feels good to me is making progress. I use to feel that I had so many little holes in the number of words I knew, or holes in my not being able to comprehend paragraphs. But today I feel like I’ve filled so many of those little holes. One of the main reasons I am in ministry is so I can stand up and preach through GOD’s Words. Use my life history as an example to help others. I no longer bet myself up, I just take one step at a time. Every chance I get I recommend that people interested in school go back. And, even though I am still working on my GED, I am now using some of the strategies introduced to me by OCLC. One step at a time means concentrating on one area of the GED at a time. I have received support and mentoring from a local Ministry academy as I move further in that direction.

Yes, GOD has been very good to me!