Two students of the Pierce County Adult Education Program, Jerome Wilkinson and Steven McGauley, have both achieved some important personal milestones.
Jerome Wilkinson recently graduated from the Pierce County Adult Education Program. In a proud moment for Wilkinson, the graduation marks a personal milestone in his educational journey.
Studying for the GED, Wilkinson had almost perfect attendance and worked diligently to reach his goals. That wasn’t always easy as Wilkinson commuted from Brunswick to Patterson for every class.
After graduation, Wilkinson plans to explore his options at Coastal Pines Technical College. He loves reading and writing, especially storytelling. With this love of storytelling, Wilkinson hopes to combine his linguistic skills with his technical knowledge and create stories in the digital world. Excited to have completed his High School Equivalency diploma (HSE), Wilkinson says he wants to discover what is next for him.
Dedication, persistence, and commitment is what it took to pass the math section of the HSE/GED exam, says Steven McGauley of Pierce County. Like McGauley, many students in Georgia can struggle with passing the GED math test due to a combination of factors, including test difficulty, complex problem-solving and the perceived intimidation of math itself.
McGauley was formerly one of those students intimidated by the math section, but no longer. Instead of allowing his fears to overshadow his abilities, he decided to face his fear of math head-on.
'It was tough because I would have never thought I would understand the concepts. There were times I did go AWOL from my GED classes, but there was always something that kept me coming back,” says McGauley. “My adult education instructor encouraged me and continuously provided me with math resources and excellent guided instruction. Everything my instructor taught me in class was on the GED test.”
After three years of trying, McGauley finally passed his most challenging subject of the GED test—math. “Other times, when I barely missed passing the math section by a couple of points, I was down on myself,” says McGauley. Now, he feels his achievement in math has demonstrated his determination and self-improvement. McGauley says he knows his maturity is not measurable by any test.
McGauley hopes his story and words of encouragement will convince critics to enroll in Coastal Pines Technical College's Adult Education Program.
Steven McGauley kept going until he overcame the intimidating math part of the GED.
Jerome Wilkinson is a GED progam graduate who drove a long commute to reach his goal.
