Griselda's Story of Getting her GED During the COVID-19 Pandemic

My name is Griselda Hernández García, but I also go by Gray. I am from Mexico. I moved to Oregon back in 2006 at 19 years old with a 2-year-old daughter. I had no family here so it was difficult to start working and learning to drive. At that time, I wanted to return to school but felt like it was impossible since I had to work to support both my little girl and I. The schedules of both things did not coincide and little by little I kept losing hope of continuing with my education.

The years passed. Many things in my life changed, and in January 2020 I was given the opportunity to enter the Adult Education Program that Adelante Mujeres developed and offered at Barnes Elementary School through their collaboration with the Beaverton School District.

The idea of ​​participating in the program was very emotional. I began by attending the English classes and GED classes at Barnes and it was very nice to get involved and participate in the different activities that the program carried out in collaboration with the school. 

As a mother, I love the aspect of feeling involved in the school that my daughter attends. I have valuable memories of the program's participation in the Multicultural Festivals and many other activities of the school's parent community. In the program, I met many wonderful classmates who, like me, were fighting for their future, as were the teachers of the program who, with all their hearts, encouraged us all to continue our educational advancement.

At that time, I was going through an intense family problem. I suffered from intense anxiety, but continuing my involvement in the classroom and interacting with my classmates and teachers helped me process these feelings. Despite recently having had a baby, I managed to always attend my classes at the Barnes location due to the fact that it is within close proximity to my home, and because I had the firm intention of taking advantage of the opportunity to finish my GED.

As a Latina mother, I like to be very involved in the education and extracurricular activities of my children. That is why I participated as a volunteer with them and with the children of the school choir. During that time, I took advantage of the occasional free space to use the Internet and school computers to study my subjects and deepen my understanding, using pages recommended by my teacher such as SPANISH GED 365 and others, since my low-income economic situation did not allow me to pay for these services.

In March 2020, the school closed down due to the pandemic, but thanks to the Adelante Mujeres Adult Education program, who redefined the ways of delivering their services by adapting to new technologies, their classes continued later at night I was able to continue. I began attending classes during this time also thanks to the ability to use the technology provided to my daughter by the school district. That is how I started to work in a virtual way.

Both teachers and students struggled with the barriers of technology and phrases like "I can't connect" were common. Despite having the commodity of attending classes while being at home, there were challenges. My baby would often interrupt classes, sometimes either because they wanted to sleep, drink milk, or simply play with my computer.

Over the 2020 summer, the covid-19 situation worsened and to this was added the difficult situation of the wildfires that hit part of Oregon. All this affected me a lot emotionally, and at times I thought about taking a break from the program. Fortunately, the rains came and with it the hopes of continuing. During this time, everyone was very scared to be outside and I thought, ‘if I have to stay at home, I will make the most of it to fulfill my goal of graduating and obtaining my GED’. I put in a lot of effort and extra work. I studied a lot during the December holidays.

At the beginning of the year, the program introduced a new teacher, and their services were able to expand a little more. We began to have virtual science classes and that was great for me. I took my first exam with the new online modality. That gave me a lot of encouragement to continue fighting for my goal. By following the recommendations and instructions of my teacher Yasi and GED mentor, in February I was able to give myself the birthday gift of having passed these two exams satisfactorily.

When I took my final math exam, I made the decision to do it in the early morning at 2:30 am, to be calmer and more focused. Fortunately, as a reward for my effort and the help of everyone who collaborated in my preparation, I passed it and I was able to complete my GED.

Today, I feel that a chapter of my life has ended, but other doors are there to be opened and to explore new paths. I have future goals. I dream of being able to work and acquire some certification as a translator. I thank everyone who has helped me, especially the Adelante Mujeres Adult Education Program, which thanks to the collaboration it maintains with the Beaverton School Disctict, puts so much effort in ensuring that Latina women mothers at the Barnes Elementary School Student Community have the opportunity to achieve their dreams.

The program encourages women to be more prepared to accompany their children throughout their student lives, supporting and advocating for their needs, actively participating in school projects, and asserting the voice of our community. Thank you all, and special thanks to the organization "Adelante Mujeres" for existing for us, Latina women.