How do you go back to school when you’ve been away from learning for several years or decades? Or maybe after you dropped out of high school?
“It’s like the cold lakes here in Durango. You just jump in! It’s cold, yeah, but when you are in that water, it’s not as cold as you were first feeling,” advises Pamela Fortune.
Since arriving from Brazil in 2016, Pamela has plunged back into education. Twice. First, she participated in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at the Adult Education Center in Durango. Now, she is storming through the High School Equivalent (HSE) classes to earn her GED.
Overcoming Employment Barriers
Although she worked as a paralegal back home, Pamela faced many employment challenges while establishing her residency in a foreign country. Stacks of paperwork had to be signed and approved by different agencies and her education transcripts needed to be translated into English. Furthermore, although she had intermediate English language skills, her pronunciation sometimes veered off track. This snafu in verbal communication barred her from many higher-income jobs.
“A foreigner from a country where English is not their first language deals with a huge change in their life. It is as if you were born again,” she explains. “I decided to [enroll in the ESL class at the Adult Education center] to improve my pronunciation.” Pamela admits she was nervous to enter the ESL classroom, but she knew that fortune favors the brave, so she dove in!
Learning a New Language
“When you’re learning a new language, you’re going to do many mistakes. But with these mistakes, you learn. I’m still learning and trying to improve. We have a cat at work called Winnie, but I was calling her Weenie!” Pamela laughs. “I just learn to laugh off my mistakes and keep going.”
After a few months, Pamela quickly realized her teachers at the DAEC were offering her more than she signed up for. She notes, “I got something exceptional beyond the language—confidence! The teachers encouraged me: you can do it!”
From a Second Language to a Second Career
She landed a job with the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. “I got a job as a sales photographer. It was my first job here and the most challenging in my life so far. I had to deal with 200 passengers every day. Sales were part of my background in Brazil, but making sales in English while taking great pictures on a shaky train…that was a life lesson!” she laughs while shaking her head ruefully.
Pamela adapted quickly and hit her sales quotas. Unfortunately, the pandemic upended her position with the railroad.
Never one to be discouraged, she pivoted to working the sales floor and register at Creature Comforts. She did not wait long to be brave and ask for more responsibilities. “After a few months,” Pamela says, “I was promoted. I am now the database assistant. I am assisting the background operations of the largest, locally-owned and independently operated pet supply store in the area.”
In that role, Pamela is responsible for the inventory, pricing, returns, and recalls on over 15,000 items. And, with Creature Comforts about to open a second location, Pamela’s job duties are sure to swell.
Going a Step Further with a Diploma
With something less like a job and more like a career glimmering in her future, Pamela began to wonder how else she might ready herself to be even more successful. Although the DAEC helped get her transcripts translated into English, many organizations would not accept them or were reluctant to acknowledge that her education in Brazil was on par with an education attained in the U.S. Additionally, getting supplemental documents sent from Brazil to the U.S. was proving difficult in the post-pandemic world.
Pamela again opted for a big, bold, brave decision: she would attain a GED. In other words, she would seek a complete high school equivalent education in a foreign language! As she explains it, “It’ll be faster going through the GED classes than getting papers from Brazil or going there to get papers in person. Also, it would prove to my future employers that I have some education from here.”
Luckily, the Adult Education Center offers a range of morning, afternoon, and evening classes to fit varying work schedules and commutes for its students in Durango, Cortez, and the surrounding communities. Even so, Pamela’s choice to attend classes added a lot to her daily workload.
Juggling Classes and Work
“It’s not just my case, but many people who work full time and they have to go to classes in evenings, they are super exhausted. Sometimes, I have to wake up at 5 or 5:30 so I can go to the gym. That makes for a long day. Students have to sit for two or three hours every night to learn a subject. And on the weekends, all you want is rest. I don’t always have the energy to sit and do my homework.”
Pamela also enjoyed the free hot meals available to her at the AEC. “I’m so glad they have the meals there from Manna Kitchen,” she notes. “I’m super hungry when I get there. It helps. Get a little sugar in the blood and then you can pay attention again! It’s super hard to pay attention when you’re hungry.”
Free hot meals, evening childcare, and targeted tutoring form a suite of wraparound services students enjoy at both the Durango and Cortez campuses. These and other perks help break down barriers that might otherwise block students from completing their education.
Prepped to Graduate
So far, Pamela successfully passed the GED Math exam, as well as the Reading & Language Arts exam. “[The math test] was like having your brain punched for two hours. It’s just so many calculations and you leave there feeling very dizzy,” she says.
Pamela is on track to graduate in December 2022. After that, she is considering bookkeeping or getting certified as a paralegal in the U.S. She is also exploring her options through Pueblo Community College.
To anyone thinking of plunging back into learning, Pamela feels there is no better place than the Adult Education Center. “At the DEAC, I feel very welcomed. The teachers are always there for you. They know you’re working and they adjust their schedules to meet with you and help you. And from the students’ side it can be scary. It can seem boring or tedious to some. But education is an investment. It takes a lot of time. You have to dedicate this time to yourself. When you graduate, you’re gonna be a different person, a better version of yourself.”
To learn more about ESL and GED classes at the Adult Education Center, call Maya in Durango at 970-385-4354 or call Janae in Cortez at 970-764-5004. Or, email info@durangoadulted.org.