At the 2017 Spring Graduation ceremony, Isabel Eicher delivered a memorable speech based on struggle and success. She allowed us to understand and appreciate the experience of realizing self-worth and determination in which every LearningQuest student can relate. Here is her story…
Isabel Eicher
Good afternoon everyone, my name is Isabel Eicher and I am very happy to be here with you all today. I would like to share a little about myself and my time at LearningQuest. When I was a young adult I wasn’t able to finish high school because I moved to the United States. I wanted to continue my education but the language barrier made it very difficult. Everything was new and I was not accustomed to this new culture. I had a hard time trying to continue my education in this country because I had to work to help my family in Mexico. So I took it upon myself to learn English. Since I was unable to attend a school I went to the public libraries, where I received tutoring in English as a Second Language (ESL). As time passed I learned English, but I still wanted to finish my basic education. This was my second challenge, finding a place that offered basic education in my native language, Spanish. Finally I found a place, LearningQuest. I called and was put on their waitlist for a few months and finally got the call to start classes. When I started I loved the way the teacher explained (things). Certain things she did made it easy to understand. Our teacher, Isela is very intelligent and a great inspiration to her students, that lead me to have a deep respect for her. She would leave us tons of homework and I soon realized how difficult it was to balance my job, my home duties and my school work. Getting to class on-time was the most difficult part. I would drive from work in Livermore to class here in Modesto. I would be stuck in traffic for an hour and a half or more. Despite not being able to be in class on-time I managed to pass 4 out of 5 tests my first try. Math is my favorite subject, but was the most difficult to pass. Luckily I passed it on my last attempt and I couldn’t believe it. I felt so many emotions, I didn’t think it was real. I would like to give thanks to the LearningQuest staff for being able to be here today. And a special thanks to my teachers — Isela, Brenda and Victor also to Estefania and my classmates. Being in this program was a very warming and positive experience. Today I receive my High School Equivalency Certificate and am continuing my education at Modesto Junior College this semester. My goal is to become a Business Administrator of a large company. Thanks to Learning Quest I can now continue on to fulfill that goal. Congratulations to all the graduates here today. WE DID IT!
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