The horizon is all rumble and gray. Joe Blevins stands among the neatly tilled and thirsty garden rows of D+S Farms, a Hesperus-based business he and his girlfriend are gradually inheriting from aging grandparents.
“When I went into the DAEC, I felt pretty hopeless,” Joe says. “Not only was I struggling with addiction, but also the stress of not knowing what to do.”
Joe Blevins is not “too cool for school.” He’s cool because he loves the homework and classroom interactions.
The confession is almost as surprising as lightning. Joe, after all, is like most mid-twenty somethings—energetic, easy to laugh, partial to a Frappuccino on hot day. He is also full of ideas, often found constructing ingenious devices, and enrolled at Fort Lewis College with one very successful semester already under his belt.
Joe presses on, “I dropped out my senior year. It was all just…family.” He shrugs rather than narrate the entire drama. “I had to move out and I couldn’t finish high school.”
He worked in retail to get by. Often, he had to work multiple jobs just to cover basic living expenses. “If you don’t have [an education], a lot of places see you as disposable,” Joe says.
He tried to complete an online high school program, but the clunky software and slow internet proved an impossible combination. Simply entering equations on math homework was enough to crash the system. He later tried to get his GED through a New Mexico-based prep program. He was given a study packet and some checklists to complete on his own. Perhaps not surprisingly, the test results were dismal.
As the setbacks mounted, Joe’s self-esteem plummeted. His outlets for coping with stress spiraled into addictions.
In the garden at D+S Farms, a light breeze rustles the leafy green sprouts. With the dark clouds settling in above, the plants now resemble little green umbrellas.
After many years, Joe finally acknowledged he had a problem and needed help. He joined a program to address the root causes of his struggles. Soon after, the SARS-Cov-2 virus unleashed a global pandemic. Joe lost his job.
Rather than panic, he rejoiced. He suddenly had the luxury of time. Joe enrolled in the DAEC’s High School Equivalency program and set off to attain his GED.
His experience learning in the DAEC was totally unlike anything he’d known before. “In high school, I always felt like I couldn’t fit in because everyone was getting it except me. At the Adult Education Center, whenever you have any sort of question, the teachers stay there until you get it down. They don’t just go over it and then say you’re on your own. The teachers are more focused on you.”
D+S Farms is a big undertaking, yet Joe feels up to the challenge.
Joe also found it extremely easy to interact with the teachers. They made him feel so welcome and comfortable that he started participating in discussions and asking questions. Lots of questions. It was as if his mind had always been a thirsty green sprout. Every question answered was a quenching drink of water.
Joe planned to steadily progress through all the HSE classes one subject at a time. However, he and his teachers quickly realized his aptitude was robust. Pretests indicated Joe was ready for the Math and Science subject tests right away. So, he registered for the tests.
“I was surprised,” he laughs, recalling what it felt like to earn passing scores.
By the close of the fall semester, Joe had passed the remaining two exams and celebrated as a graduate.
As soon as he was informed about FLC’s tuition waiver for Native American students, Joe signed up for college classes. His first semester was a triumph, closing out with a 3.97 GPA!
The scholastic skills Joe developed in his DAEC classes transferred directly to his college classes. “I had so many teachers making comments on like I’m the best student and I’m gonna go far and stuff like that…which, besides the DAEC, I never had before, you know. And I wanna say all that is the result of getting my GED.”
Joe and his girlfriend balance college with running a small business.
Joe plans to major in entrepreneurship. He explains, “I’m working to be my own business owner.”
He is so hopeful the community keeps the virus infection rates in check because he is aching for hands-on learning inside an actual classroom this fall.
Twap, twap, twap-wap. Brown blots dot the soil, announcing the rain’s slow but certain arrival.
Joe acknowledges the raindrops with a satisfied nod. He then says, “I have regained self-respect. I would say that self-respect is what got me into school again. Knowing that I could be better than what I thought I could be.”
Registration for Fall 2021 GED and ESL (English-as-a-Second Language) classes spans August 4th – 25th. All classes are free and begin August 30th. For more information, call 970-385-4354 in Durango or 970-564-7004 in Cortez.